“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. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

The Promises of the Commandments of God

1. The Promise of the Old Command

Because of how time seems to function in this life, or maybe how our perception of it works, we have the sensation of never staying in the same spot. We’re delivered, we’re given revelation, we feel the peace of God, and then it seems to slip. Our flesh grows weary, the world creates opposition, or worse, temptation, that pulls us from the Truth of the message. It will not remain this way into eternity – Revelation 21:22–27 shows us the picture of this,

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Once freed from the corruption of our present flesh, in new bodies, in a new world, in the presence of our God who has been before time or creation, we will know completely the freedom we only taste now in part through Christ. I bring this up because in starting this passage you may wonder, “If it’s not a new commandment, what made it necessary for John to write it?” While the passage does go on to present a newness to what John identifies as an old commandment, it merits considering and understanding the purpose in continually readdressing and refocusing on the commandments of God. This simplest explanation is that we forget, we lose focus. We can be exceptionally bad at maintaining the instruction we’ve been given. Hebrews 5:11–14,

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

In warning against falling away from the faith, this passage reminds us that complacency does not aid us in the process of sanctification, but explicitly harms. We don’t receive the good news of the gospel, and then set it down and go about our business to return to it later – when you give your life to Christ, Christ is your life. Many Christian skim or entirely skip the Old Testament. To be fair, parts of it can feel a bit dense (those who complain about the genealogies in Matthew and Luke clearly haven’t read 1 Chronicles), and it seems that it’s often easier to determine context and therefore apply the New Testament – but that doesn’t make the Old Testament irrelevant in any capacity. People will read what Paul said in Romans 7:6,

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Or Colossians 2:16,

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”

And they stop there. We’re no longer bound under the sacrificial system and ritual practices of the Law, and so there’s no point in going any further. But this completely neglects what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17–19,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

So how do we reconcile this? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37–40,

“… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

As Christians we do not follow the ritual practices of the Law, but we absolutely follow the Spirit. We worship as Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4 we would, “in spirit and truth.” If we look back to Genesis 4 we see Abel make a sacrifice to God for which He had regard – this was generations upon generations, untold years before God had established His people and given them the Law through Moses. And yet what was significant (and in contrast to Cain), was that the spirit behind the sacrifice was correct before God. Romans 2:14–16,

“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

And so we can see that John bringing our attention back to an “old commandment” is a central theme of Scripture. We’re always returning to an old commandment, because there’s one, overarching commandment that colors and influences everything – that we have hearts, and minds, and souls that are focused entirely on God our Father.

“The old commandment is the word that you have heard.”

What does Scripture tell us about this word that we have heard?

Psalm 119:11,

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

John 1:1–2,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

John 1:14,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 17:17,

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

The Word of God the Father, who is embodied in Jesus the Son is Truth. It is the Spirit of this Truth that kindles the first spark of conversion, of repentance, that enables us to open our eyes and see our own position as sinners, and to recognize – not the want or the preference, but the need for redemption. This same Word, present from the beginning is what refines, teaches, and draws us ever closer to our Father in the process of sanctification. It is the Word of the old commandment that, through the transformative death and resurrection of Christ, lays out the new covenant, and brings forth a new commandment that remains under the same Spirit as the old.

2. The Promise of the New Command

“At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you…”

In the beginning, when man was newly formed and was not stained by sin, we knew a harmony with God that has not existed since the fall. Before we entered this state of sin, we obeyed the command to honor God before it existed, because before rebellion, we lived in agreement with His design for us. This didn’t last long. Eve was tempted by the serpent, and sinned, and Adam, failing in his headship, gave no pushback or correction, but yielded to the same temptation, and together they fell. What is righteous has no company with what is wicked, and it would have made sense if God has simply destroyed the world then – wiped the slate clean and started from scratch. Only God could bring forth reality from nothing, only He could, with Word alone bring forth and shape earth, and water, and life into being. And when we sinned, rather than erase His creation, He began a process that again only He could carry out. God says to the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15,

“… Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Man was stained with sin, and as you can’t wash off dirt with more dirt, or blood with more blood, there was nothing we could do to cleanse ourselves. But from the moment God cursed the serpent, He laid out a plan that would remove the barrier we had thrown up in our rebellion. “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Before God has even spoke the sentence of the curse against man for their transgression, as He curses the tempter, God summarizes the work He will bring to fruition through Christ. The aim that man be reconciled with God was present from the moment we fell, the work of Jesus was toward this end that began in the garden, but in Him we saw the glory of God, present before space and time, manifested in new and wonderful ways. Isaiah 43:18–19 speaks to the hope that God has given us from hopelessness, a time when we’re moved from our transgressions to stand only in Him,

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

The “new thing,” the new covenant, which stands in the Spirit of the old covenant, the continual aim to please and glorify God was not something we could do, but was divine work. In Luke 22:17–20, as Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, we see what it took to form this new covenant,

“And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”

We were given the Law, but we were not up to the measure of the Law, and in falling short, brought the condemnation of death upon ourselves. Hebrews 9:11–15 says of the new covenant,

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

Sin separated us from God, and while the Law served to bring us closer to Him, there was still an unfathomable divide that the blood of animals could never bridge. This is the promise of the new covenant, made in the blood of the Son of God. There is a great deal of difference between being in total darkness and having fire – but what is fire compared to the sun? The Law made it so that once a year, the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, the innermost space in the temple beyond the veil, to offer sacrifice for their own sin and the sins of God’s people. Jesus, God made flesh, makes it so that we can, as Hebrews 4:16 says,

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The need to draw close to God has always been present, the command that He be honored above all else has been constant, but in Christ we are given a new way to approach this, and a deeper and more intimate connection with our Father.

“… 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.”

Jesus is Truth, He is Light, and He (among many other things), is our Teacher. We know wisdom and discernment only through Him. John 1:4–5 tells us,

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Light exposes, it informs, and to revisit my fire/ sun analogy, in Christ we are given the Light of the world. As John stated earlier in 1 John 1:5

“… God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Jesus says during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:43–48,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

If we are called to love even our enemies, and in the privilege of prayer, lift the names of those who persecute us up before God, then how could we possibly hate those who are joined to us in salvation? Jesus teaches earlier in the Sermon on the Mount that to harbor anger, to insult and revile your brother is the same spiritually as murder. How could we seek to kill those with whom we’ll share eternity. As James writes, salt and fresh water cannot come from the same source – and so we see again that light and dark have no company with one another, love and hate cannot abide together, just as you cannot be blind and see at the same time. We cannot claim to stand in the new commandment, the promise and hope of the Light of the world, while also harboring darkness. Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:19–21,

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

As Jesus teaches, we cannot serve two masters, and in this we see that the new commandment calls us to the same life as the old did, but with greater clarity, and fullness of the Light of Christ.

“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.”

Jesus teaches in Matthew 15:13–14,

“… Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’”

As in all things related to righteousness and wickedness, the difference between our two paths is stark. We either delight in the ways of our Father, and walk in the Light of His wisdom and knowledge, or we rebel, embrace blindness, and find ourselves forever in the pit.

3. The Promise of Delivered Victory

As John continues we see him address three groups that seem to illustrate the spiritual development that takes place in each believer as God refines, multiplies, and sanctifies those who have come to Him for salvation. To the first group he writes,

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

And,

“I write to you, children, because you know the Father.”

When you first come to Christ you are saved, redeemed, and while this does not change, the person that you are doesn’t remain the same as you’re developed in the Spirit. The first thing we know in Jesus is the forgiveness of our sin. God offers salvation through the blood of Christ because He loves us, but He doesn’t love us because of our own abundant righteousness. Psalm 23:3 tells us,

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Isaiah 43:25 says,

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

And Isaiah 48:9–11 says,

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

The idea that we’re not made children of God by our own merit can poke at our pride, but it is ultimately the greatest assurance we can know. We cannot save ourselves, we cannot make ourselves righteous or grant ourselves triumph over sin. If we are our guarantee toward having a right relationship with God, toward honoring the Spirit of the old and new commandment, then we are doomed from the start. But if Mighty God, the Author of reality, the One who is holy above and beyond the perception of man, and who maintains existence itself by His Word says that He blesses and saves us for His name’s sake, what greater confidence could we have? Ezekiel 36:22–27 really drives this point home, saying,

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

This is the position of all new Christians, called to God, redeemed, restored, and raised to call Him our Father, not by our own merit, but for the sake of His holy name. The children in Christ are given two linked, but different messages, that their “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” and “because you know the Father.” To the next group we see the same message repeated twice, though with different information surrounding the core theme.

“I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.”

And,

“I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

First comes the declaration and commendation that these young men, growing and developing in the Spirit, have overcome the evil one. Then comes the further elaboration that they are strong – not by their own might, but because the Word abides in them, and we see as testament to this, again that they have overcome the evil one. These are those who have been given victory over temptation and darkness as they develop in their walk with Christ, not blinded in the darkness or guilty of hypocrisy. This image of the young man given spiritual victory in the name of the Lord brings to mind several passages of Scripture, the first being Ephesians 6:10–12, which says,

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

The second is 1 Peter 5:8–11, which tells us,

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Both passages present this kind of spiritual victory over darkness through Christ, but the final passage I want to draw from is from 1 Samuel 17. When David hears that Goliath has openly mocked God and defied the armies of Israel he states that he will kill the giant. When king Saul gives pushback, saying that David is too young and inexperienced to challenge Goliath David replies in verses 36–37,

“‘Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.’ And David said, ‘The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’…”

When Goliath sees that David is his challenger he mocks the young man, and threatens to kill him and give his body to the birds of the air and beasts of the field. In verses 45–47 David responds,

“… You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

“David and Goliath,” has become a common cultural example, far from any Biblical teaching, for anytime an underdog achieves victory. For many people it conjures ideas of grit, and determination, and a willingness to succeed no matter what. In reality, David and Goliath is a story of surrender – David’s surrender to the strength and will of the Almighty God he served. David’s greatest strength wasn’t his strength, but his complete willingness to trust in the might of God. This is the victory of the young men to whom John writes – and continuing with David as our example, who’s reign as king was marked with several pitfalls, we are reminded not to grow complacent, but maintain our faith in God as the One from whom all victories come. Finally, John addresses the third group saying,

“I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.”

And then repeating 

“I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.”

This address to the fathers is identical both times, and it speaks to true development in Christ as something that is both very simple, and yet more vast than we can truly comprehend. What does it mean to know God? Isaiah 55:8–9 presents God as unknowable to mankind, saying,

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

But John 1:18 tells us that through Christ we may come to know God,

“No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

Paul elaborates in 1 Corinthians 13:12, saying,

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

In Jesus we know, at least in part, the unknowable God. To be fully developed in your faith, to securely hold the victory given to us is to know this in your own life. There is also a practical application in this idea of knowing, “him who was from the beginning.” God is called many names throughout Scripture. He is called “I Am,” “the Lord of Hosts,” “the Ancient of Days,” “the Son of Man,” “the King of kings,” “the Lord of lords,” “the Holy One of Israel,” “the Chief Shepherd,” “the Alpha and Omega” – that is, the Beginning and the End. God is worthy of all His names, and all of His names apply – there’s not a time when He’s not Father and Son, Shepherd and King, Beginning and End. Yet we often focus on one element of God to the exclusion of others. We may do this in our worship, in our prayers, but I see it with a certain degree of consistency in our study. God is not just the God of the New Testament, or just the God of the Old Testament – He is God, from beginning to end. He wiped the face of the earth clean during the flood, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in fiery judgement, and brought the plagues against Egypt in order to free His people. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. To know maturity in your spirit is to look at God in judgement and look at God in mercy, and with eyes opened in the Spirit, see the perfect harmony that there is truly only One. This is the process of victory that John addresses, to those who are not in the darkness, but living in the Light. Adopted and raised up so that we might call God our Father, delivered into victory in the Word over the forces of darkness at work in the world, enlightened in the Spirit to know our God who is from the beginning – the One who was, and is, and is to come.

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AiBL-iS6EA