Loving the Brethren

1 John 2:7-11
“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. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

“People are sometimes puzzled as to the meaning of this ‘old’ and ‘new’ and the answer is really to be obtained by considering John 13:34, where the Lord gives us a ‘new commandment.’

The Lord Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to keep this commandment in an entirely new manner. It is possible now for Christians as the result of receiving new life from Christ, as a result of the power of the Holy Spirit, to love their brethren in the way that God originally intended. Christians have received a new life. They have the life of Christ in them. As Christ loved, so Christians can love.

Look at our fellow man. He sees exactly like ourselves before our eyes were opened. Now we are sorry for him. We see that poor person behaving like that because of sin. We begin to love the hateful person instead of hating him. We were all in the same position. We begin to have an eye of compassion for him. Our knowledge of the love of God in Christ makes us love other people even as we ourselves have been loved.”