1 John 2:7–11

2:7 John addresses his readers as “beloved” for the first time, and will do so regularly throughout the rest of the letter. This is no mere convention. Having just mentioned the love of God being perfected in them (2:5), and preparing to call them to love one another, John uses a term of endearment for them that refers to the fact that they are loved by John and by God.

The “commandment” discussed here and in the following verses is the command to love one another. John says this is nothing new to them but is something they “had from the beginning” and “have heard.” Undoubtedly this refers to the fact that from the beginning of their Christian life, from the earliest times they heard the gospel proclaimed, they had been taught that Christians are to love one another—quite possibly as they heard John relate the words of Jesus that the apostle recorded in John 13:34–35. “Beginning” could also refer to the beginning of Scripture, as this command is also recorded in the earliest revelation, the Pentateuch (e.g., Lev. 19:18).

2:8 In another sense, this “commandment” is now “new” in light of Christ’s resurrection and ascension. The “darkness . . . passing away” and the “true light . . . already shining” refers to the breaking in of the kingdom of God. The darkness is not completely gone, but now because of Christ’s decisive victory the new era has begun. Thus this commandment is more than what could have been stated by Moses or even understood by the hearers of Jesus previously. In light of Christ’s ultimate fulfillment of this command with his self-sacrifice at the cross and his resulting powerful presence before the Father (John 16:10, 28) and his mediatorial role (1 John 2:1), this command has new power and possibility of fulfillment among his people.

2:9 John continues with the light/darkness theme reintroduced in the previous verse, noting ethical implications in another “whoever says” statement. Anyone who claims to partake in this in-breaking kingdom of God (“the light”) but “hates his brother” does not know what he is talking about. Hatred of a fellow believer (“brother”) has no place in this kingdom of light, so such hatred is another refutation of a claim to know God.

2:10 The one who obeys this renewed love command is “in the light,” participating in the in-breaking kingdom of God. He partakes of the benefits of Christ’s victory. As a result, there is in such a one “no cause for stumbling” (Gk. skandalon, which in the NT almost always refers to that which causes another person to stumble). Thus, when we love other believers, we “promote rather than deter the kingdom progress of others.”¹

2:11 John returns to the condition of the one who hates another believer, repeating that such a person is in darkness (outside of God’s kingdom; cf. v. 9). John adds that such a hater “walks in the darkness,” stressing his ongoing life outside of God’s ways, with the result that such a person is lost and aimless (“does not know where he is going”). Furthermore, the one who hates his brother is “blinded.” Sin blinds us to theological and ethical truth, putting us in a condition where we cannot see the truth even when it stands before our very eyes. Jesus rebuked such blindness among religious leaders (John 9:35–41), and Paul describes it as well (2 Cor. 4:4).