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Take note of “beloved” yet another term of endearment
John is not scolding; he’s correcting/encouraging those he loves
Sometimes pastors sound like they’re scolding—may we never do that
But sometimes we can get pretty intense, because we see dangers in the lives/behaviors of our people
Understand, we always look to correct and encourage—sometimes that might sound harsh
Follows on the heels of a lesson on following the commands of Christ—abiding in him—walking in him
A lesson on love…and hatred
It’s a new commandment, and an old commandment
Old in principle, new in application
John here relates it to walking in light, as opposed to darkness
light relates to love; darkness to hatred
V. 9 sets the tone for the entire paragraph
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
Yet another case of the walk v. the talk
Remember the context: the very early Church
Teaching of the Apostles still very much in memory
Enter the false teachers that were causing separation from the church
…Heretics saying “We don’t need you any more!” “We don’t have to follow the path you’re on”
We’re have this special knowledge; we don’t worry about sin; it’s an illusion
Jesus didn’t really die on the cross—it wasn’t a real body, just a spirit, so it doesn’t matter
We can claim the benefits of being a Christian, and live however we want
Old Commandment
Old Commandment
Different ways of looking at the “old” part
It’s been around for a long time, as far back as the Exodus
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
We can make note here that it ties to holding grudges, and to the identity of God Himself
Maybe looking at Jesus’ reiteration of the commandment: the “great commandment” in a discourse with some of the legal hot-shots of his day
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Or looking that it was taught by Jesus; looking to that as the old
and then given new meaning within his teaching
Starts in John 3 16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Moves to Joh 13 34-35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
On to John 15 13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Therefor, part—the bulk of—the of teaching the Apostles would have given the new believers
New Commandment
New Commandment
In its application; in view of this light that has come into the world
We have to put love into the vivid opposition to hatred
Light as opposed to darkness
Hatred becomes a matter of rejection
When we reject those who should be our brothers, we are rejecting Christ himself
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob
but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”
Reminded in Rom 9 13
As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
The understanding in the OT context could include to devalue or diminish in stature
Though Esau would become a great nation, a great people; it was to Isaac God gave the blessing
Through Isaac, all the people of the earth would be blessed
Through Isaac, would come the lineage of Jesus, Messiah, Savior, coming King
Rejection is implied in the OT illustration…and implied here as well
False teachers were rejecting the brotherhood of true believers—walking out
Stepping into darkness
Remember: darkness in John’s writing, carries the undertones of evil
Walking away from the brotherhood
Equals Stepping into evil
Walking away from Christ himself—Christ being the light that has come into the world
Walking away flies in the face of 1:5b-7
If we walk away from fellowship with believers—the gathered body—the church...
…we would argue that you had never truly come to a saving knowledge of Christ
…never truly walked in the light
This is a painful thing to read, not just as a pastor, but as a person
Renewed Commandment
Renewed Commandment
Looking at this in our time
Here we must discuss the darkness
If we’re “hating” our brothers, we are in darkness; not in the light