1 John 2:8 8Again I write to you a new command, which is true in him and in you, that the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
John repeats again his key theme of the change that takes place in a person’s life once faith in Jesus comes. The new command has many nuances to it, one of which is expressed at the end of this verse. The command has two parts to it. One is positive and expressed as love for one another. The other is negative in the form of rejection of sin. This dualism captures the essential choice every person must make. John already described in chapter 1 how to move from sin to love. The focus for the next two chapters is on rejecting the negative, and chapters 4 and 5 focus on the positive, though both are discussed in various ways throughout all the chapters of this letter.
The new command is actually not new but has been around since Adam and Eve. The newness comes in how one moves from sin to love, and this is made possible by Jesus, our advocate with the Father. This new command is found in Jesus and is working in believers. The truth of the gospel is proven by experiencing the power of the new command. God has poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). God’s love is best seen in Jesus (John 3:16) and experience by believing in his.
How can the old commandment become new? Old things become obsolete if they are not used. In terms of Jesus’ commands, if we do not obey them, they become obsolete and useless in our lives. His commands have no power over our lives and become irrelevant to our selfish agendas. If we do not listen and obey Jesus, we will not experience transformation. If we want to experience genuine change at the deepest levels of our being, we must obey.
John describes the new experience of God’s purposes for humanity in the last phrase of this verse. The darkness of ignorance, sin, deceit, and spiritual defeat can be replaced by the light of life, understanding, purpose, and peace. If we want to experience change, we must live in obedience. John’s readers were experiencing the light of Jesus but needed to move further into it. The light could represent God’s kingdom, which is powerfully coming into the world through those who believe. On an individual basis, the light of God’s grace seeks to change each person and comes knocking on the door of our consciences, drawing us to the light of Jesus. When the good news of salvation in Jesus comes to a person, that person then is confronted with the crucial choice of accepting the light or remaining in darkness.