THE NEW "NEW" COMMANDMENT - 1 JOHN 2:8

Verse 8: 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 continues in verse 8 declaring definitively that now he is indeed “writing a new commandment to you.” Considering what he wrote in verse 7, this all sounds like double talk and nonsense. But this can be explained, for the word new refers here to a doctrine that is being “newly introduced”1 to John’s readers. John is about to reiterate and further develop the commandment which the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples:

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12; cf. John 13:34)

 Jesus gave this command while they were living in the previous dispensation of the Jewish Age. Now John is presenting it as new and current2 as it applies to believers in his day, in the present dispensation of the Church Age that began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In this epistle he will be updating and broadening this teaching making it relevant for the 1^st Century Church just as it is for the Church in the 21^st Century.

The Apostolic Teaching of Love

The Apostle Paul discussed the issue of Christian love nearly 3 decades before John’s epistles. Yet it is worthwhile to note the scope of Paul’s teachings that included neighbors, family and fellow believers.

Let love be without hypocrisy. (Romans 12:9a)

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8, 10)

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

And walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:2)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25; Colossians 3:19)

Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

Much of Paul’s writings on this subject parallel John’s: walk in love, love the brethren. Even the Apostle Peter emphasized that we are to “love the brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17) and love one another:

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. (1 Peter 1:22)

We should also remember that the Lord Jesus commanded that we love our enemies (Luke 6:27, 35) and to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).        

The word “which” pertains to the principle of love in this new command, and John assures us that just as the love of the Father is truly “in Him” (John 3:35, 5:20) it is also “in you” (John 14:21, 23). However, genuine love for the Lord will be demonstrated only when and if the believer is willing to keep His commandments.

 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

The Darkness and the True Light

In Scripture darkness is often symbolic of ignorance and spiritual blindness.3 The Apostles Peter and Paul both wrote about darkness as referring to our condition of spiritual blindness prior to belief in Christ. Peter stated that God “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Paul declared that God “rescued us from the domain of darkness” (Colossians 1:13). This domain of darkness is descriptive of the world system influenced by Satan. Paul explained that it is where the unsaved live and “walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17b-18). Their lives are devoid of God and His absolute truth and instead infused with Satanically inspired human viewpoint.

Paul further contrasts where all believers were prior to salvation with their present spiritual status:

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)

However, John described darkness in chapter one in connection with the believer’s loss of fellowship with the Lord (1:6) because of sin. Here he is pointing out that the believer who is obedient in keeping His commandments is now living a holy and sinless life and this is evidence of their spiritual maturity. Thus, their old spiritual condition in the ‘domain of darkness’ is caused to pass away. The Apostle Paul explained this:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When the believer resolves to keep His commandments there is evidence that they are advancing to maturity in their Christian life. It is for this reason that John asserts that the Light “is already shining”, because of his optimism that we are advancing to maturity as evidenced by our love and unity with the Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Daily Challenge

It should be the objective of every believer in Jesus Christ to advance to spiritual maturity—this is what constitutes true spirituality. Dr. Chafer explains that “spirituality represents that manner of life which is wrought in (not, by) the believer by the unhindered, indwelling Spirit of God.”4 For the believer to maintain spirituality it means that they must reside continually in fellowship with God. Sin breaks our fellowship with God, so it is imperative that we know our sins and confess them to the Lord. Spirituality and fellowship with God is what it means to be walking in the Light. It is equivalent to Paul’s command to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), which is the believer being empowered and “led by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18).

To achieve spiritual maturity it requires a daily routine of studying Scripture. First, by learning and conforming to God’s mandates for holy living and second, to learn Biblical truths in order to think God’s thoughts in our moment-by-moment walk of faith (Romans 12:2; Hebrews 4:12). When neglecting this vital necessity for spiritual growth, the believer will ever be out of fellowship with God and fail to live the Christian way of life. These are the believers who will walk in darkness—ignorance of doctrine—and will live ineffective Christian lives.

As faithful believers, we should aspire to be commended for our advancement to maturity as the Apostle Paul did to the Thessalonians.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:4–5)

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[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G2537.

[2] Ibid, Zodhiates.

[3] Unger, M. F., (1988). darkness, In The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F., Eds.), Chicago: Moody Press.

[4] Chafer, Lewis Sperry (1976). Systematic Theology, Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 7.292.

© 2024 David M. Rossi
 

THE NEW/OLD COMMANDMENT - 1 JOHN 2:7

Verse 7: 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.

Starting with 2:7 and continuing through 5:3, John begins to outline the major theme of his epistle: love. At the outset, John clarifies to his readers that he is not writing a new commandment as if he has some newly “advanced revelation.”1 Instead it is an old commandment “which you have had from the beginning.” Kenneth Wuest correctly asserts that “the beginning here is the beginning of the Christian experience of the readers.”2 So what ‘old’ commandment is he referring to, that they have had from the beginning?

John states that it is “the word which you have heard.” The term ‘word’ needs amplification. In this context it means “an account which one gives by word of mouth.”3 This is referring to a specific point Our Lord made just prior to His death to His disciples during the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-16).

 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34; cf. John 15:12)

Notice that Our Lord stated that it is a ‘new’ commandment even though earlier during His earthly ministry He had restated the command from the Old Testament: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19b; 22:39). Jesus regarded this as ‘new’ because He was emphasizing reciprocal love for all fellow believers.

Therefore, this commandment regarding love is “the word” that they have heard and were so taught from the beginning of their Christian life when they believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

What is This Thing Called Love?

Thanks to the secular humanism of the 21^st Century, the concept of love has been distorted to mean anything other than what God intended for mankind to enjoy. Note these dictionary citations:

1.  A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.

2.  A strong feeling of affection and concern for another person accompanied by sexual attraction.

3.  A feeling of devotion or adoration toward God or a god.4

What each have in common is the word ‘feeling.’ What modern man believes today is that love is an emotion and without the emotions and feelings there is no real love. Romantic love (between a man and a woman) is redefined as sexual attraction and further degraded to mutual love between two consenting adults, regardless of their gender. Additionally, having only one English word to describe the human emotion of love makes familial love, affection for friends or appreciation of art and music difficult to explain.

However, the New Testament Greek contains 2 words for love: agapao (ἀγαπάω) and phileo (φιλέω). Agapao is defined by Dr. Zodhiates as “to esteem, love, indicating a direction of the will and finding one’s joy in something or someone...to regard with favor, goodwill, benevolence.”5 And that it differs from phileo “indicating feelings, warm affection, the kind of love expressed by a kiss.”6

Dr. Zodhiates goes on to explain that agapao is the word used in the New Testament to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35) and never phileo. For this reason:

We are thus commanded to love (agapao) our enemies, to do what is necessary to turn them to Christ, but never to befriend them (phileo) by adopting their interests and becoming friends on their level.7

We are commanded to love our neighbors, love our enemies and love one another. Chester McCalley emphasizes that “True love is the mental attitude that demands that we do what is best for another no matter what the cost to us.”8 This is an apparent impossibility for it would require that we enter into a personal relationship with everyone. Plus, not everyone in our periphery may even be personally likeable because of behavioral differences. However, the following provides a Biblical solution to this challenge.

Impersonal Love For All Mankind

The first thing to consider is that agapao love is not based upon emotions or feelings, but instead it is a mental attitude that regards everyone with goodwill, kindness and compassion. Our love should be selfless, never because it makes us feel good. We should never wish evil upon our enemies, being mindful that each human being bears the image of the Creator. So how are we to fulfill this “royal law” as described by James (James 2:8)?

Since it is virtually impossible to personally love everyone, Colonel R.B. Thieme, Jr. developed a principle that enables believers to demonstrate impersonal love for all mankind:

Unlike personal love, which emphasizes the attractiveness of the object of love, impersonal love emphasizes the capacity and integrity of the one who loves. Whereas personal love is an intense and subjective attitude toward a few, impersonal love is a relaxed and objective mental attitude toward everyone—friend or enemy, worthy or unworthy, pleasant or obnoxious. Impersonal love solves problems in personal relationships. The believer with impersonal love is able to accept all people as they are, without demands for reciprocation, without reaction or retaliation, without incurring mental attitude sins. Whether encountering love and admiration or hatred and reproach, this unconditional attitude is stable and enduring. (Colossians 3:12–14; 1 Peter 3:8–9) 9

It is instructive for us to note the passages Thieme cites:

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:12–14)

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8–9)

The Challenge

Can we say that we have this type of love for all mankind? Do we love fellow believers by encouraging them to advance in their spiritual lives? Are we faithfully demonstrating impersonal love to our neighbors and enemies that would encourage them to believe in Jesus Christ?

Agapao is the kind of love that the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to exhibit and which John is about to develop and expand upon in this epistle.

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[1] Van Ryn, August (1948). The Epistles of John, New York, NY: Loizeaux Brothers, p. 57.

[2] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 13.118.

[3] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.10.

[4] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition, https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=love [Retrieved 22 May 2024]              

[5] Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers G25.

[6] Zodhiates, G25.

[7] Zodhiates, G25.

[8] McCalley, Chester. http://wordoftruthkc.org/sites/default/files/file/I%20Corinthians%20Commentary.pdf, p. 96. [Retrieved August 14, 2024]

[9] Thieme, R.B., Jr. (2022). Thieme’s Bible Doctrine Dictionary, Houston, TX: R.B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries, p. 136.

© 2024 David M. Rossi
 

THE LOVE OF GOD PERFECTED - 1 JOHN 2:5-6

Verses 5-6: But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (ESV)

“But” sets up a contrast between “whoever keeps His word” and the liar who “does not keep His commandments” of verse 4. What is the meaning of John’s subtle distinction which he alludes to concerning ‘keep His commandment’ and ‘keep His word’?

In the previous verse it was noted that by keeping His commandments believers are to obey them, not to merely examine or scrutinize them, but to follow the instructions given. Whereas, to keep His word is much broader in scope, entailing the acquisition and assimilation of all of the information which God has provided the believer in order to navigate this unique spiritual life He has given to us. The Apostle Paul further explains this:

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

God’s Word is our instruction manual, complete with examples, comprising all that we need to walk righteously in the Light and to please our God. Pleasing God should be an ambition for our lives, as it is often encouraged by Paul: 2 Corinthians 5:9; Ephesians 5:10; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1 and also in Hebrews 13:21 and 1 John 3:22. Our right response is not simply to read His word, but to absorb it into our souls and to apply its directives in our daily lives. By this we will fulfill the purpose for which He called us, as the Apostle Peter proclaimed: “so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

R.C.H. Lenski reminds us of the importance of God’s Word:

Without this Word there is no connection with God despite all claims to the contrary. Only one divine means reaches down from God to us sinners, cleanses us, and puts us in fellowship with God; there is no other means.1

Truth and Consequences

By a casual reading one might assume that if the truth is not in him who does not keep His commandments then the one who keeps His word would have the truth in him. Although that certainly is true, instead John advances his line of reasoning that “in him truly the love of God is perfected.” Concerning this phrase love of God, Dr. Wallace deduces that it “suggests that such love is the source for a reciprocated love.”2 The idea being that “the love that comes from God and that produces our love for God”3 reaches a state of completion (perfected) because of our keeping and absorbing His Word.

And the truth is that we have an internal witness “that we are in Him.” Not by some subjective feeling or emotion, but by an objective knowledge, by spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 2:10-15). We are able to implement spiritual discernment because “He has given us of His Spirit” (1 John 4:13). So then, by the Spirit we compare the truth standards of God’s Word with our manner of life to determine if His truth is in us and that we “are in the faith.” This is what the Apostle Paul intended when he commanded that we test and examine ourselves:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Actions Speak Louder than Words

It should be noted that John switches from the emphasis in chapter 1 on fellowship to now advising believers to abide in Him. He maintains that those who claim to abide in Him ought to make certain that their actions speak louder than their words.

The meaning of the Greek word for ‘ought’ is “to owe, whether of a debt or any obligation”4—hence to be bound in duty. Therefore, in this context we recognize that progressively and persistently5 we have an obligation, that we are bound in duty “to walk in the same way in which He walked.” The phrase ‘in the same way in which’ is simply one word in the original Greek, kathṓs, meaning just as6 or in the same manner. John implies that there should be an equivalence or uniformity in our manner of life with that of Our Lord’s.

John refers to this manner of life as our ‘walk’, which he previously discussed in chapter 1:6-7. The word ‘walk’ means “to live or pass one’s life,”7 referring to a person’s manner of living. What we need to learn is exactly how our walk ought to be the same as Our Lord’s. Since the context of this passage is concerned with the obedience of the believer we should examine the example of obedience demonstrated by Our Lord regarding the completion of His momentous work while on earth.

He knew that He “must do work the works” (John 9:4) for which the Father had sent Him; this He did even knowing that He “must suffer many things” (Luke 9:22); He was obedient even to His “death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8); which He emphasized prior to His death the future certainty8 of “having accomplished the work” (John 17:4); at which time He proclaimed “It is finished!” (John 19:30); consequently, by His obedience “many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Can we say that we possess the same pattern of obedience as His in our walk? We need to follow the advice of the Apostle Paul: “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). For Paul warns of the disgrace of those who fail to live by the same standard:

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. (Philippians 3:17–18)

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[1] Lenski, R.C.H. (2001). Commentary on the New Testament, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 11.410.

[2] Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Zondervan Publishing House and Galaxie Software, p. 121.

[3] Wallace, p.121.

[4] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.75.

[5] Dana, H.E. & Mantey, Julius R. (1957). A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Toronto, Ontario: Macmillan Co., p. 182.

[6] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1979). In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 391.

[7] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G4043.

[8] Wallace, p. 564.

© 2024 David M. Rossi