The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

The difference between light and darkness ….

1 John 2:3-11 3 Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. 5 But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. 6 The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked. 7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have already heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light but still hates his fellow Christian is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his fellow Christian resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his fellow Christian is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Context (NET)

This section finishes off John’s references to light, and in it he tells us how we can know we are indeed living in the light. This is seen by the visible fact whether or not we love our brothers/sisters, and it is just as clear cut as that, and there is no mistaking either the reality, or the lack of it.

John points out that the opposite is also true …. That anyone who hates his brother/sister shows just as clearly that he is still in the darkness … again, there is not “grey”, no middle ground and no way not to be sure.

If the matter is that plain then we may wonder how it is that so many people seem to be either confused or mistaken about what is really quite simple. John concludes but giving the unpalatable reason. Those in the darkness have been blinded by it.

In his commentary, I.Howard Marshall has this to say :

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

I can't tell you the number of times that I have stumbled over this line down through the years! I have been hurt really deeply by several people who wear the label "Christian", but who have been abusive, not just to me, but to others. At one point, I considered two of them to be my very good friends. The third was, in fact, a pastor who, over the years, has left a path littered with hurt people.

Have I forgiven them? Yes, I made the decision of the will a long time ago and have found that my feelings toward them are no longer angry, bitter ones. It doesn't hurt to think of them any more. I don't hate these people, but I surely do NOT like them and I have absolutely no respect for them.

But do I love them? I can say yes if I define love this way: Love is wanting God's best for them. But I certainly have no warm or fuzzy feelings for these people who, as far as I know, continue to bruise and batter the unfortunate ones who cross their paths. I am so grateful that I don't have to deal with any of them any more! Some Christians can make it really, really difficult to love them, eh?

Overcomer

important verses aren't they?

Especially I think that they should make us take urgent stock about how we treat each other .... because the way Christians treat each other, let alone others .... is a scandal and a shame.

I think many of us could tell stories of abuse, vilification, betrayed trust .... and the lesser, but still hurtful .... scorn, sarcasm, gossip, ostracism etc., at the hands of fellow Christians.

This should not be .....

And that is the only way I can cope with it too .... to commit them to God. I also find that to pray for them helps me, it helps me to bring them before God, to pray for them the same mercy as I need God to show me.

The other important thing for me, was to understand that I am not responsible for their actions, but I certainly am responsible for my response ... I must not add to the evil.

It is such a grief.

Dinah

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

There have been a few churches that I would have liked to post verse 11 above each door!

Thank-you for your words,

I am challenged by the new oldness of the command. Why must God continually command us to love? Perhaps because this type of love is far from natural to the one without the Holy Spirit - and we who have the Spirit must learn to love all over again, again, and again...

This verse also helps us differentiate between the Light and the glare which the world offers.

John

_________________
"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

isn't it strange that so much of the Christian life is 3 steps forward and 2 steps back? .... So many things we (I) have to do over and over again .... and loving is certainly one of them.

I wonder why that is ..... perhaps God has to keep allowing us to fail to squeeze out of us the last vestiges of pride ... until we understand to the depths of our being that it is God and not us, so that we can live as Jesus lived, in complete obedience and trust.

The difference between real and imitation ..... like going into the mountains or the desert, far from all imitations so we can see the glory of the stars.

thank you for your insights

Dinah

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

"But do I love them? I can say yes if I define love this way: Love is wanting God's best for them. But I certainly have no warm or fuzzy feelings for these people who, as far as I know, continue to bruise and batter the unfortunate ones who cross their paths. I am so grateful that I don't have to deal with any of them any more! Some Christians can make it really, really difficult to love them, eh?"

I've had a world of disappointment from "people" but I have not been a Christian long enough to be really hurt by another Christian like this. Maybe I should get out more. For all I know, some of the people who have hurt me could be Christian but I don't know it. So many denominations and churches--even in a small county. I have really improved in forgiveness. I pray for the welfare (and redemption if you will) of those who have hurt me. Like in the Lord's Prayer. How can you ask for total forgiveness if you do not forgive?

Right now, my greatest blessing is a dog and a cat who I love dearly. I include their welfare in my prayers... The gospel is so demanding with respect to other people--
and I feel I should be more gregarious! It's hard when it doesn't come natural. I try, but I can't even find a home church.... I guess my current motto is be grateful and don't give up.
S

_________________
Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Serendipity

that is always a good way to live .... to which I would only add, "and live one day at a time"

I am learning to be thankful when I wake up in the morning .... and then to thank God for the day when I go to sleep at night .... that and trusting in the faithful Heavenly Father who loves me .... I really have no excuse to worry.

But it is so hard to live like that ... it goes against all our instincts, our need for some measure of control.

joy

Dinah

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

I have an ex pastor that tests the love factor to the max. My brother-in-law and sister came over for a couple of days and that is enough in itself but my ex-pastor called to talk to my brother-in-law. I talked to my ex pastor on the phone for about 15 minuets or so telling him what I was doing with the 20 somethings and guarding myself from telling him that the reason he isn't having any different results than in the past is because he keeps doing things the same way and . . . .ta da . . . the same results. It has been 15 years and I'm still working on it. The closer the person is to you the harder it is to forgive them, especially when they just keep on doing the deed.


Lyndon

Lyndon

well you are in good company ..... Jesus' own brothers did not believe in Him for 33 years! .... at one point they wanted to forcibly take Him home because they thought He was out of His mind ..... and obviously were still so estranged at the time of the crucifixion, that Jesus gave His mother into John's care.

Yet we are told that there was a private resurrection appearance to James, who afterward became a leader of the Jerusalem church.

So keep praying .... with God all things are possible.

joy

Dinah

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

I suppose a lot could be written on this very subject of meaning of the text of scripture, suffice to say John himself said, my paraphrase, all the books couldn’t contain all the things Jesus spoke & did. I often wonder how we can live out our lives in the fact of 2 commands uttered by Jesus and reinforced from the O.T. Yet the very core of the soul is determined by a light and dark motif, which in light of Jesus, you will make a choice. Jesus radical message to an anti-ethical world will cause you to choose. You will either accept him or you will reject him. That is a very direct statement, and it is meant to be, yet how little we really examine ourselves with the light of truth, righteousness, and of love. Do not misunderstand we are capable of a lot of things, but because of our bent towards our human nature we can not obtain perfection in this life. We are on a constant journey of spiritual training towards the goal of our faith the imago dei, to be like him. You know a small light in a totally dark cave, gives the greatest hope and faith. It is a powerful force that we should glorify each dawning day giving thanks and praise to the author of it all

_________________
Kola,

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

1 John 2:2-4 2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world. 3 Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. Context (NET)

Hello, I have a question about the text. Why does the verse 3 start: και εν τουτω γινωσκομεν (now by this we know)? I find this puzzling. How does the assurance of knowing God by keeping his commandments is related to what John has said previously?

_________________
Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ

Veka,

If by "what John has said previously" you mean the immediately preceding two verses (1 John 2:1-2), I think the paragraph formatting in the NET rightly connects those two verses to the thought begun in 1 John 1:5 rather than trying to have them serve as an introduction to what follows (1 John 2:3 ff.).

If by "what John has said previously" you mean all that he has written to that point in the letter, I think it's fair to say that "keeping God's commandments" (1 John 2:3-11) parallels "walking in the light" (1 John 1:5-2:2), one being another way of expressing the other.

_________________
"The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him." (John 14:21)

Forum Code of Conduct
The Bible NETWork Doctrinal Statement
The NET Bible Study Environment
Pastors Pro-Life Resource Center
Biblical Eldership

Thank you. John's logic still escapes me. The connection of the verse 3 with the preceding context seems rather loose and awkward. Walking in the light certainly implies, among other things, to keep God's commandments. That's a good point!

_________________
Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ

The new/old commandment puzzles me in three areas: first, whether John changed his mind but didn't want to start over in a new scroll, or wanted us to focus on whether the commandment was in fact new or old. Second, I wonder if John regarded this as his own commandment, or one of Jesus' that John was passing on. Third, I presume the commandment he's referring to is specified in 1 John 2:15, do not love the world, which seems a considerable departure from Jesus' comments about hating life, and sinners, etc.
It is interesting that Paul was quite clear when he advanced his own ideas.

one factor is that John wrote these letters after a longer period of reflection and growth in his own faith ..... whereas Paul wrote out of his missionary work, to the churches he had founded - probably at least 30 years earlier.

I know that the older I get (both in years and in the faith) the deeper and more nuanced the faith becomes .... the more I realize I don't know .... the more awesome and glorious God becomes.

more tomorrow!

_________________
Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs