God gives spiritual "light" to help you navigate

1 John 2:7-11

See also

• v7+v8 “commandment” — Strong’s G1785
  • usually translated “commandment” but twice translated “precept”
  • can be used as a poetic reference to the old testament (e.g. Matt 15:3 “the commandment of God”)
  • can be used to refer to the 10 commandments (e.g. Matt 19:17 “keep the commandments”)
  • can be used to refer to a single command from God (e.g. Matt 22:37-38 “love the Lord thy God ... this is the first commandment”
  • can be used to refer to a general teaching (e.g. Mark 10:3-5 “³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” ⁵ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.””)
• v8 “Again” — Strong’s G3825
  • The third item in the outline of biblical usage is “in turn, on the other hand”
  • The root is “Probably from the same as πάλη (Strong’s G3823) (through the idea of oscillatory repetition)"
    • an oscillation (back and forth) could easily be an image for “again” — the thing has oscillated away and then back, returning *again* to the original position.
    • an oscillation could also be an image for “on the other hand” — the thing has oscillated away (on the other hand) and can be used to describe the idea of an idea with two sides (as two sides of the oscillation) but which is essentially the same idea
  • so in 1 John 2:8, “again” gives the sense of “on the other hand”, or “though it seems contradictory, yet it is part of the same motion”
• 1 John 1:5-10
  • ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
• I’ve assumed that God produces love in those who have fellowship with Him — there are many verses showing this, but I didn’t look any up today.

Observations

• the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning
• the new commandment is true in Him and in you
  • it’s true because the darkness is passing away
  • it’s true because the true light is already shining
• the commandment is that:
  • he who hates his brother
    • is in the “darkness”
    • walks in darkness
    • does not know where he is going
    • has had his eyes blinded by the darkness
  • he who loves his brother
    • abides in the “light”
    • there is no cause for stumbling in him
  • there is no command in those verses, is there?
    • from a study of “commandment” it looks like it could be stretched to mean a teaching without a direct command — although that is a stretch

Things God Does and other interpretations

• God produces love for neighbours in those who have fellowship with Him
  • it is an inevitable result of fellowship with God
  • so a lack of love for neighbours is sufficient proof of a lack of fellowship with God
• Fellowship with God causes one to have a right understanding of the world
  • the effect is the spiritual equivalent of being in light vs being in the dark
  • without fellowship with God one cannot see, spiritually
    • one does not know where to go
    • one stumbles

Application

• When I find myself hating others, that shows I am not walking closely with God.
  • don’t spend energy trying to produce the fruit in myself — it will come from God
  • instead, use all my energy (heart, soul, mind, strength) to
    • repent
      • not just from the hate
      • from everything in my life that has kept me from fellowship with God
      • from allowing myself to drift out of fellowship with God
    • seek God
• When I see someone with hate for his or her neighbour, I know he or she doesn’t Lave close fellowship with God
  • whether or not that person considers themselves a follower of Christ
  • (it’s the same attitude I applied to myself in the first application bullet)
• When I interact with someone who doesn’t have close fellowship with God, recognize that they are spiritually without light
  • it’s normal for him or her to navigate spiritual ideas and situations in a very different way from me
  • physically speaking, I rely on my sight for my navigation and to coordinate my movement. Without God, one does not have means for sound spiritual navigation
  • be kind and act appropriately