1 John 2:7-11 (Old and New)

Chapter 2

Verses 7-11:

"Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."

Verses 7 and 8 are linked in that the commandment of God in Christ is “old” and “new.” An “old commandment” in that it dates back to the dawn of the Christian era, all believers have had this command “from the beginning*,” from when Jesus began His teaching. At the same time it is a “new commandment” (v.8) in that it is continually reapplied in new acts of love, with their source in Him and their outworking “in you.”

John 13:34:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

*"From the beginning" is sometimes used by John as the beginning of all things (cf. v. 12, 14 and 1:1). In this case though he refers to the beginning of the Christian movement in the life and teaching of Christ (cf. v. 24).

Love belongs to the realm of “light,” as over against “darkness.” So…

In verses 9-11 speaks of love for the “brother,” which Jesus gave as a commandment to His disciples just before His death. Later in this epistle:

1 John 3:14:
"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."