A New Commandment

NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.

In the book of 1st John, chapter 2 and verse 8 we read the following:

1st John2:8  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

This book was written in New Testament times following the passage of Christ who had suffered and died for the remission of the sins of mankind and had ascended back to His Father.

This verse of 1st John has been the cause of much debate and confusion as to what it was John was telling the congregations of God’s Church to whom he was writing.

Many hold the position that this “new” commandment replaces the 10 commandments given to Moses in the Old Testament. These individuals are also of the opinion that with the coming into being of the New Testament, the Old Testament is no longer relevant. As well, it is almost universally assumed that whenever the word “commandment” is employed, whatever is being said is a message about the 10 commandments and anything then said overrides and replaces everything said up to that point about God’s commandments.

Therefore, using this line of reasoning, all that New Testament Christians have to do to be pleasing to God and be saved is to love their brothers as this is the new commandment John gave to the congregations of  God’s Church which was recorded in the Bible for true Christians to follow. However, what is not clear in this approach is “how” does one love his brother. Is it something left up to each individual to define and work out for himself as best suits him? If not, how can we know what needs to be done for us to love our brother in the way God wants us to love him? There is certainly no lack of different points of view regarding what it is to have love for someone else. Are New Testament Christians left to their own devices in defining how they are to love their brothers; is it an individual and personal decision and if it is, could we expect that different individuals would have vastly different understandings of what it means to love one’s brother which in all likelihood would clash with other true Christians interpretation of what it means to love their brother? Leaving it up to individuals to devise their own ideas of how to love their brethren would not lead to unity in the Church to say the least.

Let’s try to elucidate the matter by using the Scriptures to do so as God’s message to true Christians is not that they should on an individual basis make up their own minds as to what He expects of them but rather that they should search the Scriptures to determine what is His mind on different topics and in this specific instance, on what it means to love one’s brother.

Essential Background Information

The Bible clearly tells Christians that they are to prove all things.

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

How do they do this?

Act 17:10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 
Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

And Christians are to be continually studying the Scriptures; why ?

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Christians are to study the Bible to receive God’s approval for being a Christian that correctly understands the truth. The Christian is the workman that God is talking about here and which has to work at studying the Bible so as to not be ashamed i.e., to find himself embarrassed from not correctly understanding the truth which he would were he studying His Bible as he should.

Many today feel no such embarrassment being happy to only attend services and celebrate the holy days without reserving time during the week for attentive and detailed study of their Bible.

One last point of importance to keep in mind and which has not received much attention from the ministry of God’s Church when there was a true one in existence is that they, the ministry, are not the originator of the truth they teach nor are they the ones making it possible for Christians to understand the truth.  I know this seems a bit odd on the face of it so let’s see what God tells us through the Bible.

2Co 1:24  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Here God through Paul is saying that they, Paul, the other apostles and the ordained ministry, do not have dominion i.e., that they do not have the authority to impose on those they teach what they are to believe i.e., their faith. Rather, the ministry is there as helpers of their joy which is the truth that they have; the ministry is there to help them not to impose on them what it is that they are to believe. Again, I know, this is contrary to what most of us have always thought but here is the reason why the ministry cannot tell us what it is we are to believe i.e., “….have dominion….” over our faith: “….for by faith you stand.” Christians stand or fall based on their decision to believe or not the truth; a decision which is wholly theirs to make as will be explained a little later on in this study.

Upon belief and repentance, God’s Spirit enters us while before it was only with us while we were being called as made clear by John 14:17.

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

And, the Holy Spirit is the one and only means, there are no other ways according to your Bible, whereby man can understand the spiritual truth of God. Understanding does not come through Bible dictionaries, Bible commentaries, lexicons, a trusted minister, television preachers some of which we consider to  have some of the truth,  etc. as made clear by the following verses of 1 Corinthians.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

One last point which has been made in some of the studies posted on this Web site and which is directly related to the subject under examination is the reality of the free moral agency given man by God. I will not go through all of it again here; you can get a detailed explanation of what is free moral agency and why it is an essential component of God’s master plan of salvation for mankind by reading through the study found here: Your Mind in God’s Plan of Salvation for Mankind . So important is free moral agency that without it God’s plan of salvation would not be possible; find out why.

How can we know that God gave man free moral agency?

Deu 30:19  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 

God’s command to man is that he must choose but in order to be able to choose there must be no other power in the universe that can force a man to choose something against his will. If there is such a power then man does not have the freedom to choose as there is a higher power that can prevent him from choosing according to his will. The only choices that could be made are those imposed on man by this higher power irrespective of the desire of man to choose differently. Man would then be an extension of the mind and will of this higher power and could not be held responsible for the choices he makes as they would be not his own choices but those of the higher power forcing him to choose against his will.

For God to be able to judge mankind it was necessary that mankind be given absolute free moral agency i.e., that there is no higher power in the universe that can force him to choose something contrary to his will including Satan the devil whose only power is that of influencing men’s minds with no ability to compel men to do evil. Knowing and understanding the free moral agency given man changes many of  what is commonly taught on such subjects as the rebellion of Lucifer, the sin of Adam and Eve, Satan’s ability to cause man to sin, the responsibilities of God’s elect, etc. All of these things have been covered in detail in the previously mentioned study which I encourage you to read: Your Mind in God’s Plan of Salvation for Mankind

Keeping this information in mind, let’s go back to our examination of the “new” commandment John gave to the congregations of the churches of God of his days and which of course, applies to Christians of all ages as the Bible was not written solely for first century Christians.

The Context of 1 John

In order to get the right meaning of the different words, expression, phrases, sentences, etc. used in the Bible it is essential that we get the proper perspective as to what is the topic which is the focus or what is one of the main reason why a given letter, in this case, 1 John was written.

Until the arrival of the ability to instantly communicate with anyone anywhere in the world at practically no cost, messages were written down in letters that had to be carried by foot, horseback or some other such process.  This was the world in which John lived. Messages took a long time to get to their intended recipients as distance was a very big impediment given the means of transportation then available. It follows that whenever letters were written, great effort was made to cover the most important subjects. Letters could not just be about the weather and what one had for breakfast that morning as is often the case today.

When a letter was written before the advent of worldwide instantaneous communications it was usually very focused and about significant matters. What is one such matter of importance that John addressed in his letter. It should be borne in mind that when something is mentioned in one of the epistles there is usually a rather good reason for it to be mentioned. It is not a casual remark for the sole purpose of filling out the letter.

And so it is that we read the following:

1Jn 2:8  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 

Here we read John telling his congregations that he was writing them about a new commandment and that it is something which Christ did and which they should do also i.e., it was “….true in him and in you….” And John adds, that they, the members of God’s Church know this because “…. the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth” i.e., they now know the truth when before they did not and could not have understood what he is now going to tell them. And what he is going to do is give them words of correction for failing to do something which all true Christians must do. This had to have been a significant problem affecting several members in the congregations under his responsibility for John to write them about it. It is also a problem that would exist in the congregations of God’s Church through the ages as the Bible applies to Christians of all times.

What was the problem?

1Jn 2:9  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 
1Jn 2:10  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 
1Jn 2:11  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 

Within the congregations of God’s Church, brothers were not loving other brothers and there was even hate between some of them. This kind of behavior is not consistent with one who says he has God’s Holy Spirit and truth dwelling in his mind. It is a significant deviation from the kind of behavior they should have.

Those are John’s words of correction to them which are clear. John then proceeds to encourage them with the following words:

1Jn 2:12  I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 
1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 

John then spends time explaining to them why he is writing these words of correction to them. They have been called, have had their sins forgiven as they have followed their calling; God has revealed Himself to them by His Holy Spirit, and they have overcome the wicked one through Christ in them. They have been given a tremendous amount of truth and their overall attitude is to obey God in all things. They are not bad Christians but they have a shortcoming in their relationship with their brothers that they must correct as much as possible.

A New Commandment

Let’s now look at what John was saying about a “new commandment.”

Was John changing everything that had been taught through the epistles of Paul and James and reducing all their teachings to a single requirement which overrode and invalidated everything taught up to that point?

Did John have the authority to change the 10 commandments given to Israel from God who wrote them on stone tablets. But there are some that will say that even Christ talked of a new commandment and that would be true.

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

But when Christ spoke this to the disciples did he mean that this new commandment would replace the 10 commandments and that men would be considered as obeying God as long as they had love for one another in whatever way they personally defined love to be.

Didn’t he rather say that for the disciples to have love for one another was a distinguishing sign through which all men shall know that they are Christ’s disciples, then and today.

Can we come to the conclusion that the “new” commandment replaces and invalidates the law of the 10 commandments.  What did Christ say about the law and how long it was to last?

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Christ very plainly says He did not come to destroy the law (the 10 commandments and the statutes and judgments derived from them) or the prophets but to both fulfill the law and the prophecies made about His appearing, suffering and death.  He even adds for good measure, that until this present earth and heaven pass away, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law until all be fulfilled.

That doesn’t sound like the law was to be replaced or could ever be replaced by a single new commandment.  If the law is to endure until the end of this present world as not one jot or tittle is to pass from the law until all be fulfilled then obviously, what Christ said to the disciples and what John later on wrote to the congregations of the Church of God of his days cannot mean that the law of God now consists solely of the command to love your brother. This would be a major contradiction in the Scriptures and if the Scriptures contradict themselves or are shown to be untrue in one part then the whole Bible is not true. God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33) and God does not change (Heb 13:8).  Christ made it clear that the Scriptures cannot be broken; what is written will be accomplished (John 10:35; Is 55:11) as guaranteed by the very creator of the universe and of mankind. 

We must therefore reexamine what was the intended meaning of the words “a new commandment.”  John in his letter gives us an indication of what he meant when he says the following:

1Jn 2:7  Brethren, 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. 
1Jn 2:8  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 

Let’s analyze what John is saying. 

In 1 John 2:7 he starts off by saying to them that he is NOT writing a new commandment to them; it is not something new which did not already exist as a requirement for Christians. It is something they have known, an old commandment which they had from the beginning i.e., from the time of their conversion. It is the word or the truth they have been hearing since their conversion or “….from the beginning.“
Then in the following verse of 1 John 2:8 he continues by restating in another way what he has just told them . “Again….” or as we would say today, another way of understanding what I have just told you is as follows. What I am telling you is new to you as you have not been conducting yourself accordingly. In other words, I am ready to accept that you may have forgotten this aspect of God’s law and so I am reiterating it to you. This has for effect of lessening the harshness of the words of correction he is about to give them. He makes sure to tell them that this is what Christ did and this is what they should also do as they are no longer in ignorance of the truth.

John’s purpose is not to discourage his congregations but to motivate them to correct the shortcoming he points out to them about their conduct toward each other. And then, as we have already seen, he plainly tells them what they have to do to correct it.

That is the new commandment which John gives them and which really is not a new commandment but simply an emphasizing to them of a part of God’s law that was being neglected.

God’s law is based on the 10 commandments given directly by God to Moses for Israel will not change in the least bit until it all be fulfilled and the passing away of this present earth and heaven.

No new, single commandment is to override, replace and invalidate God’s law.

Loving your Brother in the Faith

As previously mentioned, if Christ and John thought it necessary to highlight to true Christians that they are to love one another, it is doubtlessly because that would be a continuing problem in the congregations of God’s Church.

As we know being converted does not mean that it becomes impossible to sin. Those of us who have been part of the congregations of God’s Church in the days of Mr. Armstrong have had the  opportunity to see for themselves that members had a tendency to form into cliques and exclude others whom they judged to in one way or another as being too different from them. They did not have the same love for all their fellow Christians and it was a problem of which John became aware and sought to correct in his letter.

Final Words

So as we should now be able to see, God’s law was never nor could ever be replaced by a single new commandment. The commandment given by John was that of a pastor reprimanding his flock; it was not God making a pronouncement that invalidated the first 4,000 years covered by the Bible and the Gospels which would make the Bible contradict itself in a very significant way and invalidate it.

Christ made it clear that He did not come to destroy the law or the prophets.

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 

And that anyone who teaches men to break the least of God’s commandments shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven by those who will be in it. Those teaching men to break any of God’s commandments will not be in God’s kingdom.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:………

If John had been preaching to his congregations that they were to forget about Christ’s teachings including the 10 commandments and only be bound by the requirement to love one another in whatever way they personally defined what it is to love one’s brother then God would not have used John to write the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse.

God’s commandments define for man what is righteousness.

Psa 119:172  My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

Christ nor John taught that the 10 commandments were replaced by the command for Christians to love one another and nor do any true Christians believe that they did if they will believe their Bible.