PT-1 "Love as an Old Commandment" (1 John 2:7)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/6/2024 10:57 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “Love as an Old Commandment”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 2:7

 

            Message of the verse:  “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.”

 

            I mentioned in my last SD that I was confused about these old and new commandments that John is writing about, and so this evening I will begin this section on “Love as an Old Commandment” and I hope that this will clear some things up in my mind. 

 

            One of the things that I remember about the apostle John, and his brother James is that Jesus called them “sons of thunder.”  James was killed by the Jews, which left John, and one thing about John’s writings are that he is remembered as being “the apostle of love,” and so it seems that he would no longer be one of the sons of thunder.  As John wrote his gospel and these three letters we can see that his love to fellow believers to whom he is writing to often expressed itself by the familiar term beloved and some examples of this can be seen in 1 John 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7; 3 John 2.  So that title was so appropriate in this epistle that we are looking at now this affirms love as the benchmark of true salvation.

 

            MacArthur writes “In a play on words, extended into verse 8, John wrote that the commandment to love was not a new commandment in one sense, but actually an old commandment.  It had been taught throughout the biblical text.  Whether they were Jews or Gentiles, John’s readers would have heard from the Old Testament about the concept of loving one another (1 Sam. 20:17, 41-42; cf. Gen. 45:15; Ps. 133:1-2).  In the Pentateuch, God established the law of love in unmistakable terms:  ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord’ (Lev. 19:18).

 

I want to quote the verses that are mentioned in the last paragraph as I finish this SD.  I will quote the following verses 1 Sam. 20:17, 41-42; cf. Gen. 45:15; Ps. 133:1-2.

 

“Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life” 1 Sam. 20:17.

41 When the lad was gone, David rose from the south side and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, but David wept the more. 42 Jonathan said to David, "Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’" Then he rose and departed, while Jonathan went into the city” (41-42).

 

“He kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him” (Gen. 45:15).

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! 2  It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes” (Ps. 133:1-2).

 

10/6/2024 11:20 PM