"The author is explaining to the members of his church, in answer to developing heretical tendencies, the nature of true Christian belief and practice, and the way in which these interact. To do this he first chooses as his theme and for his exhortation the necessity of living in the light' (1:5-7). The first (negative) condition required for a genuinely Christlike existence, the writer suggests, is the renunciation of sin (1:8-2:2). The second (positive) condition he now proceeds to discuss: it is obedience, especially to the law of love (2:3-11)."53
"Though the immediate effect of the light is to expose sin, its primary purpose is to reveal duty."54
From his comments on fellowshipwith God, John moved to a discussion of knowingGod. He did so to enable his readers to appreciate the fundamental importance of knowing God as well as having intimate fellowship with God. These concepts are virtually synonymous.55John said similar things about knowing God as he had said about having fellowship with God.56Increased fellowship with God and increased knowledge of God are inseparable.
"Again the false claims to knowledge by the opponents are stated first, this time introduced by the clause he who says' (cf. vv. 4, 6, 9). Each of these claims is again denied and the evidence or tests' of the true knowledge of God is set forth: obeying his commands (v. 5), walking in his likeness (v. 6), and loving one's brother (v. 10)."57
2:3 John proposed a test whereby we can measure our experiential knowledge of God (Father and Son, 1:3). He said, look at your response to God's revealed will. All believers know God to some extent (John 17:3). However some know Him more fully than others do (John 14:7-9, 21-23). Occasionally a person who has been married for a long time and then gets a divorce will say of his or her spouse, "I never really knew her (or him)."Obviously they knew each other in one sense, but their knowledge of one another was not intimate. John's point was that our personal experiential knowledge of God will affect the way we live, and the way we live, obediently or disobediently, will reveal how well we really know God.
"The sign of knowledge of God is obedience to his commands and recognition of the way of life that he expects from his people."58
"In other words, to know' God is not a matter of correct thought-processes, but of a genuine spiritual relationship. The knowledge of God, and fellowship with him, are complementary aspects of Christian experience."59
2:4 The profession in view, in the light of the context (1:6, 8, 10), is evidently another claim to having close relationship with God, not a claim to being saved.60If a person says he knows God intimately but is not obedient to the revealed will of God, he is a liar. Furthermore, God's truth does not have a controlling influence over his life (cf. 1:8, 10).
". . . who is not keeping God's commands does not know God experientially no matter what he claims verbally."61
Verses 4, 6, and 9 contain three more claims (cf. 1:6, 8, 10).
"The three assertions about knowing God, abiding in him, and being in the light (as he himself is in the light, v 7), are parallel versions of a single claim to be in a right relationship with the Father through the Son."62
2:5a On the other hand the Christian who is careful to observe all of God's Word (not just His commandments, v. 4) gives evidence that he has come to understand and appreciate God's love for him. God's love is perfected in him in the sense that the Christian has perceived it, has responded to it, and it is having its intended result in his or her behavior. Our love for God is in view here rather than His love for us (cf. v. 15; 5:3).63Loving God is parallel to knowing God (vv. 3-4).
Bible students have often called John the apostle of love because of his frequent references to love.64Likewise many have referred to Paul as the apostle of faith and to Peter as the apostle of hope for the same reason.
2:5b-6 John's use of the phrase "in Him"is different from Paul's. Paul used this phrase to describe every believer's relationship to Christ. The unsaved are not "in Christ."However, John used "in Him"as Jesus did in the Upper Room Discourse to describe not all believers but the group of believers who abide in Christ (John 15:1-8). To abide in Christ means to obey Him (John 15:10).
"Thus the test of abiding' in him is, as before, whether or not the claimant is living a life of obedience to God."65
Abiding in Christ is another synonym for having an intimate relationship with Him, as are having fellowship with God and knowing God experientially. John's point was that a believer who is abiding in God will obey God just as Jesus Christ abode in God and gave evidence of that by obeying His Father. John used the word translated "abide"(Gr. meno) 24 times in 1 John.66This indicates a major emphasis on the believer's abiding relationship in this epistle. The obligation of every Christian is not just to obey God's orders (vv. 4-5) but also to follow the example of His Son (v. 6).
"We cannot claim to abide in Him unless we behave like Him."67
2:7 What commandments did John have in mind? He explained in this verse that he referred to no new responsibility with which his readers might be unfamiliar. He referred to the old commandment they had known about from the beginning of their experience as Christians (i.e., the command to love each other, vv. 9-11; cf. John 13:34-35).
2:8 In another sense, however, this old commandment was new (fresh, Gr. kainos). With the Incarnation, the light of God had entered the world more brightly than ever before (Heb. 1:1-3).
"It is not a recent innovation, yet it is qualitatively new as experienced in Christ."68
This light was dispelling the darkness of sin and would continue to do so until the final increase of that light will result in the complete annihilation of darkness. When Jesus Christ issued the great commandment anew He called it a new commandment even though God had given it previously (Lev. 19:18). Now it was important in a new sense due to His coming as the Light of the World (John 13:34-35).
The new commandment "is true"in Christ and in Christians in this sense: Jesus Christ's obedience to His Father fulfilled it first, and Christians' obedience to God is fulfilling it now.
2:9 This verse contains a concrete example of what John had been talking about. It is another claim to intimate fellowship with God that behavior shows is spurious (1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, 6). Hatred of other Christians is a sure sign that one is not walking with God in fellowship.
"Hate is the absence of the deeds of love. . . . Love unexpressed is not love at all. Love has no neutral capabilities. When it is absent, hate is present."69
Obviously genuine Christians have hated other Christians. It is naive to claim that the one hating must be an unbeliever. Moreover John regarded the hater and the one hated as brothers. In this letter the community of Christians is in view so John probably meant a "brother"Christian rather than a neighbor.70
2:10 The cause of stumbling is hatred in the heart. Hatred causes the hater to stumble in his or her walk with God.
". . . whoever loves his brother remains in the light; and being in the light he can both see where he is going, and therefore avoid yielding constantly to temptation, and also (as a result) avoid causing others to fall."71
2:11 The hater's sin affects him in three ways. It places him in darkness outside God's fellowship. It leads to aimless activity in which he is in great spiritual danger and in which there is the possibility of a fall. It also results in mental confusion (cf. John 12:35). The Christian who hates his brother loses his sense of spiritual direction in life partially or totally.
John argued that intimate fellowship with God is possible only when a person is obedient to God (2:3-11) as well as renouncing sin in his life (1:5-2:2).
