"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. 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."
I John 2:7,8
John's words in this letter have thus far been applicable for all people of all time as well has the specific people he wrote the physical letter to. Yet in these two verses his words seem confusing if not contradictory to all of those not privy to how the first readers would have thought. This doesn't mean it doesn't apply to us today who are not Jews, it just means we have to dig further to understand how and why his readers thought and acted the way they did to understand why John worded things the way that he did. This letter is obviously an important part of church history, and good history is intellectual history.
First John tells them that he isn't talking about a brand new commandment or tradition instituted by the pharisees. He's talking about the Word that came from God first which is pure, not any confusion added or conjured by man. The new commandment he is writing about is how Jesus clarified the commandments by summing them up in two. The first is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The second is similar, that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. This was a struggle for the Jews and is why John, as he has done to great extent thus far, cleared the confusion and set the distinction.
Notice also that John does not tell them to ignore the old commandment. Many times today we hear, wrongly I might add, that Jesus did away with the Old Testament. They lie to us saying the law is abolished and we can discard those wonderful treasures of our history that God has so graciously preserved for us. We know from Jesus's ministry and His apostles that He did not destroy the old commands (the law) but fulfilled them! The old covenant wasn't wrong but it always pointed to the new covenant which is in Christ. We no long have to partake of the ceremonious sacrificial laws because Jesus became our High Priest when He died as our propitiation. The moral laws still remain in fact and as Jesus said they are summed up in love towards God and love towards our fellow man. How do we know this is true? Because the love of God is perfected in His children when we obey and that is how the true light shines forth.
Dearly beloved of God do not fret thinking that there are numerous laws we must keep perfectly. Jesus the righteous has died for your justification before God. The commands that we obey are for our sanctification to make us more like Christ so that His love will be perfected in us and His light shines through us in that obedience. Are you loving God with every fiber of your being throughout the day? Are you loving your neighbors also? Do you refuse sin to have any occasion in your life? Desire the light of Christ to shine in your life through obedience and the world will see it unmistakably that you belong to Jesus Christ the only righteous!
1 comment:
This may be your best one yet. Blessings.
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