The New Commandment

AUGUST 26, 2020 STUDY NOTES I JOHN 2:7-11 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES THE NEW COMMANDMENT INTRODUCTION In the previous verses, John presented how important it is for us to be obedient to Christ As Christians we are to be obedient to all-of the teachings of Christ The true test of the daily life of a Christian is obedience unto the commands of God’s Word In verse 5 John spoke of the “love of God perfected” In verse 6 John said that we must walk even as Jesus walked In this passage we will be reminded that no one ever walked a path of love like Jesus did John has already given us many tests to take which will evaluate our Christian life He now gives us the test of “Christian Love” If the results of the test are negative, then we fail the test as found in verses 9 and 11 If there is a positive result, then we pass the test as found in verse 10 The test of love is no different than the test of fellowship with God found in chapter one Likewise, it is no different than the test of obedience found in the first part of chapter two To walk in fellowship with God is to love God and to love God is to keep His commandments It is by God’s love in you that you as a Christian can know that you are a Christian It is by God’s love lived through you that others can know that you are a Christian 1Jn 2:7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. The “Brethren” are those who belong to the same family of God through the spiritual birth Some Greek manuscripts translate the beginning word as “Beloved” rather than “Brethren” If that is the correct translation, what better way could John introduce the commandment to love John loves to speak of “love,” love in one form or another is found 51 times in 1 John I write no new commandment unto you, John does not speak of a “new commandment” as related to time, it is not new in point of time It is not something that has never been known before, it is old because it comes from the O.T But it is a commandment that has taken on something “new” There is a “new” emphasis, a new quality of meaning, it is “new” because of Jesus Jesus lived it and taught it while He lived upon the earth Jesus called it “new,” Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. To obey the commandment to love others is only possible through Jesus in our life It is possible only when we love Jesus and allow His love to flow through us to others but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. It is possible that “from the beginning” takes us back to the beginning of creation It could go all the way back to Adam and Eve when God made man “in His own image” Certainly, Adam and Eve knew and experienced the love of God and loved one another Love was to be the expression of a life that was created in the image of God It is also as old as the O.T. Law which could be fulfilled if man would love God and others Israel was to love God, obey God, and serve God A Pharisee had a question for Jesus, Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus answered, Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 1 According to Jesus that is the great commandment, Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment. The greatest commandment is an old commandment, Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. A commandment that was to be in the heart of Israel, Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: A commandment that Israel was expected to keep, Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, Jesus told the Pharisee that there was another commandment second only to the first, Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The second commandment is also an old commandment, Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. John first states that the “old commandment” had been continually possessed by God’s people The rest of the verse is not limited to a repetition of what John just said, he makes another point The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. He now refers to the “word which they heard from the beginning” In the first verse of this letter John speaks of what they had heard from the beginning, 1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; He was referring to what the disciples had heard from Jesus John declares unto us what he had heard from Jesus, 1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. John is now applying what was heard from Jesus to the life of the Christian From the beginning of our Christian life we have heard of the love of God The love that is placed in our life when we are saved The spiritual birth is a birth of love and the character of the newborn spirit is love The newborn Christian begins to love things that they had never loved before And we come to know that which should truly be loved and loved in a more meaningful way Love becomes genuine with new meaning, 1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. In verse 8 John explains why this old commandment is a new commandment There was a new beginning of love with the beginning of the life of Jesus on earth There is a new beginning of love within the heart of a newborn Christian 1Jn 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. Verse 7 says that the commandment is not “new” Verse 8 says that the commandment is “a new commandment” John begins verse 8 with “Again” which means, “Yet, In another sense” or “on the other hand” So, John speaks from another point of view and in that sense, it is “a new commandment” The “old” has not ceased to exist because there is the “new,” the old has given birth to the “new” The Old Testament Scripture did not cease to exist because we now have the New Testament The New Testament gives meaning to and fulfills the Old Testament John can write of “a new commandment” because of the life of Jesus Christians can experience “a new commandment” because of Jesus in our life The new commandment is as “new” as the present experience of God’s love in your heart John now explains the truth of the new commandment--2 which thing is true in him and in you: “Which thing” refers to all that John has previously said about the new commandment All that he has said “is true,” first of all, because it is “in Him” Then it is also true because it is “in you” “In Him” is a reference to Jesus Christ and “in you” is a reference to the Christian “In you” can only be referring to the “Born Again” Christian who has a “New Life” in Christ Through the New Life that same “new love” as found in Jesus is found in the Christian In that “New Life” is a “New Love” that only comes through Christ Jesus did not tell us to do something that He had not already done Himself Through the life of Jesus, the world witnessed love as they had never seen it before The world did not really know the truth of love until God sent His Son into the world (John 3:16) Jesus taught His disciples how to love by His words and His actions So, because of Jesus, the commandment to love is richer and deeper in its true meaning The love that is in Jesus is the genuine love of God and Jesus is the perfect example of love The Holy Spirit within the believer teaches us the truth of love, 1Th 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. John now describes that “New Love” in our “New Life” and shows us how it works--because the darkness is past, What does John have in mind when he says, “the darkness is past?” Literally this reads that the darkness is “passing away” and the light is “now shining” Something that is now true in Jesus and in the Christian It is true “in Jesus” as a-result of Jesus coming to live on the earth The “age of spiritual darkness” is passing away and the “light of salvation” is now shining It is true in the life of a Christian because of Christ in our life The darkness of sin is passing-away, and the true light of salvation is now shining These statements must be understood in the context of the passage The darkness is not the darkness of this sinful world even though it will pass-away It does not now appear that the darkness of this world is passing-away The darkness of sin grows darker every day, especially in America But the darkness of a sinful world with all-of its hatred is going to one day pass-away The “Age of Darkness” is the day of the wickedness and sinfulness of this world Another “Age” is yet to come with the return of Jesus, the “Age of Righteousness” But John speaks of the “Darkness” within our life, which is the consequences of sin John speaks of the darkness of a sinful heart which is possible in the life of a Christian Jesus taught that fact to His disciples, Joh 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Jesus is in the process of delivering us from the darkness of sin, Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: The darkness is not completely gone from our life but is in the process of passing-away The light is overcoming the darkness and the light is now shining brighter That is what takes place as the Christian grows in the grace and love of God The grace and love of God should be a new experience every day of our life In this passage darkness identifies with hate and light identifies with love The darkness of hate should be in the process of passing-away and disappearing from our life The darkness which is unlike God in our life is to pass-away so that--and the true light now shineth. “The true light” is the genuine light and represents a genuine talk and a genuine walk of life Jesus is the example of the “true light,” Jesus spoke the truth and Jesus lived the truth 3 Since the beginning of creation there has always been the “Light of God,” Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. The revelation of God began with creation but now there is a “special revelation” The greatest revelation of God is in His Son Jesus Christ, Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jesus came to the earth as the “Light of the world,” a “Light” that cannot be extinguished At the time of the Incarnation the Light began to shine, a new Age of Light began to shine There will be a great time of darkness upon the earth, but “light” is the Age yet to come The “darkness” is destined to disappear, the spotlight of the life of Jesus is upon “His Love” John is going to show us that the same must be true in our life There can be no greater light shining forth from our life than the love of God That thought brings John to one more “say-so” way of life John now uses another illustration to help us understand what he has taught us In verses 9-11 John once again goes to the use of contrast to teach us He speaks of light and darkness in verse 9 Then he compares love and hatred and then walking and stumbling in verses 10-11 1Jn 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. In verse 9 we find another claim, another test, and the results of the test Every time we find a “say-so” claim we find a test and the result of that test To be “in the light” is the same as “walking in the light” as found in 1 John 1 Walking in the light has been shown to be a life of truth and holiness Again, we find that the words spoken do not match the deeds You cannot tell that he is in the light by the way he is living toward another Christian Again, we must answer the question of who is John speaking to? Does he have the Christian in mind? “His brother” answers the question and hateth his brother, is “His brother” is not a reference to physical kin, it goes far beyond that We have all seen the hate that can exist between physical brothers (watch the news) When we see an example of that we find it hard to believe But John is referring to “spiritual brothers” Some theologians deny that hate among believers is possible Evidently, they have never attended some denominational meetings They have not heard of some Baptist business meetings where the police were invited John does not mean that you have-to like everything about your “brother” There will be things that you do not agree with and things that you do not like But you are not to “hate” them because of those things Dislikes and disagreements are not to be turned into hate God hates sin and evil, but He loves the sinner who commits the evil “Hate” is a very-strong word meaning an unjustifiable feeling against another person It begins in the heart as an inward feeling and then is expressed in unkind words It may or may not be expressed in actions against the one hated Hate towards a brother is a major concern of John He returns to that thought again in chapter 3 and again in chapter 4 Hating the brother is the opposite of love toward one another John says that the Christian who hates is--in darkness even until now. A Christian, who is still in darkness, has a lot to learn about the Christian life 4 He needs further study of the life of Christ and the life that is now ours “In Christ” He needs to learn truths related to the indwelling Spirit of God and the “Fruit of the Spirit” The first characteristic listed among spiritual fruit in the life of a Christian is “love” (Gal 5:22) He cannot claim to be in fellowship with God because he walks in darkness (1 John 1:6) Hate in a Christians life is a demonstration of darkness rather than the “light of Jesus,” 1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: To hate means that the spiritual atmosphere of the Christian life is darkness There is no evidence of the life of Christ in a life of hate but there is in a life of love, 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. John says, they may think that they are walking in the light, but they are deceived and blinded 1Jn 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. “He that loveth” is expressed by the strongest word found in the Bible to describe love It is the same word used to describe the love of God, 1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. A biblical definition of love begins with God because “God is love” It was God who defined love for us, 1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The very nature of God is love The very nature of the Christian is to be that of the love of God The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. To love your spiritual brother is not possible apart from “walking in the light” This love is not based upon a good relationship because of kindness from the brother John is not speaking about a momentary affection but a continual state of love A relationship that is not broken because of an unkind word or deed The only possible way to continue to love others is to “Abide in the light” “Abiding in the Light” we can see Jesus, we can learn of Jesus and obey Jesus In the “light” we can see the truth of love and understand who we are to love We can see how to walk in the path of God’s Love--and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. A Christian does not spiritually stumble when they abide in the light and walk in God’s love When you walk in the darkness and hate, you will spiritually stumble In fact, when you hate, you have already spiritually stumbled The word translated “occasion of stumbling” not only meant a “stumbling block” It also identified a baited trigger on a trap to catch animals When the animal touches it the trigger springs and the animal is trapped When you walk in darkness and hate you will find yourself spiritually trapped Hate is a stumbling block which can cause a great spiritual fall for you and others 1Jn 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Verse 11 strongly states, with emphasis, what John has already said It strongly states what happens when a Christian does not love his brother in Christ John has already told us that Christians love one another when they abide in the light He has already shown us that hate comes from walking in the darkness and again he says 5 and walketh in darkness, “In darkness” there is no spiritual sense of direction “In darkness” you are unable to see where you are going spiritually Throughout this book John has had much to say about our talk and our walk John is probably telling us to learn from our early days of life Babies learn to walk before they talk and that is what John is telling us Know what you are talking about from experience before you tell others Learn to walk spiritually and then talk as you walk and knoweth not whither he goeth, It is a horrible feeling to find out that you did not get to where you were going Your wife told you that you had made a wrong turn, but you didn’t believe her You knew where you wanted to go but you were on the wrong road “Hate” in the life of a Christian is traveling the wrong road and you will “dead-end” You don’t know where you are going because you can’t even see the right road because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Spiritual blindness is a lack of spiritual understanding You are not looking at your path of life spiritually You are not paying attention to the life that God wants you to live Spiritual sight comes from abiding in the light, paying attention to God and His Word A spiritually blind path is a dangerous path of life for the Christian Your guide dog will be Satan and the demonic forces which will lead you down the wrong road Hate will blind you spiritually Hate in your heart will not allow you to make right decisions Your decisions will be based upon personal pride and prejudice CONCLUSION To walk in God’s love means that the decisions of your life are motivated by love The deeds of your life are therefore acts of love Words of love and deeds of love are a very powerful influence upon others Christians must abide in the light and take every opportunity to love one another (Jn. 13:35) Hate always harms, love always does good (Galatians 6:10) We need to learn more about Jesus 6