Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 John 2:3-8

"And hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Beloved, no new commandment write I unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning: the old commandment is the word which ye heard. Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth." — 1 John 2:3-8 (ASV)

The fourth inference from the doctrine that God is Light analyzes more accurately the general expression of 1 John 1:7, walking in the light. If Christ is, as in 1 John 2:1–2, the Paraclete and Propitiation of the world, it becomes necessary to determine whether He is this for us. This is important so that, when this salvation is offered, we do not condemn ourselves by rejecting it. The test is obedience to the commandments, especially in brotherly love.

This means by what follows.

That we know Him.—Rather, have known Him (so also in 1 John 2:4, I have known Him). This means that we have not grasped a shadow, but have been in communion with the living God. He reveals Himself not through speculation, but through a true inward life of humanity.

If we keep His commandments.—These are Christ’s commandments, because of the reference to John 14:15. We are to keep them like a precious heirloom, watching them against the inroads of our lower nature. (Matthew 28:20; 1 Timothy 6:14.)

If each person’s conscience were the standard of practice, confusion would again reign in morals, as it reigned in the days of the Sophists at Athens. (Compare Plato’s Republic, Book 2, Jowett’s translation.) A code and an example fitted for all times and all circumstances have been given by our Lord.

He that saith . . .—In particularizing the general proposition according to his custom, St. John rejects the first person plural as shocking, unreal, and artificial, and throws the blasphemy on some third person. So is a liar is stronger than we lie, and we deceive ourselves; in such a case the lie has entered thoroughly into the person’s nature.

But whoso keepeth His word.—This refers to the revelation of the will of God, looked at as a whole.

In Him verily is the love of God perfected.—St. John has in mind an ideal of a person so filled with the Spirit that in all things he embodies the will of God; the love that such a person has for God is indeed complete.

But he knows that the best of the human race can only approach such an ideal in different degrees, at a great distance; and the perfection of the love which they bear to God will vary in the same degree. (Compare 1 John 2:15; 1 John 3:17; 1 John 4:12; 1 John 5:3.) In him verily; rather, Truly in him. It is most emphatic, and refers back to the truth is not in him, in 1 John 2:4.

Hereby know we that we are in Him.—Compare 1 John 2:3 and 1 John 1:6; without such a test there could be no happiness in religion. In Him implies that we are saved by His grace, surrounded by His love, inspired by His thoughts, partakers of His nature, filled by His Spirit, the dwelling-place of the Father and the Son, with certain access to the divine throne and certain answer to prayer, heirs of the heavenly kingdom.

He ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.—Abiding in Him—in Christ—is an evident reference to John 15:4-11. In the terms of 1 John 2:3–5 there is a double gradation: on the one hand, knowing Him, being in Him, remaining in Him; on the other, keeping His commandments, keeping His word, walking even as He walked.

The last expression is the strongest of the latter three, as it views the Christian in action. The walk of Christ was the walk in the light (compare 1 John 1:7); divine love was the secret spring developing itself in a new virtue for every variety of circumstance.

In 1 John 2:7–11, brotherly love is introduced as the special manifestation of this obedience that springs from the walk in the light. At a superficial glance, it might have been thought that the personal address introduced a new paragraph; it is really only like the Verily, verily, of our Lord, breaking in to emphasize a message to be brought directly home to the hearts of the readers.

The life of obedience, the walk in light, is nothing else but the life of brotherly love: This is my commandment, that ye love one another (John 15:12).

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 (1 John 2:7).—That is, “I am preparing to give you a special direction, which has been implied already by the walk in light. If you look at it from the point of view of your first entrance into Christ’s kingdom, it is old, because it was the chief point of His moral teaching which you then heard.

If you look at its effect in you it is new, because:

1. It had never been taught so forcibly and clearly before Christ;
2. You are so imperfect that you are always liable to forget it;
3. Your obedience to the command can never be complete, but will always require fresh growth;
4. It can never be permanent without continual renewal by Christ’s presence.”

Ye is therefore his present Christian audience; from the beginning implies the time of their conversion; the word is here less wide than in 1 John 2:6, and means rather Christ’s teaching on this point. (Compare 2 John 1:5; Leviticus 19:0; Leviticus 18:24.)

Which thing is true in Him and in you (1 John 2:8).—The commandment might have hung in the air and remained old, that is, confined to the definite point of time of its promulgation, had it not been embodied forever in the following ways:

1. In the living example of Christ during His life on earth;
2. In His active presence and power since His resurrection;
3. In the conduct and character of His people, radically renewed by His Spirit and continually growing after His image.

(Compare 1 John 3:23; John 13:34.)

Because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth (1 John 2:8).—Rather, is passing away; already shineth. Here he gives the reason why he announces as new what he says is already truly realized in Christ and in process of realization in His people.

A visible change, a notable renovation, is going on; the gross darkness that covered the face of the earth is being torn away in the circle of the apostolic preaching. The life of the Lord, which gleamed forth for thirty-three years in the cities and on the hillsides of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, is now bursting far and wide into ever-increasing brightness. Wonderfully quick is the spread of the rays of His glory; multitudes in every known land are gathered into His kingdom.

Old things are passing away as the Apostle looks around, and all things are becoming new. (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5.)