"These Things I've Written..." 1 John 2:7-11

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

The way we obey God is integral towards our fellowship with Him. We are not simply forgiven and left alone to our own devices. We are to live a life of pursuing holiness with God.

We talked about the importance of understanding that this is a process that we are in. It is not accomplished in only one day. We wake up daily to serve the Lord and look for ways to live in communion with Him.

John doesn’t simply talk about obedience to God only. We obey God by serving Him towards other people.

How do people reflect how we love and follow God?

1 John 2:7–11 NASB95

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1. Jesus confirmed and changed the way that people understand love. (v. 7-8)

“Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

John had just asked people to test themselves in how they were obedient to God. Verses 7 and 8 reflect that the word LOVE has always been the same to God but changed the game for how people experience and express it because of the way that Jesus lived His life.

John had a relationship of love to the Jewish audience. “Beloved” communicates his love and compassion to people.

This commandment was a commandment of love.

The commandment is here called old because it belonged to the first stage of the Christian church. Believers had it from the beginning of their Christian faith.

He also called it new. Which is it? It is both.

This is a message that they had already heard before.

It is new in that it is important to the message of Jesus; it is viewed in a new light. The commandment is not just to love one another, but to love as Christ loved—even to the point being willing to lay down ones life.

Love was fully shown in the way that Jesus lived his life.

In the Christian experience, it has developed new power, meaning, and passion towards others.

John was saying that if love was true in Jesus that it should be true in all of His followers.

Matthew 22:36–40 NASB95

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:

A disciple was to love others not just as he loved himself but in the same measure as Christ had loved him.

We know this because Jesus came to be the light of love. He came to be the true, real, light, of love.

He’s the light that is already shining and that darkness is passing away.

Back in 2009, you can drive to Abilene or Lubbock and rent a movie from Blockbuster video. In fact, you could become a subscriber and pay a certain amount of money per month and they would give you certain offers that would allow you to have certain privileges as a customer. Sadly, business was not doing well. Back in 2004, Blockbuster had hit its peak and employed more people than ever in the history of their company. Little did they know, there was a new company forging their way into the video world that would make renting movies at a store obsolete. Netflix was emerging. While there were plenty of Blockbusters visible to the public eye, the writing was on the wall. It was only a matter of time when the company would have to go bankrupt. That came in 2010.

While the darkness of sin and the world may be visible, a light has emerged through the love of Jesus, and it is already shining. It tells us that the day’s of sin enjoyed by Satan and his demons are living on borrowed time. Their efforts have not passed away but they are looking death in the eye. The light shining tells us that Jesus is on His way and His way of life will stand for eternity and the agenda of the world will soon be gone. Death is passing away.

2. Hatred is a bogus motivator. (v. 9-11)

“The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

People fall into 2 classes:

Those who in fellowship with God, and therefore walk in light and love.

Those who are not in fellowship with God, and therefore walk in darkness and hatred.

Where love is not, there is hatred.

There is not in between. There is no mean between light and darkness, love and hatred, life and death, God and the world.

What does John mean when he says “brother”?

His neighbor, and especially those of the Christian faith.

John is telling us that love overcomes hatred.

John wanted the Jewish Christians to see the connection.

The true Christian, who knows God and walks in the light, both obeys God and loves people.

Genuine faith is see in our relationship with God and with other people.

“Stumbling” - Causing someone else to sin. When someone breaks God’s commandments regularly—especially when their actions harm others, the people they harm will be tempted to sin. This will cause a cycle of sinful behavior.

John is teaching that walking in the light of love through Christ will not put people in a place to cause harm to others. We won’t hate people because we will see everyone through the eyes of love.

A campfire is more than just something that lights the area surrounding it, but it also warms everyone who sits around it.

To him who loves - There is blindness which will cause lots of stumbling.

To him who does not love - there is blindness and lots of stumbling.

To him who loves - no blindness and no stumbling.

Darkness not only surrounds, but it blinds everyone around it.

You can’t separate your feelings for God and people. If you love one and hate the other, you are neglecting both relationships. There is a strong connection.

Does this give people permission to run over you in everything? Absolutely not.

But it does tell us that we don’t have to always have the upper hand in our relationships. We are called to show grace to everyone and offer many second chances. We are called to serve others who don’t deserve it. We are commanded to see the bigger picture in people instead what is right in front of us. We are called to forgive people even if they aren’t asking for it.

Hatred will not get you anywhere and it won’t make you feel better.

Love is the only release.

How do we allow love to be our motivator? We must overcome our own self righteousness..

How to overcome self righteousness:

Recognize it as your own problem.

It is one thing to say, “I know I’m not perfect.”

It is quite another thing to say, “My problem is that I’ve self-righteous.”

None of us in a position where love cannot be the motivating factor to our decisions.

Jesus removed that possibility.

Humble yourself before the Lord daily.

Look at people and realize that anyone and everyone can be redeemed.

Forgive, forgive, and forgive.

Is love your anthem in regards to your relationship with people?

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