7Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you . . .
John saturates his teaching with love. He continues to call his readers “Beloved.” So when he speaks of commandments, he does not present a Christianized version of legalism. No! After all, Jesus interpreted the Mosaic Law through the framework of love. When asked what the greatest command was, He responded:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all Your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37–29).
He added in the Upper Room: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). To John and his readers, this is not new in the sense that John is writing some sixty-plus years after Jesus gave them the “new commandment.” It has been part of the Christian teaching and thought since the time of Jesus. That is “the word which you have heard.”
However, John presents his teaching as a new commandment. We suggest he is essentially calling for a renewed teaching of what Jesus previously put forward. It is always new to a legalist, or one who is proclaiming love for God and His Son, yet without any change of life showing love in action. To one who is not obeying Christ, the news is that He is not looking for rote obedience but genuine love. Not just words, but a depth of love that is seen in a changed life, one that is becoming increasingly Christlike.
One of the fascinating aspects of the life of Christians in community is that whenever someone comes to understand the true relationship between love and obedience, it comes from an inner change or reformation of the heart. The discovery of this, and the changes that the new believer sees in his own life, excite the entire community of believers. It is like when Christians sing hymns and songs of the faith whose beautiful words and tunes have grown old and tired over time—then someone for whom the love for God comes alive sings those same songs and hymns with an enthusiasm that enlivens the community of the “beloved.”
PRAYER: Lord, I want to always sing a new song to You through my life and behavior.
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