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Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:6 ESV
We said last week that this abiding language comes from John 15 where Yeshua tells those who are clean, believers, to abide in Him.
It is something that believers are commanded to do, which means it is something different from salvation.
We saw last week that "abides in Him" means exactly the same thing as being in fellowship with Him (1:4), walking in His light (1:7), keeping His commandments 2:3, "knowing Him" in 2:4, being "in Him" 2:5. They are all one and the same experience. Almost all agree that these terms are all synonymous. But most will say they are synonymous for salvation. But I would say that having fellowship with Him, knowing Him, and abiding in Him, it's all the same, they are all synonyms for having a close, intimate relationship with Him.
In 2:3-6 John spoke of obedience to the commandments in general as the way we test ourselves to see if we are in fellowship with Him. Then, in 2:7-11, John goes on to apply this test of obedience more specifically to the area of love. If Yeshua's life and especially His death epitomized love, then those who claim to abide in Him are obligated to live in love.
In verses 7 and 8 John addresses his readers directly and writes about the new commandment. These verses are transitional, moving the readers from the general requirement of obedience to God's commands (2:3-6) to the specific obligation to love fellow believers (2:9-11).
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 1 John 2:7 ESV
Here John writes, "Beloved I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment." And then in the very next verse he writes, "At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you," The fact that John begins to talk about love and hate in verses 9-11 suggests that the commandment in view in verses 7 and 8 is the love commandment from John 13:34. Notice what John writes in:
And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 2 John 1:5 ESV
The language is very much like verse 7 of our text, but here the commandment is quoted. So, we know that the commandment of 1 John 2:7-8, which in some sense is new and old, is the commandment of love which Yeshua gave to His disciples, namely, "Love one another as I have loved you."
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34 ESV
So Yeshua says it's a new command and so does John in verse 8 so how does John say it is old in verse 7? Many years later when the author reminded his community of this command it was no longer new, but familiar and hence old, committed to them since the beginning.
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 1 John 2:7 ESV
"Beloved"—John often calls his readers by affectionate terms. This term was used by the Father to refer to Yeshua at His baptism and transfiguration. It is a common designation of the saved in John's letters (cf. 1 John 3:2,21; 4:1,7,11; and 3 John 1,2,5,11.
If you have the KJV or Young's Literal they have "brother" following the Textus Receptus. "Beloved" is supported by the uncial Greek manuscripts (, A, B, C, P, and the Vulgate, Peshitta, Coptic, and Armenian versions [see Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary On the Greek New Testament, p. 708].
"I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment"—the command to love one another was nothing new; Yahweh taught the Israelites this in:
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18 ESV
You could sum up the Old Covenant Law in two commands: 1. Love God; and 2. Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10).
"But an old commandment that you had from the beginning"—what beginning is he talking about? This is an imperfect active indicative, which refers to the hearer's first encounter with the Gospel message. So "the beginning" in view is the beginning of their Christian life when they first The Word. This is confirmed in 2:24:
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2:24 ESV
John is not imposing some novel obligation upon his readers, but only recalling them to what they have known from the very beginning of their Christian walk.
"The old commandment is the word that you have heard"—
I think that John stresses that this is an old commandment because the Docetists, the false teachers were parading their new knowledge as a NEW revelation. They claimed to have some "new" truths. John counters them by saying that we don't need new truth, but rather the old truth that we learned early in our Christian experience.
John's message and emphasis is one that has been "from the beginning" and does not represent a doctrinal innovation, as the teaching of the opponents does. This commandment is old in comparison to the innovative teaching of the opponents who have not remained in the apostolic teaching, but have "gone on ahead" (2 John 9), becoming "progressives" in a bad sense.
John was teaching them what Jude called "the faith that was once delivered to the saints":
How is it possible to love God and neighbor passively?
Love is NOT A FEELING but an ACT OF THE WILL!
