3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Commentary
Vs. 3 “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
Keeping Christ’s commandments is how we know Him, and is something that everyone who is born of Him, born-again by His Spirit, wants to do, and not to try to earn His salvation, which we already have by God’s grace and truth, but to be well pleasing to Him because we love Him. Those then who do not keep His commandments do not know Him. Now as we have already learned this is not sinless perfection, but this is the course of our new lives with Him.
Vs. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Here then the Apostle John flat out rebukes and rejects the testimonies (or professions of faith) of anyone and everyone who says that they know Christ and yet continue to live like they don’t!
Vs. 5 “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
Keeping Christ’s Word is keeping and holding to all of His Word as the Divine Revelation of God for us all. Thus, it is His Word regarding His Person, His Kingdom, His Commandments, His Salvation, His Church, His Second Coming, His Judgment/s, and everything else that He has revealed and said that has been by His Spirit faithfully recorded for us all; from the Gospels, to the Epistles, to the Book of Revelation, this is His Word for us, to be kept by us all who believe in Him. Therefore, in Keeping Christ’s Word, that is doing it, and holding fast to it, truly the love of God is perfected in us when we do. For you cannot be In Christ and be hostile towards His Word, for Jesus Christ’s Word not only gives us life, but it is by His Word that the love of God is perfected in us. Meaning God’s love becomes perfected in us by our obedience to Christ’s Word which is the catalyst for this, for His love being perfected in us, and thus manifested through us, towards Him and towards all.
Vs. 6 “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
The mark then of anyone who confesses faith in Christ is how do they walk; that is how do they live; do we then walk as Jesus Christ Himself walked; which so evidentially reveals and offers God’s salvation to one and to all through faith in Him alone. As well do we take our stand against injustices and evil like Jesus did, especially when this takes place inside of the church, (and thus we do not overlook hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and sin, when these things rear their ugly head amongst us, whether in the pew, or in the pulpit, for we will not normalize, nor justify what God says is sin, which only threatens the church and His Work through us when permitted amongst us). For Jesus was never silent when people, or men of power abused their authority or power, nor was He silent on the eternal consequences of sin, so as to make anyone feel comfortable in it, but rather He freely offers every sinner redemption from their sins by faith in Him. Again, there are so many causes and so many injustices taking place every day in every part of the world that Christians can be a part of righting, and we as Jesus’ hands and feet need to get our feet in motion and get our hands “dirty” so that our time down here is not unfruitful, but is used up in His Power and Strength which His Spirit provides doing His Will and thus manifesting his Person and His Kingdom here on earth. Walking then as Jesus Himself walked requires not only faith but also works, “for faith without works is dead.”
Vs. 7 “Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.”
Here the Apostle John is referring to Jesus Christ’s commandment that we His disciples love one another, which is the wonderful theme of this epistle. For Christ Himself loved us from the beginning, and so He also taught us all from the beginning of His earthly ministry to love one another. Thus, this is no new commandment given through John but is what Jesus Christ Himself taught and did throughout His Life down here (John 13:34-35).
Vs. 8 “Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.”
The Apostle John now plays on what he just said by saying that it is a new commandment that he now writes to us, new in the sense that we who believe in Jesus Christ being new creations in Christ with new hearts, new minds and new desires which we have from Him by His Holy Spirit dwelling within us and are now thus called to do. For we have the fruits of the Spirit, (with love being the principal one), and which He Himself has, which is true, both in Him and us. Therefore, because we have Him in us the darkness of our old natures (and old thinking) is passing away, so that the true light, His glorious light, which is already shinning may shine ever brighter and brighter in us and through us as we walk in the light as He is in the light.
Vs. 9 “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.”
One cannot then say that they are In Christ and hate another believer, because to say or feel as much only reveals that one is still in the darkness and not in the light. In essence they are not saved.
Vs. 10 “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
Loving one’s brother (or fellow believer) than is the default state of all who believe in and thus belong too the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, loving one’s brother one abides in the light where Christ is and Satan is not. And thus, there is no cause for stumbling in him because there is no foothold in his heart through hatred which Satan can then use and exploit for his own purposes, by either leading them into self-destructive behaviors, or destructive words and deeds against others.
Vs. 11 “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
In contrast then to loving one’s brother (which is walking in the light of God’s love and Word) is the one who hates one’s brother, and thus who is walking in darkness, literally they are walking in Satan’s realm who only steals, kills, and destroys, and thus prompts people through untold ways means to do the same. And so, because they are in the darkness (through their own hatred which can be born out of unforgiveness) they do not know where they are going, that is they make all kinds of decisions and choices that will only harm them and or others, because the darkness has blinded their eyes. And so, in these verses 9-11 the Apostle John is warning us all not to be deceived about the perils of walking in hatred, which only puts one in the realm of darkness. And thus, at risk for being used or exploited by Satan, the ruler of darkness.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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