DRAFT ONLY

Introduction
      In 1:5 John states that "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all". He then goes on to examine the qualities of those who claim to walk in the light, those who claim to have fellowship with God. He identifies three factors:
        i] 1:6-10. A consciousness of sin, of separation from God, and a desire for confession - repentance.
        ii] 2:1-6. Trusting Christ, the one true atoning sacrifice for sin. The one law (command) we must obey, faith in Christ.
        iii] 3:7-14. The fruit of genuine faith, love - love of the brotherhood. It is the third factor which is the subject of our passage for study.

The passage

2:7-11. Love, is walking in the light.
      v7. John leads into his subject of the fruit of genuine faith (love) by telling his readers that he is not giving them a new command, but an old one. They have had this command from the "beginning". We are tempted to assume that the command is the command to love. There are certainly plenty of hints in that direction, namely John's gospel itself. The command to "love one another" is new, in that Jesus repeated it to his disciples, but is old in that love sums up the law. Yet the command is most probably not love, although it includes love. In fact, as John says, "the command is the message (logos - word) you have heard." What is the "word" they have heard from the beginning? It could be the Old Testament prophetic word, or even better, the covenantal word as detailed in the book of Deuteronomy. Yet the command (message or word) is most likely the New Testament gospel, even though the gospel proclaimed by Christ was only an extension of, and fulfillment of, the Deuteronomic word. This gospel (in summary; "the time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel") they heard from the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
      v8. Yet John wants to add that the commandment is also "new". As stated above, the command is the gospel and so obviously, although a message declared by Jesus and the apostles, it is also just as alive today.
      "Its truth is seen in him", or better, "which is true in him". The "him" is of course Jesus. It is not so much the command which is true in him, but the content of the command, ie. the word (logos), the gospel. The gospel is Jesus. It is "true" in him in the sense of being "real" in him. And the gospel is real in us in that we repent and believe and so become one with Christ.
      This realness of the gospel (Christ) in us is evident, says John, in the passing away of darkness and the coming of "the true light.... shining". What is the darkness and the light? It would be easy to plumb for evil and good behaviour, but it is most probably truth. The darkness may be gnostic heretical truth, but as already noted in earlier studies, the gnostic heresy is only in its infancy. Greek, Platonic, Pagan thinking has yet to form into the full gnostic heresy. It may either be referring to the darkness of paganism or of Jewith theology, enlightened ("passing") in the light of the gospel.
      v9-10. John now focuses on one specific element of the "command", the word, the gospel. It is the element of love which is the lived-out fruit of a person who has faith in Christ - "faith showing itself in love." John's point is simple, a person who claims to be a believer, claims to have accepted the gospel (obeyed the command of faith in Christ) and so claims to walk in the light, and yet hates their brother, "is still in the darkness."
      The elements of hate and love are not to be regarded as emotional qualities. They are faith in action. Love is caring, hate is hurting. One is action for another's good, the other, action for another's hurt.
      v11. So what damage does the hating one do? John could outline the terrible damage done to the church by a hypocrite. He could outline the damage done to individual believers. Yet he chooses to detail the self-imposed damage of the hypocrite. The damage done by the hater is self imposed blindness. The light of God's truth is hidden from them. They continue to walk about in darkness, but do not know it.

2:12-14. Those to whom John writes - believers
      . v12. John again gives a reason for writing, although this time it is rather difficult to fathom. He addresses three groups of parishioners, and this he does twice in present and past tense (not identified in the NIV). It is difficult to know who they are supposed to represent, but they are probably terms for new believers, those old in the faith, and those in the middle years of their Christian walk.
      He writes to new believers "because your sins have been forgiven". This is indeed a strange reason for writing. Possibly he just means something like - I write to you because you are believers.
      v13. He writes to the those of many years in the faith because they "known him who is from the beginning" - ie. Jesus. Again, it probably just means "I write to you because you are believers."
      Then he addresses those in the middle of their Christian walk, because "you have overcome the evil one." Again, all believers have done that through faith in Christ.
      v14. John goes through the group again saying why he "wrote" (now past tense) to them. He says much the same things and in the end, all of the qualities listed would apply to all believers. We all know the father, know the son, and have overcome the evil one.

Love is light
      It's very easy to preach sermons about loving one another. Easy to lay the business of loving on congregations. Easy to say it from the pulpit, to exhort, to cajole. The problem is we end up racked with guilt. That's assuming we apply what is said to ourselves honestly. Indeed it's far too easy to think the words apply to everyone else except ourselves.
      I mean by loving, not the feeling, not the emotion, but the deed. Maybe the word compassion would be a better one. Even the King James Bible word, charity. Yes, charity, that's the better word, and that's what John means by love in his letter. Active caring of others. And not just any old others, but brothers and sisters in Christ. "Whoever loves his brother lives in the light."
      But as I said, loving is not an easy road. Considering the needs of my fellow brothers and sisters in my church, in my fellowship, that is love. And it is loving that we don't do very well, and so when we are exhorted to do it, we end up guilty.
      The interesting thing about our passage for study is that it is not a crude moralisation. It doesn't leave us with a demand that we can't fulfill. The truth is that my selfishness is most often more powerful than my will to care for my brothers and sisters. To involve myself in the pains of others is all too much. I really don't need another impossible command. Yet what John gives us in this passage, is not the command to love, but the path to love. Now that is something I am indeed interested in. This passage gives me the secret of loving. What is the secret?
      John tells us that the loving one is someone who "lives in the light", v10. Such a person lives in love because "there is nothing in him to make him stumble". That is, light lights the way for loving. As for the person who hates, a person who does not care for the welfare of the brotherhood, such a person "is still in the darkness", v9, "walks around in darkness", v11. The sad thing is that such a person is not even aware that they are in darkness - "he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him", v11. This tells us that the person who "lives in the light" is only too aware of their limited loving. I can always remember a wonderful sister in the Lord who was always worried about her salvation because she knew, only too well, her sin. As I often said to her, knowing our sinfulness guarantees our standing before Christ.
      So walking in the light is the pathway to love. Our obvious question is, what is this light? In v8 John says that "the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." This true light is actually shining "in him", that is Christ, and "in you", believers. So the light, "can be observed in Jesus and in disciples. John actually calls it a "command" or "commandment". It is an "old" command, and a "new" command, although the same command. Actually, "command" is not a very good word and so John defines it fully in v7 as "the message you have heard". Yes, it is the gospel, the revealed, living, life-giving, word of God. In the Old Testament it was the Deuteronomic covenant, and in the New it was the message of the coming Kingdom of God which is ours through faith in Christ Jesus.
      To walk in the light involves initially belief in the Gospel - faith in Jesus, trust in his word. It then involves a growing understanding and trust in God's living word as revealed in the Scriptures. In the crudest sense we might call this a growing understanding of theology, of Biblical truth, and a commitment of faith to that truth. It's what Paul calls being "transformed by the renewal of our minds" or "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" through "knowledge of the Son of God." By this process "truth is seen", even in us, as "the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining."
      This reminds us how important it is to study God's word. We must give pride-of-place in our lives to the hearing of God's word expounded. Of first importance we must be regular in our church attendance, for central to our gathering together is the exposition of the Bible. What John is telling us is that the word expounded, heard and assimilated, is the light which propels us to love. "Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble", v10.
      The Bible, the word of God, is not a dead language, mere words on a page. The Bible is a living thing. There is a sense where the word of God is Christ himself, a living, dynamic word. This word has the power to achieve its intended results. When we hear it, assimilate it and trust it, with all our doubts, fears, failures..... it has the power to achieve its intended ends. The light is the pathway to love, thus those who love walk in the light.
      John drives this truth home in v12-14. In this little passage he address new converts, old time believers and those on the way. It is to these brothers and sisters, to us, that he writes. He writes to those who "live in the light" and this is how he defines them:
        "Your sins have been forgiven on account of his name".
        "You have known him who is from the beginning", ie. Jesus.
        "You have known the Father."
      He writes to children of the light, believers. And note what he says about believers in v14:
        "You are strong,
        and the word of God lives in you,
        and you have overcome the Evil one."
      There it is in a nutshell. The believer who trusts Jesus and his word overcomes. When we walk in the light its radiant power propels us on the way. This then is the secret of loving.

Discussion
      1. John writes of a command old and new. Is it the same command and what is it?
      2. What is the "true light"?
      3. A believer who "loves his brother lives in the light". What is the relationship between love and light?
      4. We all know only too well that we rarely love as Christ loved, so by what means can we begin to live in love toward our brothers and sisters.