–This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Light of Love,” on 1 John 2:7-14.–¹

John’s opening salvo in his message came in 1:5 when he said, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Since then he has guided us to see how we might know we are truly walking in the light with God. At the end of chapter one he said increasing consciousness and confession of sin reveal true fellowship with God. We saw last week in the beginning of chapter two that we know we are in Christ if we obey his commands.

His instruction continues in our text with the test of genuine love for fellow Christians. His burden in this passage is oh so simple, “A church who lives in the light walks in love.” I want to hone in on that truth with this main point: Love for the family of Christ is the true test of living faith in Christ.

TAKE HEED!

Look at how 2:7 and 2:8 begins, “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment . . . At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you.” Do you wonder if John is merely confused in his old age? He refers to a commandment that is simultaneously old and new. How is that even possible? The context makes clear he’s talking about the command to love each other (cf. John 13:25; 2 John 5). So here’s the question we must ask at the outset, “In what sense is the law of love old and new?

In What Sense is the Law of Love Old and New?

First, it seems likely John’s opponents in Asia Minor accused him—and other church leaders—of theological novelty in their confession of Christ. An easy rhetorical swipe in religious debates throughout the centuries has been to call some doctrinal teaching “new.” Novelty ordinarily undermines theological stability. Thus, John wants his readers to know that his commandment actually isn’t new; it’s not something he recently invented.

Notice how 2:7 helps us see what John means by the law’s “oldness.” He says, “[This is the] old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.” When John refers to the message heard at the beginning he always referencing the gospel message that arrived with Christ. Anyone familiar with the ministry of Jesus would know his command to love was a central tenet of his teaching. So, the law of love is old because it originated with Jesus, in his commands and ministry.

But in what sense is it also new? Look at 2:8, “[The] new commandment . . . is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” That last phrase “the true light is already shining” is a favorite way that John, in his gospel (Jn. 8:12; cf. 1:19; 3:19; 9:5; 12:35, 46) likes to talk about a new age dawned with Jesus. The law of love is new because it culminated in Jesus. One commentator say that in Jesus “a new era has dawned, a new age has come, a new empowering light is shining, all of which give the church new possibilities for love and a new imperative” to love. And if you survey Jesus’ teachings on love I think you can summarize its “newness” in three ways:

• It was new in its emphasis. In Mark 12:30 Jesus said the greatest commandment is loving the Lord with your whole being and right next to this is loving your neighbors as yourself. Loving God and loving your neighbor are two sides of the same “commandment coin.” And as common as that might be today, we have no record of anyone combining them before Jesus.

• It was new in its extent. To an orthodox Jew the Gentiles were not to be loved; they believed God created the Gentile peoples for hell. But Jesus called His people to love everyone, to share his love with the Gentiles nations.

• It was new in its example. John wants us to know that just as the sunrise pierces the night, Jesus’ life and death broke the dark dominion of sin. And at the epicenter of His burning light is white-hot love for His people. As he said in John 15, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus death on the cross is the greatest display of love the world has ever seen because it shattered sin forever.

If you are not a Christian, oh how I pray you would know this love of Christ. The Bible says God showed his love for us that even while we were still sinner, Jesus died for us. Where are you turning for love? Anything or anyone in the world can never love you perfectly, but Jesus, the King over this world, will love you to the uttermost. He only calls you to turn from your sin and trust in Him.

Church, we can’t miss the spiritual gold John tucks away in the middle of 2:8, this new commandment of love “is true (lit. “genuine”) in him and in you.” John expects the church of Christ will reflect the love of Christ. What kind of love do you have for your brothers and sisters in Christ? John believes it is to be quite literally “otherworldly.” We are corporately tested by our love for each other.

I once saw an article that during World War II the United States loved to have a color-blind soldier on reconnaissance and spotter flights because they could not be fooled by the ordinary and colorful tricks of camouflage. Seeing in black and white let them cut right through to the truth.

It seems like John is almost colorblind spiritually, he always categorizes people in black and white categories. For notice, as we move into 2:9-11, how he puts people into one of two categories: lovers or haters.

Look at 2:9, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” The point is clear enough, true Christians and true churches reveal the light by their love. But what’s interesting is John polarization of categories. You might be thinking, “Just because I don’t love someone doesn’t mean I hate them.” But John intends to lift us out of the casual indifference we can be tempted with towards our fellow Christians. What ways this week can you more greatly channel God’s love into the lives of your fellow church members?

See now John’s positive contrast in 2:10, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” I want to come back to this verse more at the end, but for now we need to see how John is bringing all the previous strands of teaching together in this verse. In chapter 1 he said we are to walk in the light as He is in the light. Last week John spoke of obedience to Jesus’ commands in general as the way we test ourselves. This week he speaks of obedience to the love commandment in particular is the ultimate test of assurance. Love is the living evidence of new birth and eternal life.

Notice how John returns to the dark side in 2:11, “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.” He’s upped the ante here hasn’t he? The first part of 2:11 echoes 2:9, but then he compounds the spiritual danger of hating one’s brother by saying us it makes one wander around blind in the darkness. A lack of love is like a spiritual blindfold over the eyes of your heart. It’s blinds you from seeing that satisfaction and salvation are found in Christ alone. Hatred blinds the heart and hardens the soul to that a person only wanders deeper and deeper into sin.

John point is quite simple isn’t it? “A church who lives in the light walks in love.”

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