Daily Thoughts from 1 John: The Test of Love (2:7-11)

Daily Thoughts from 1 John: The Test of Love

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 ESV)

If the test of true faith is habitual obedience to Christ’s commands, the primary command and thus the second test is loving fellow believers.

The Old Testament commanded love for God and for one’s neighbor, so this command is not new.  But in Christ and in us it has been given new focus because Jesus coming, his death and resurrection, has signaled the passing away of the present evil age and the coming of the age of the kingdom.  This age of darkness is in process of passing away, and like the coming of dawn, the true light is already showing itself in the incredible outpouring of love Jesus demonstrated and we are living.

So, if someone claims to be a believer, claims he is in the light, but hates fellow believers, as the false teachers in this church and their followers did, he is in reality still in the darkness.  True believers love one another because they are in the light that transforms.  They don’t cause their brothers to trip up.  They build them up in love.  Unbelievers are walking around in darkness blindly and cannot love true believers.

Of course, again John is talking about the habit of our lives.  There are times we don’t love our brothers and sisters and do cause them to stumble.  But the light of God exposes our sin, we confess it and are cleansed.  We are taught to love one another by His example and inward illumination.

Why do unbelievers hate believers?  The same reason they hated Jesus.  The light of God expressed in our lives exposes their sin, forcing either a hypocritical, rationalizing or perfectionistic response.  The light of God destroys them rather than cleansing them.  It exposes their lostness.  Why do believers love believers?  Because we share in the same rescue from the punishment due the guilt of our sins and have entered into fellowship with the loving God who redeemed us.