1 John 2:7-11
7 “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.9 The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. 11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
The old commandment…a new commandment: John is addressing the universal principle of love present throughout the Scriptures. God has always been about love. However, Jesus gave a new love commandment: Love one another as Jesus Himself loves us (John 13:34). In the Old Covenant, loving God and others fulfilled the law. But in the New Covenant, the command is knowing the love of Jesus, receiving it, and then transmitting it to other people.
Is in the darkness until now: This is not speaking of loving people without boundaries. This is not being a doormat. Rather, it is loving those who are in Christ by affirming who they are in Christ. Love is recognizing the people of God for who they are and what they stand for.
