Chapter 4 1 John 2:7–11

Literary Context

This unit begins to transition into the exhortations that begin in 2:15 by switching from the more general “we” and “the one who says” to the more direct and personal second person subject (“you”), though still in the indicative mood (vv. 7–8). The previous verses (2:3–6) spoke to the issue of love for God; this section shifts to love for others. It is a preface to the highly structured rhetoric that follows in vv. 12–14.

III. Dealing with Sin (2:1–6)
IV. Love, Light, and Darkness (2:7–11)
1. A. The Continuity of John’s Teaching with Jesus’ Teaching (2:7–8)
2. B. The Relationship of Love and Hate to the Light and Darkness Duality (2:9–11)
V. Children, Fathers, and Young Men (2:12–14)

Main Idea

John extends the light and darkness duality to include the concepts of love and hate. He will continue to build a conceptual universe that leaves no neutral ground. Those who actively love others live in the light and do nothing that will lead others into acts or decisions contrary to the revealed will of God in Jesus Christ.

Translation

Structure

This unit is part of the larger discourse unit 2:1–17. It is introduced by the vocative “dear friends” (ἀγαπητοί), which expresses the author’s love for those to whom he writes, even as he will exhort them to love others. Verse 7 claims continuity with the old command his readers have already heard, forming a contrast with v. 8, which introduces a new aspect to this old command he wishes to explain. Verses 9–11 expand on the light-darkness duality that was introduced in 1:5 with the statement that “God is light” by defining the antithesis between love and hate, or indifference, in relation to light and darkness.

Exegetical Outline

IV. Love, Light, and Darkness (2:7–11)
1. A. The continuity of John’s teaching with Jesus’ teaching (2:7–8)
  1. 1. He reminds his readers that he loves them (2:7a).
  2. 2. He brings not a new command, but one that his readers have had “from the beginning” (2:7b)
  3. 3. But the coming of Christ, the true light, into the world’s darkness is such a monumental event that he gives the command new meaning (2:8)
2. B. The relationship of love and hate to the light and darkness duality (2:9–11)
  1. 1. It is impossible to hate a fellow believer and walk in the light (2:9)
  2. 2. Love for the fellow believer shows that one remains in the light (2:10)
  3. 3. The true nature of one who hates a fellow believer (2:11)

Explanation of the Text

2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing to you a new command but an old command, which you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message that you have heard (Ἀγαπητοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν ἀλλ’ ἐντολὴν παλαιὰν ἣν εἴχετε ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς· ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατε). The vocative “dear friends” (ἀγαπητοί) starts a new unit that explains both the continuity and discontinuity of Christian moral life with previous tradition. The author expresses love for his readers in the context of his exhortation that they must love one another in obedience to Jesus’ command.

Modern English Bibles are right to translate this term (ἀγαπητοί) as “dear friends” because the English word “beloved” carries connotations today that might confuse modern readers. But we must not forget that the use of this vocative connects to the major theme of love throughout the letter. The author uses ἀγαπητοί several times in the letter, usually in the context of discussions about God’s love as expressed by active love for one another. The author’s love for his readers in light of v. 10 (see comments) implies that there is nothing in his teaching that will cause them to stumble or lead them astray.

The author reminds them that what he has just written—that the one who knows God must keep his command and the one who abides in God must live as Jesus lived—is not a new and novel idea, but is an old command. The idea that love for God and obedience to his commands is expressed by love for others was central even to the old covenant, and John’s definition of the old command as the “message” (λόγος) may be an allusion to “the ten words” (Exod 34:28; Deut 10:4), or as we know them in English, the Ten Commandments. For the heart of the old covenant was love for God and love for others:

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut 6:5)

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:18, italics added)

In fact, all of Jesus’ teaching is squarely centered on this statement that summarizes the old covenant:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt 22:37–40)

In 2:3–6, John first addresses how love for the Lord God is expressed, while 2:7–11 addresses the second greatest commandment of love for others. There is a circularity to love that flows first from God to the believer, and then back to God as the believer loves others.

Recognizing the centrality of the love command in the Old Testament as well as in Jesus’ teaching helps us to understand what it means that John’s readers have had this command “from the beginning” (ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς). Although the primary reference is no doubt to their first awareness of the gospel message at the beginning of their Christian life, John’s point is that the command goes back to Jesus, and then further back to the covenant that God revealed to ancient Israel. John’s apostolic teaching is nothing new and novel, but is the culmination of, and consistent with, what God has been saying all along.

2:8 Yet I am writing to you a new command, something that is realized in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (πάλιν ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν, ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία παράγεται καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἤδη φαίνει). John makes the point that the coming of Jesus transforms even the old covenant into something new. On the one hand, John highlights the continuity of the command with what God has previously revealed, but on the other he also shows that the circumstances in which that command must be applied are indeed new, for Jesus has come and the light is now shining. That change in redemptive history from old to new covenant justifies calling this apostolic teaching new.

The relative clause “something that is realized in him and in you” (ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν) is difficult, for the neuter relative pronoun “[something] that” (ὅ) is unexpected; it does not agree grammatically with the feminine noun “command” (ἐντολήν), the expected antecedent. Such a grammatical surprise needs to be considered carefully. As Smalley sees it,

the allusion here is not just to the law itself, but more widely to the newness (the new quality) of the law of love, and its realization in Christ and in the believer…. Had the writer intended to refer exclusively to the law, rather than to its truth or “realization,” a relative pronoun in the feminine would presumably have been required.1

Andrew Persson also takes the neuter relative pronoun as a reference to the previous statement of the claim of newness. He paraphrases, “I claim that this command is new and you can see that my claim is true both in him and in you.”2

This interpretation also takes the prepositional phrase “in him” (ἐν αὐτῷ) to be a reference to Christ, construing the pronoun to be masculine rather than the identical neuter form (contra Cully, who translates, “and this claim (that I am writing a new command) is true in and of itself and with respect to you”).3 The basis given, “because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining,” is an allusion to Jesus, the light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12; 9:5). God is light (1 John 1:5), and he has come into the world in the person of Jesus. That epoch-changing event gives such new meaning to the old command that John can speak of it as a new command.

The light that Jesus brought into the world shines not only in him, but “in you” (ἐν ὑμῖν), those who walk in the light. Darkness is being extinguished as more and more people come to faith in Christ and live out God’s love in the world. As God moves history toward its final culmination, darkness and all that is associated with it is passing away. The coming of the light is “already” (ἤδη) here, rather than something that is merely promised for the eschatological future, and John’s readers need to align themselves with it, for it is “the true light” (τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν). Any alleged light that is not centered in Christ is false, not the genuine light that God is (1:5).

2:9 The one who says, “I am in the light,” and hates their brother or sister is still in the darkness (ὁ λέγων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῶν ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν ἕως ἄρτι). There is no better analogy than light and darkness to form a conceptual dualism that defines and separates categories that are antithetical and unmixed. Here John applies the sharp polarity between light and darkness to the moral categories of love and its opposite.

Again John mentions “the one who says….” There may have been people actually saying such things, or this may be purely hypothetical to warn his readers against even thinking such things. Hate for others is not of the light and therefore is not of God, regardless of what the hater may claim—a point that should be taken to heart by those who wrongly think that evil done in God’s name is a legitimate means to an end. As Marshall points out, “It is significant that he does not write: ‘Whoever says that he loves his brother lives in the light.’ He is concerned with action, not with words which may not correspond to reality.”4

How narrowly circumscribed is the Johannine command to love? Does John want his readers to love only other Christians? New Testament writers consistently use the Greek word adelphos (ἀδελφός) to refer to fellow believers, whether male or female. John uses the word in this sense to refer to fellow believers, focusing in this letter on relationships between Christians. John’s point is not to contradict Jesus’ teaching that we are to love our neighbor (πλήσιον) as ourselves (Matt 22:39), or that we love our enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35), but his focus for the purposes of this letter are on the ethical demands of the gospel toward others in the Christian communities.5 This restriction is circumstantial because John is writing in the wake of a disruption in the unity of the church, where relationships between believers are his primary concern.

John does not define hate here, expressions of which were probably self-evident, though the duality suggests that failure to love actively constitutes hate. His later remark about ignoring the needs of others suggests that even indifference is a failure to love (3:17). These are not terms of emotion but of attitude and behavior toward others. John presses the point that anyone who hates a fellow believer is in darkness, regardless of what they may say, and therefore is not of God. Again, the quality of interpersonal relationship speaks louder than verbal witness.

2:10 The one who loves their brother or sister remains in the light and does not entice them (ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ μένει καὶ σκάνδαλον ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν). To remain in the light means to remain in God, who is light. Two predicate nominative statements are made about God in 1 John: God is light (1:5) and God is love (4:8). John brings the ethical and moral implications of these two theological statements to bear on the lives of his readers. To remain in the light demands that one loves their brother or sister in Christ. Just as John did not define acts of hate in 2:9, so he does not define acts of love here, though more specific examples are mentioned later (e.g., 3:11–12, 17–18).

The second clause of this verse, (lit.) “and there is no cause of stumbling in him/it” (καὶ σκάνδαλον ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν), presents two related problems: (1) how to best translate σκάνδαλον; and (2) what is the referent of the pronoun in the prepositional phrase (ἐν αὐτῷ). Grammatically, the term αὐτῷ could be neuter and understood as “in it,” referring back to the light. If it is a generic masculine (“in him”), it refers back to the one who loves. The noun skandalon (σκάνδαλον) refers to “an action or circumstance that leads one to act contrary to a proper course of action or set of beliefs.”6 The question is whether it is the one who loves who is not being enticed or those who are being loved. Thus, the clause may be understood to mean:

1. There is nothing in the light that would entice a Christian to act in a way contrary to God’s will and call it love.7 Or,
2. There is nothing in a Christian who is walking in the light that would cause himself or others to act in a way contrary to God’s revealed will.8

Elsewhere in the New Testament, skandalon refers to something that causes someone else to stumble (e.g., Matt 13:41; 16:23; 18:7; Rom 9:33; 11:9; 1 Cor 1:23). Because the context here is the command to love others, that is the likely sense here as well. If so, John is saying that genuine love for another means not putting anything before them that would entice them to act in a way contrary to God’s will. This was likely just what the secessionists were doing with their false teaching.

2:11 The one who hates their brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes (ὁ δὲ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν καὶ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ περιπατεῖ, καὶ οὐκ οἶδεν ποῦ ὑπάγει, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία ἐτύφλωσεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ). Hate for others is moral darkness that is inconsistent with a God who is light. John has already stated that hating a brother or sister constitutes walking in darkness, regardless if one thinks otherwise (v. 9). He has said that it is love for a fellow believer that demonstrates that one is remaining in the light (v. 10a). If God is light (1:5) and God is love (4:8, 16), walking in the light cannot be separated from love for others.

John defines love as doing nothing that would entice a brother or sister to act contrary to God’s revealed will (v. 10b). Just as darkness is the absence of light, hate is the absence of love. To hate a fellow believer need not involve animosity or violence toward them; in John’s thought, it means the failure to love, and by implication behaving in a way that entices a fellow believer to sin. John will relate this polarity between love and hate to false teaching later in the chapter. False teaching is not a loving act because, no matter how well intentioned, it misleads people away from the truth (2:26).

The one who hates by virtue of not loving “is in the darkness” and “walks in the darkness” and “does not know where they are going” because the darkness has blinded them. This indicates a progression. The one who hates by not loving is not on God’s side of the duality, even if they claim to be. Furthermore, they “walk in the darkness” by having their decisions and actions motivated and informed by impulses that are not from God. They don’t see where this is leading them, because the darkness has blinded them.

Darkness is not neutral; it causes spiritual and moral blindness. Darkness, the absence of light, is the absence of God in one’s life. The picture here is of someone who claims to be enlightened, claims to know God, and perhaps hangs out in the church. Nevertheless, it is someone who needs Jesus to touch the eyes of their spirit and dispel the darkness of blindness, as he did to the man born blind physically who exclaimed, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25).

Theology in Application

Living in the Light

Because “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and Jesus has come as light into a world covered in darkness (John 1:5), John challenges us to consider our own lives in view of this duality. If we are in fellowship with God in Christ, we will walk in the light and do the truth. That is, we will let the revelation of God that Jesus Christ brought inform our every act and decision throughout life. To remain in the light means to continue to be motivated by God’s will throughout all the challenges and temptations we face. We will keep his commands to believe in his Son and to love one another through every season of our lives. Only in this way do we remain in God.

Love Is Living in the Light

John teaches here that the one who is in the light and loves others does not present them with any enticement that would lead them away from the will of God. What a vast and all-encompassing view of love! Love is not an emotion, nor is it a sentimental abstraction. It is living with others as God intends us to. What a convicting message in a society where so many feel entitled to live for themselves alone and believe that how they live is no one’s business but their own. Modern society seems to have lost the ideal of living for the common good (cf. 1 Cor 10:24) and has replaced it with a self-centered philosophy of looking out for number one. To live a Christ-centered life that strives to do right by others is increasingly countercultural.

How much thought do we give to how our example, our words, and our behavior influence those around us, particularly other Christians? The apostle Paul applied this principle to the issue of eating certain foods: “It is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble” (Rom 14:20), and “Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God” (1 Cor 10:32). It is not loving to encourage anyone to do something against their conscience, but especially against a conscience that has been formed by obedience to God.

When we do not love, John says, we sin. Although there may, and should, be specific, recognizable acts of love for others, John presents the challenge of loving constantly and consistently in every relationship and interaction. In our every act either we are loving others or we are sinning against them. We are either relating to them rightly as God would want us to or we are not. When we do not love others by doing right by them, we become a stumbling block to their relationship with God. When our example or our words influence others away from obedience to God in Christ, we are in that moment part of the darkness that Christ came to dispel. To habitually live in such a way is to walk in darkness, to be in a place where God is absent from one’s life. And because light is needed to sustain life, to live in word and deed contrary to God’s revealed will can mean only death. Each time we fail to love there is something that dies a little, whether it be a relationship, our own integrity and wholeness, or our fellowship with God.