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The Brand New Ancient Command
Brian Mashburn
March 7, 2010
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The Brand New Ancient Comman
When John speaks to his dear friends about having God’s love made complete in them by walking as Jesus walked, he is giving us a powerful summary of what he thinks it means to be religious.
In today’s text (1 Jn 2:7-11), he explains that this idea of loving God and people is both old and new. It is old in that it has been present since Moses and the Law. It is new in its emphasis as the command that explains Moses, and the Law. In fact, it explains the entirety of all that God means for us to be and have.
We are to focus on love. We are to exemplify love. We are to experience love and give others the experience of love. Anything else is darkness and death. This is the religion that John understands Christianity to be. Nothing more and nothing less.
John goes for the throat on how our attitude towards, and relationships with, people testifies directly to how truly religious we are.
How practical this is! If you want to measure how aligned you are with the heart of Christ, just check your heart and actions towards other people. Christian love isn’t just some shallow sentiment. As Jesus showed, it manifests itself in the flesh. Consider these “one another” commands:
“Honor one another above yourselves.”- Rm 12:10
“Live in harmony with one another.”- Rm 12:16
“Accept one another”- Rm 15:7
“Instruct one another.” - Rm 15:14
“Agree with one another..” - 1 Cor 1:10
“Serve one another in love.” - Gal 5:14
“Bear with one another in love.” – Eph 4:2
“Submit to one another.” - Eph 5:21
“Encourage one another” - 1 Thes 5:11
“Spur one another on toward love.” - Heb 10:24
“Live in harmony with one another.” - 1 Pet 3:8
You don’t have to read John’s book carefully to catch this: If these attitudes and actions aren’t defining how you relate to and with others, then the life, light and love of God is missing from your life.
…but available for the taking.