New Command

Has John changed his mind? In 1 John 2:8 he writes, “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.” But just one verse earlier, he said he was giving an old command, one that was given in the beginning. I wrote about that yesterday. What gives?

I think what John is saying that the old, old command to obey God is refreshed by what Jesus did. How? Well, John explains that we can see the truth in Jesus because the darkness is passing and the true light is shining. The truth of what? In some way, of the old command. I think he means that what Jesus changes is that instead of obeying out of fear of God’s judgment, we now obey out of love for Jesus and gratitude for his sacrifice.

You see the difference? The old way was, “Yes, Judge, I’ll do what you say because I’m afraid of what you can do to me; I’ll obey your law because I don’t what what I’ll get if I don’t.” The new way: “Yes, Jesus, I’m so grateful and love you so much I’ll do anything to please you. Nothing you could possibly ask is enough to repay you. Just give me a chance to serve you.”

The first way, we obey because we have to. After Jesus, we obey because we want to; it’s the only reasonable response.

I believe that in my mind; some days my heart wonders (and wanders). Some days my wilful heart doesn’t care what Jesus has done, it thinks what Jesus asks is too much. But that’s because I lose sight of the truth revealed by this new, true light: That all Jesus wants is what I was made for, and that anything that looks better to me is a lie from the Father of Lies. What Jesus really commands me to do is to look to my own joy, because the only way to have it is in obeying Him.

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