“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever 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 John 2:7-11
A New,
It’s an old commandment, but it’s also new. It’s old because John says its from the beginning. John is pointing us back to Genesis.
It’s also new…
“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.” —John 13:34-35
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” —John 15:9
This sets the standard. Jesus loves us in the same way the Father loves him and we are to love others with that same kind of love!
The Darkness Is
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” —Romans 13:12
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” —John 1:9
If Jesus is the True Light and we have Jesus living in us, that means wherever we go, Jesus is shining his light into the darkness through us.
Walking In
Is Walking In
“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” —1 John 4:20
You can’t love God while hating someone else. These two things do not coexist in the same heart. If you hate someone today, you do not love God.
“Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage.” —Matthew Henry
True Christians
One Another
True Christians will live in the light, they will make it there home. They will shun hate and live lives of love toward others. Love requires us to to do something. We can’t just simply say we love others, we have to have actions that back that up.