Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 John 2:7

"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." — 1 John 2:7 (ASV)

The affectionate term “dear friends” (lit., “beloved”; GK 28) reminds us that the author is looking in two directions at once: (1) He is setting forth tests that will expose the false teachings and claims of his opponents. (2) He is providing tests by which his own spiritual children will know they are walking in the light. In addition, John may be dealing with a serious charge against his own teaching. His opponents may have claimed that he has in fact distorted the Gospel by adding to it. For them the knowledge of God available in the Gospel was itself the end of the religious quest. To John, however, the Gospel is fulfilled in the knowledge of God that is revealed in Jesus, and this in turn requires obedience to his commands and results in a new relationship with God expressed in a life of love. The point of view reflects Jesus’ words as recorded in Jn 13:34. The new command that John speaks of here in v.7 sums up what it means to “walk in the light” and to “walk as Jesus did.” Thus it stands at the heart of the Gospel. Moreover, what John was proclaiming was not “a new command but an old one” they had had “since the beginning.” So he denies that there ever was “a message” that did not have this command at its heart.