The passage which we have for this month's meditation is I John 2:7-17, which begins with the word "beloved." John thinks of believers as the "beloved ones" because they love God and Jesus Christ and because the love of God has been shed abroad in their hearts. They have been brought into a very close fellowship with Christ and with one another. As we have already seen in I John 2:1, the Apostle speaks of the believers as his "little children. This thought again appears in I John 2:12.
A New Commandment to Believers
John speaks to the believers, saying, "Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard" (I John 2:7). In other words, John says that he is not springing some new teaching or doctrine upon them, but is simply calling attention to what they had heard from the beginning of their Christian experience or from the first time that they heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is quite possible that the thing to which he refers is the message of loving God and ones neighbor as oneself—as taught in the Old Testament (Deut. 6:5). Such a message was old and familiar to those to whom he was writing. This old commandment, according to this verse, is the word which they had heard from the very beginning of their acquaintance with the Gospel.
After stating that he is not giving them a new commandment, the Apostle in verse 8 declares: "Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth." Though the Apostle is not springing some new doctrine upon them, but is simply devoting his attention to that which they already knew, he could say that he was speaking to them about a new commandment. The old commandment, instructions, or charge which they had heard from the beginning probably took on a new meaning to them at some time or in some spiritual experience. I can understand the statement quite well, I think, in the light of my experiences from time to time. Frequently passages of Scripture which I have known for years seem to become new to me and jump, as it were, out of the Book right into my face; and though old, so far as I am concerned, yet they become new—new, richer, deeper, and wider than ever before. It is quite likely that such a meaning is that which John intends to convey. The Apostle Peter recognizes that Christians should grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Thanksgiving, worship, and Christian life, in the light of our experiences and walk with God, often take on a new meaning.
Concerning this old-new commandment, the Apostle declares that it is true in Christ and in those to whom he is writing. Christ is the very embodiment of truth. To the Apostles, the Lord Jesus, according to John 14:6, declared, "I am the way the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Christ was the very embodiment of truth. The message of Christ, which has been delivered to the believers, was true not only in Christ, but in themselves, for God verified the truth in their lives.
The reason for John's making that statement was that "the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth." Originally, the human family knew God, as is seen in Romans 1:18-23, but they refused to retain God in their knowledge. Then they became vain in their reasonings and turned to idolatry. Doubtless the prince of darkness blinded their eyes so that they could not see the truth under any conditions. Though the true Light—Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12)—was shining and its rays were reaching to the uttermost parts of the earth (Col. 1:23), yet darkness was everywhere. Though the dense darkness was in John's day beginning to disappear or recede, it has not yet passed away and never will until Christ, the Light of the World, returns at the end of the Tribulation and illuminates the world with the rays of His glorious light. When Christ comes to the earth and sets up His Kingdom, Satan the prince of darkness, will be incarcerated in the pit of the abyss. The demons likewise will be imprisoned in the abyss so that they cannot touch the human family. Then this message of the true light shining will become a reality in its fullness.
In view of the passing away of the dense darkness and the shining of the true light in the world, the Apostle declares that, if anyone claims that he is walking in the light, but at the same time he hates his brother, such a one is still in darkness, regardless of his opinion and his claim. If such a believer claims that he is walking in the light and still hates his brother, he is in the dark—never having been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of his love (Col. 1:13). The fact that one hates his brother is proof that he is still in darkness, is walking in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes and he cannot see properly and correctly anything at which he looks. This thought is involved in verses 9 and 11.
On the other hand, the Christian who loves his brother, states the Apostle, abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. The stumbling of which John is speaking is sinning, doing wrong. One who has really and truly been regenerated loves his brother and has no occasion of going into sin. The promise that there is no occasion of stumbling in him is similar to Peter's statement in his second Epistle, chapter 1, verses 5 to 11. The born-again person who supplies in his faith the seven Christian graces, here mentioned, can reach a point that he will never stumble. Never go off into sin (2 Peter 1:10).
The Special Message to God's Little Children
In I John 2:12, the Apostle uses a different word from the one appearing in 2:1, though it is translated alike, "my litle children." John, who had grown in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, had been perfected in love and had been drawn very close to the children of God wherever they were, spoke in the most endearing manner of his day, "little children."
The over-all reason for John's writing his Epistle was "that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:13). In 2:12-14 John names certain groups and gives a direct message to them. In verse 12 he calls those to whom he writes his "little children" and states that he is writing to them because their sins are forgiven or have been forgiven them for His name's sake. This truth is a glorious one. Their sins-all their sins, past, present, future—had been forgiven them because they had become childlike, had surrendered their lives and hearts to the Lord Christ, and had trusted Him for salvation. When they did so, all of their sins were forgiven them. They were forgiven, not because of their goodness or of their knowledge, or of anything that they possessed, or had done, but because of their believing on the name of the only begotten Son of God—who left immortal glory, took upon Himself the form of man, went to the cross, and suffered and died in their behalf. Whenever anyone comes to Christ and accepts Him, He, the Lord Jesus, will blot out all of his sins and remember them against him no more forever. A glorious thought this is!
In verse 13 John begins to speak more specifically to certain ones. He begins by saying that he is writing to the fathers, that is, the elderly brethren, because they know Christ who was and is from the beginning. They had accepted Christ. They had been regenerated, born again, and knew Him in a personal manner. John asserts that they know Christ, "who is from the beginning." This statement evidently is an echo from John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Let us be very careful in interpreting the expression "the beginning," because it is to be understood in the light of the immediate context where it appears.
In the next place, John addresses the young men, and declares that he is writing to them, "because ye have overcome the evil one." The young men addressed were young, immature Christians—those who had been believers a short time. John addresses them and commends them because they have "overcome the evil one." The "evil one" whom they had overcome was none other than Satan, the enemy of God and man. There is such a thing as being triumphant over Satan. In Romans, chapter 8, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers that they were "more than conquerors through Him that loved us" and gave Himself up for us. One cannot fight Satan in his own strength and win the battle. In order for one to be successful in overcoming Satan, he must be made strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, as the Apostle Paul urges in Ephesians 6:10-20. If one is strong in faith, Satan will leave him. Read especially James 4:5-10. In this connection, also study carefully I Peter 5:5-10. In conflicts with Satan the believer should look to the Lord Jesus Christ and turn the devil's case over to Him, claiming the power of the blood of Christ. On this point, study Revelation 12:11,12: "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time." According to the teaching of the various writers of the New Testament, as has already been shown in preceding meditations of this series, the believer who is fully surrendered to Christ can live a victorious life in Him. The Apostle Paul declared that he lived in victory: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20).
In the latter part of verse 13, John changes his point of view from that of himself as the writer of the epistle to that of those to whom he writes. He naturally speaks of the letter as having been written because it has been written by the time it reaches the addressee; hence, he said, "I have written." In the third place, John declares to the "little children" that he is writing to them because they know the Father. He is writing to them because they know the Father in a personal manner, and because he wants to increase their knowledge and stimulate their love for Him.
Having addressed the "little children," John again speaks to the fathers, saying that he has written unto them because they know Him "who is from the beginning," the Christ, who was in the beginning, all Eternity of the past. They were growing in grace and in knowledge of the truth.
John declares that he has written to the young men, "because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one" (verse 14). These young believers were strong, not in their own might, but in the might of the Lord. They loved the Lord and meditated upon His Word and understood it. The Word was abiding in their hearts and controlling their lives. They, therefore, were able to conquer the evil one.
The Christian's Attitude Toward the World
In verse 15, John urges the Christian to assume a definite attitude toward the world: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The world and all things therein are only temporary, and soon pass. Life is but a vain show, as we are taught in the book of Ecclesiastes. Man at his best estate is simply vanity, declared the inspired writer in Psalm 39. A redeemed person should never center his affections upon the things of the world (Col 3:1-4). If any believer should disregard this exhortation, the love of God has no place in his soul.
All things that are in the world—"the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life" —are not of the Father, but are of the world. The world will pass away, and the lust thereof, but the one who from the depths of his soul does the will of God will abide forever.
