THE BLESSING OF LOVE AND THE WARNING OF HATE!

 The blessing of love and the warning of hate

The Apostle John starts out talking about an old commandment which is love. He urges Christians to walk through life with the true light shining through our spirit who is Jesus Christ Himself. He warns people in two out of five verses to watch out for people that have the spirit of hate in them especially those who say they are walking in the light. John does give the good news of believers in Jesus Christ who are walking in love but he also gives the end result of those who are living a life of darkness.

(7) "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. (8) Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. (9) He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. (10) He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. (11) But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." 1 John 2: 7-11. 

John makes it very clear that he is not writing about a new commandment but an old commandment. "Old" means the beginning of time which would be the very first human being ever created by God who was Adam. Even after he sinned Adam still had this law written in his heart (love) but the problem is the conscience gets seared and some other negative emotion takes the place of this pure "Love" and literally replaces something good and now bad or evil wins this fight. Yes I am actually saying we have to be proactive and fight this spiritual warfare so ultimately if we put on the whole armor of God as mentioned in Ephesians chapter six we will be walking in the love of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Did you ever notice that people who are passive in their relationship with Jesus Christ always fall into some emotion that has nothing to do with God?

(12) "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (13) Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Ephesians 6:12-13.  

Remember we are Christians now so the darkness we had in our life should be gone unless we allow it to become part of our lives and surface because of our neglect for our souls which is a lifestyle of repentance, faith and obedience to God. People that do not know Jesus Christ in a personal way for the most part really don't make any claims that they are not ignorant of the Son of God and His precepts but that should not be true for Christians because the "Light" who is Jesus Christ should be shining through our hearts. If this is not happening we should be doing everything before God to get right so this becomes a reality in our hearts. When John says in verse eight ... "And the true light now shineth" he is saying that we can not truly love unless this reality is taking place in our lives. This is difficult and what I mean by that is our approach has to be proactive because living clean before God is an everyday process.  

Jesus Christ is full of grace but that should also be true in our own lives. If darkness is distant from us Jesus Christ shines through us and of course it will just come natural to desire and obey God. One thing many Christians do not realize is we are building on a foundation be it good or bad but this process is happening in our life for our eternity.

If we allow this particular love from God to govern our souls we will be Christians who are approving the "Light." in life to be good, genuine, earnest and authentic and it will be easier for us to love other people that are not all that appealing. When we do this our heart is the same as Jesus Christ. We probably do not understand how much God loves everybody yet the Bible says "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13. I suppose if there is one thing I grieve the most in my heart it would be this painful eternal reality that the Bible says is true.

When verse ten says ... "There is no occasion of stumbling in him." it is in the context of a child of God allowing the true "Light" who is Jesus Christ to shine through him or her. This individual loves God and other people. It really does not matter what happens to this Christian because this person is so grounded in the Person of Jesus Christ that he or she can not fall because the proper foundation in this house has been built through the Person of Jesus Christ. He or she made the right choices by proceeding with these very principles John has written in 1 John 2:7-11. 

The Bible is extremely strong on Christian love because we value the soul of our brother in Christ but our heart is vexed at the mere possibility that something injurious could happen in their distress or easy going nature and circumstances thus stealing peace for themselves and even their family.

It is interesting to me that in this particular passage John has bookends. In verse ten the Apostle is talking about loving his brother but the top verse (nine) and the bottom verse (eleven) John really desires to make his point that hatred is equated to spiritual darkness. Both love and hate are strong emotions but the thing with hatred is you have to keep feeding it over and over and this emotion is never satisfied. I hope it is obvious that any person like this has malignity in their heart in a spiritually contaminated state because of this "Hatred" John is writing about to his readers. They are trapped in their own soul and in serious trouble with God.

We need spiritual "Light" from Jesus Christ and this liberating truth has to be coming out of our spirit. We need to shine for God to others because they don't understand the love of Jesus Christ. John goes on to say that darkness is exactly what it says in that ... "He knows not whether he goes, because darkness hath blinded his eyes." If we are literally walking in the dark without light don't you think we will bang our legs on a table? We may even walk into a wall.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of love so we should allow the "All Knowing God" to educate us because love will always be at the beginning, middle and end of our lives. Many people accept Jesus Christ into their hearts but disciples have got to have love in their hearts from God. This is a choice but giving that the Apostle John shows us the blueprint for the true "Light" who is Jesus Christ Himself shining in our hearts why would we be perhaps apathetic or strong on living in darkness through hatred in our hearts?

If you are one who does not know Jesus Christ you may want to make a decision to accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your very own Savior and Lord by repenting of all your sins and inviting Him into your life. This passage explains the precept of love rather than hate which just divides and destroys lives and perhaps the eternal destiny of a person or even worse many people.

The choice is up to you but this passage of Scripture is very clear that allowing the true "Light" who is Jesus Christ to shine through our souls is the way God wants us to live. It is also what the redeemed saints, angels and other created creatures are doing in heaven and they will be rejoicing in this to the glory of God for all eternity. I hope and pray I have or am convincing you in the present tense that this is the truth and perhaps you will embrace what John says in this passage of the Bible for your life and eternity. 

God Bless you,

Bob D.