FollowA Letter to the Children (Part 4) Loving the Brethren
© 2025 C. O. Bishop
1st John 2:3-11
Introduction:
Last week we learned what an advocate is and what a propitiation is, and why each is important to us. Today, in 1st John 2:3-11 we will learn how we can know we are in fellowship with Jesus.
Loving the Brethren
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
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. 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.
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 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.
What “Commandment?”
Verse 2 says that Jesus is the propitiation of the justice and holiness of God. It completely satisfied the demand of His Holy Law, which required that I must die. So, the Law now says I am already dead. But, if that is really true, then, what commandment is left? What could I disobey and call into question my relationship with Him?
And, While we are asking Questions: What does it mean, “To Know?”
What is the Greek word translated as “know,” in verse 3? As it turns out, both uses of the English word “know” are translated from the Greek root verb, “ginōskō.”
The word “ginosko” means an “experiential knowledge.” It is not a simple mental awareness, such as “knowing the boiling point of pure water, at sea-level, in degrees Fahrenheit.” That would be the Greek word, “oida,” (or sometimes it is spelled eido.”) It implies that you know a fact, but it says nothing of your personal experience in the matter. In contrast, claiming to have “ginosko” knowledge means “I maintain an experiential awareness and a relational knowledge” of someone or something…Perhaps a topic, even.
So, verse three might read, “In this way we can have an experiential awareness that we have an ongoing relationship with Him: If we keep His commandments.” Not whether you have ever met Him, nor whether you are saved: But he tells how you can experientially know that you are now walking with Him in a growing relationship.
Compare 1st John 1:6…. He says, “if we say that we have fellowship with Him (there is that ongoing relationship.) And walk in darkness, (there is the walking.) We lie and do not the truth.” So, now we are introduced to another, more specific, standard by which to determine our spiritual or carnal condition.
So…What Commandment is in Question, Here?
Verse 4 says, “4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Again, the Greek word for “know,” used here in verse 4, is “ginosko.” If I say that I am in a healthy, ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ (“knowing Him”), but I am ignoring His commandments, I am lying. Remember: Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” (The implied answer is “No!”)
But Jesus did give at least one “New Commandment” in John 13:34, 35. He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (Incidentally, this is the Agapé love. It has nothing to do with how you feel: it has to do with how you treat others: how you respond to them, and to the needs in their lives.)
1st John 2:5, 6 says that our obedience to Christ is the outward evidence that we are “in Him.”
An Appropriate Sign
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
This expectation is appropriate: If you say you are “abiding in Christ,” then the reasonable hope should be that your life will reflect His values and His character. In John 8:31, we see, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”
Notice that the people to whom Jesus spoke were already believers: they were the Jews who DID believe in Him. The issue is discipleship! It means following Jesus…walking with Him! And Jesus said that it required “continuing in His Word”…keeping His Word. That is what followers do! (How important is it? In John 10:27, 28, He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” Following Jesus is “normal behavior” for a believer. Do sheep sometimes “wander and get out range of hearing of His Voice?” Yes, and He says He comes to find them!)
Think Carefully
We want to think carefully here. Remember Lot: In 2nd Peter 2:6-8, God clearly said Lot was a righteous man. And yet, he lost everything through all the bad decisions he made. So, from our human perspective, he seemed to be an unrighteous man, though in Genesis 18, Abram referred to him as “righteous.” (Abram did not actually use his name, but he was pleading for Lot’s life.)
So, was it “appropriate” for Lot, who already had been “declared righteous” by God, to live just like the World? He lived so comfortably among the Sodomites that no one could tell whether he, himself, was any different than they were! Of course, the answer is “No! It was not appropriate!”
And, yet, he maintained his “position” in the Savior, and he became a perfect Old Testament example of the man in 1st Corinthians 3:15. He had the opportunity for great reward. But he lost everything in the judgment, though he himself was saved. He was saved from that fiery judgment and destruction, literally by being dragged out of what was about to become an inferno!
His position in Christ was perfect and unchangeable: His condition was terrible, and it cost him everything, including his reputation. (Consider: No one remembers Lot as a “shining example of Godliness.” Quite the opposite.) If you say that you are “in Christ” as a true believer, and that you are in an active, ongoing relationship with Him, then your life should reflect that truth.
Ask Yourself
As we see the Word of God transforming us from the inside, (as Paul said in Romans 12:2) “through the renewing of our minds,” it gives us a growing confidence. We gain increased confidence that our own faith is genuine, and that God truly has claimed us as His own.
But, if that is not (or especially, if it has never been) the reality in your life, then you have good reason to be reexamining yourself. You should look back and ask whether you have ever placed your full trust in Christ as your Savior. That faith relationship should start cause internal change, that works out into an outward change, as well. If it does not, then there is something wrong!
Notice: I am NOT suggesting that the believer can “eradicate his sin nature.” Some teach that doctrine, but it is a false teaching. Not only does the scripture clearly teach the “two natures of the believer,” but any honest believer will attest to the spiritual war going on, within which their old sin nature is a vigorous enemy. (Read Romans 7:7-23, and Galatians 5:16-21) But we are to be victors over these enemies, and gaining stability as we grow, by the Grace of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit.
If nothing has changed, not even your desires… then you should be concerned. Your old sin nature could never desire to serve and honor God. It could never rejoice with the Word of God, or be thrilled by the Majesty of Christ. Your new nature cannot rejoice in sin. It is fine to examine yourself, but the bottom line is still, “Did Jesus die for MY sins, personally? Is His sacrifice what I am trusting for salvation?
The New Commandment is the Old Commandment We Had “From the Beginning.”
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.
Keep in mind that 60 years had passed since Jesus gave the “New Commandment!” So, to any believer at that time, they would remember it as “the Commandment we had from the beginning.” They would think of it as the Old (new) Commandment. John says they should have been abiding in this commandment all along, and that if they are not, they had better be asking themselves “Why Not??”
1st John 2:8-11 connects us to 1st John 1:5-10, regarding “Walking in the Light!”
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. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 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.
If you truly have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you are now a ‘child of the light.’ (1st Thessalonians 5:4, 5 says “4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” And Ephesians 5:8 says, “8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
As we saw in 1st John 1:5, 6, it is completely possible for a born-again individual to lapse into carnality and walk in darkness. But John and Paul agree completely, that this should not be the case. And a negative overall response to other believers is a telltale sign of “being in darkness.”
Love of the Brethren
The “Love of the Brethren” is the key positive “symptom” of one who is a real believer, and one who is currently “walking in the light.” I have gradually become convinced that the Agapé love may not even be possible for the carnal or natural man to produce. Increasingly, as I study the Scripture, it seems to be always a result of God working through believers. Perhaps I am wrong, but that is how it looks.
Further, verse eleven says that this specific “darkness” blinds us so that we can’t see where we are headed. We don’t see the coming consequences and the resulting wreckage, because we have become judicially blinded by our disregard for God’s light. Disregarding God’s light will eventually result in judicial blindness, so that we can no longer see our bad decisions for what they are. We literally “know not whither we go,” as verse eleven predicts.
Old Testament Example:
In 2nd Chronicles 18, we saw Jehoshaphat, (who was a good king, and a true believer,) drawn away into a war, helping an unbeliever (Ahab, who was a wicked king.) The battle was a disaster, and Ahab was killed. God saved Jehoshaphat’s life, but in 2nd Chronicles 19:2, on his way home from that losing battle, a prophet stopped him. He told Jehoshaphat what God thought of that situation! He said, “Why should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? Therefore there is wrath upon you from before the LORD.” Jehoshaphat was in trouble with the LORD! He was trying to fight on the wrong side!
That is not the kind of thing we want to hear from God, is it? But when we shower our attention and our friendship upon those who despise the Word of God, and who secretly (or openly) mock His Name, then perhaps we need to pause and take a hard look at where we are.
Self-Examination:
Who do you really prefer to spend time with, and why? Where is your real treasure? How do you feel toward other believers? Are they precious Brothers and Sisters in Christ? Or something less? These are questions you have to answer for yourself. I know, in my own life, it took some time, and I had to confront this issue more than once. We all desire to be accepted and valued by our fellow workers in the world: classmates, friends, etc. But at what cost? Give this some thought!
In Hebrews 13:12, 13, God invites us to join Jesus “outside the camp.” The writer says, “12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”
Jesus was rejected by His people. We should expect, if we are truly following Him, that we will also probably find ourselves “on the outside looking in,” where the World is concerned.
We can anticipate “social rejection:” But remember that “all those other social rejects” that have also responded in faith, are now our “family in Christ.” If that makes us uncomfortable, then we need to ask why. Loving the Brethren is a critical matter in which to strive for obedience!
Lord Jesus, transform our hearts, as we confess before You that we frequently are not loving the Brethren as we ought. Open our hearts to one another, so that we can have true fellowship around Your Person and Your Word. Reach through us to the dying World around us, in the power of Your Name.