Sermon Tone Analysis

The book of First John, in a large way, was written so that Christians may have more certainty about their faith.

1 John 5:13

To develop this sense of assurance or security, John lays out several tests for us as believers to examine, both in our lives in introspection, and for others to see as well.

The foremost test in 1 John is the Fellowship test, which encompasses chapter 1 in its entirety.

This fellowship test is crucial.

If you remember from several weeks ago when we looked at the first few verses, we said that "fellowship" is having in common - the most important thing that we have in common as believers is the Gospel - Jesus Christ and His work on our behalf.

If we do not have these, we have no true fellowship.

Conversely, if we do have this, then we have the basis for true Christian fellowship.

In chapter 2, John gives three more tests for the believers.

The first is the Test of Righteousness, or the test of obedience.

John communicates that it is God's will of desire that we do not sin, but when we do, we have forgiveness.

He goes on to argue that this promise of forgiveness fuels holiness in the believer, rather than fueling license or disobedience.

Skipping over our text for today, John addresses another test, which is the test of sound doctrine.

John reinforces this truth, that God's sheep know Him by the Truth.

He has revealed the truth to them in His Word, and they remain in that truth.

This is a mark of the believer.

But zeroing back in on our passage today, we come to see yet another test for the believers, and that is the social test, or the test of love.

The Test of Love

Francis Schaeffer put it this way in saying, "Love is the mark of the Christian."

"Love is the preeminent mark of a genuine believer.

Love for God is the benchmark of one's relationship to Him, and love for other people is the epitome of human relationships."

John MacArthur

We do not have to search very hard to find this in the scriptures.

Jesus is recorded in this dialogue with the Pharisees, listen to His insight.

And perhaps more famously, in John 13:34-35 Jesus puts it this way.

We see then, that not only is love for God and one another commanded of believers, but it is also seen as a mark by which true believers will be recognized.

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples."

As we examine this passage in 1 John, I hope we see this:

"Our Christian love is a test that shows not only the world, but also ourselves that we are true believers."

The Old and New Commandment.

- Vv. 7-8

In previous verses, John clearly admonishes believers to keep God's commandments, but here he zeroes in on and brings foreward one commandment specifically, which is the command to love.

Although the word "love" it is not mentioned until verse 10, it is clear exactly what commandment John is referring to as he references "the new commandment."

John is following a clear, and logical, progression of thought which is this: If a person knows God, he will keep His commandments.

And If he keeps God's commandments, he will love others in accord with the teaching of Scripture.

He reminds his readers that there is nothing really new about this commandment at all, rather it is a truth that they have known from the beginning.

This commandment had been taught throughout history and throughout the biblical text.

For instance, Leviticus 19:18

When Paul instructed the romans on Brotherly love, he quotes from the ten commandments.

By this Paul himself is showing that this commandment to love is nothing new.

When John says that they have had this commandment "from the beginning," we really see two senses to which he may be referring.

Both are equally true.

Firstly, he is pointing out that the commandment is older than they are, and it originated before them as it existed with God himself from eternity.

Jesus gives us a snapshot into this in His prayer to the Father in John 17.

Before humanity existed, there was perfect love on display within the Trinity.

Truly, this is from the beginning.

But not only is this commandment of love from the beginning in an eternal sense, but also in a very practical sense, in this way: This is the kind of ABC's of christian obedience that every follower of Christ knows about.

Before they understood the finest points of doctrine, they understood that they were to love as Christ loved.

It is central, primary, can't live without it material to the Christian experience.

So this is not new material, not a brainchild of the Apostle, not novel information that had yet to be revealed.

It is an old commandment, but it is also new.

How is this possible?

James Boice puts it this way.

"In what sense, then, is the command to love a new commandment?

It is new in that it was raised to an entirely new emphasis and level by the teaching and example of Jesus."

James M. Boice

John says, "At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you..."

The key to the newness of this command is not in its age, but in is expression - namely the person of Christ.

Never before had true love been expressed as it was in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

There are a couple of ways to express "newness" in the language of the New Testament.

This one is "kainos" which speaks more to the quality or essence of being new than it does of the chronological newness of something.

For instance, you may say "I built a new house" or "I bought a new pair of shoes" and by that, you mean something that is brand new, it didn't exist to you before.

You may also say, "I have a new lease on life" or "I feel like a new man."

These are entirely different statements than a new house or a new car.

Another word we may use in the place of "new" is "fresh."

Newly realized, newly expressed, newly made known in Christ.

In Christ's ministry his love reached to an extent not seen before by his people, it went to a length that it had not previously gone to in that it went to the cross.

But it also is new in the degree to which it is seen.

"it is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."

The comparison of "light" and "darkness" is common in John's writing.

Here he uses it to illustrate the newness of this commandment of love.

Previously the commandments were seen as a way to God, a means to please Him.

Now this commandment of love is being seen because of God.

Primarily, because of the true Light, Jesus Christ, which gives light for us to see beyond the shadows of darkness, because the darkness is passing away.

Jesus is the true light.

To put it in the words of Paul, we see this "new, Fresh" commandment because

The commandment of love - Old in its chronology and its teaching, but new and fresh in its expression and realization in the person of Christ.

The Old and New Life - Vv. 9-11

The New Life is pictured in verse 10.

True love for the brothers is evidence of new life in Christ - it is proof that one is abiding in the light.

John goes on to say that in them is no cause for stumbling.

This may be applied in two ways.

First, it shows that the one who is in the light and loving his brothers does not cause his brother to stumble.

He does not cause them to sin.

But also, it refers to the person themselves.

Not only do they not cause or tempt others to sin, but they also do not occasion themselves to sin either by having disdain toward the brothers.

This second application is almost stronger.

As the passage is not focusing necessarily on looking outward, but on looking inward to the effects of light and darkness.

But John commits verses 9 and 11 to describing the old life, or the person who does not have love.

John puts a large emphasis in this epistle on our profession of faith being more than just words.

Paul said something similar to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 13:2

In verse 11, John goes on to show that the one who is characterized by hating his brother, and not love, is not just a liar as he pointed out earlier, but he is "in the darkness"

John plays on this teaching of Christ later in the epistls in 1 John 3:15

Not only is he in the darkness, but he is walking in the darkness.

Walking, here, refers to the encompassing pattern of his life.

It is not just that he is blind for the moment, but rather that he is totally blind.

He is in darkness, walking in darkness, and is essentially aimless.

This is not the characteristic of a genuine believer who is troubled by sin for a season, John is referring to those who do not know Christ.

They are in the darkness, because they do not have the true light that he mentioned in verse 8. Their need is to come to Christ.

So what of this test of love?