1-3 John - 1st John 2:7-8 Old/New Commandment

All right. I think the reason I got these three weeks is because I have a lot of lessons to learn here in this particular area. This is a particularly interesting and difficult area of scripture. Keep in mind with John is that John is a black and white kind of guy. You're going to see that again today. It's never gray zone with John. It's either black or white, and this contrast at times we really have to put into perspective.

So to do justice to the verses today, we have two verses, verses 7 and 8 in chapter 2. We're going to go back to 1 John 5, and we're going to spend a couple of minutes and put this in context. So I'd like someone to read 1 John 5 all the way down to 1 John 2, verse 11. Who would do that for me, please?

This is the message we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light and he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

By this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked.

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, than an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. 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. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. that the one who 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.

That was wonderful and it had animation in it that was up and down in the text. Would you like to teach today's lesson? No, thank you. Alright, this is wonderful. Good. Alright, let's see what we have for us here today. We're in verse 7 and 8. I'm going to take this back here. Nope. Where's my mouse here? Can't find my mouse. It's on the screen, Bob. There we are. Except I gotta get it over here to get this slide up. Your clicker should be able to go back. Is that what you want to do, Bob? Gotcha. Okay, good. Clicker did it. Good. Thanks. Alright. that we're electronically engaged.

Okay, so last week we dealt with this concept of that we know that we know him because we keep his commandments. If, by the way, conditional, if we keep his commandments we know we know him. And so we've kind of built the stage that ultimately we left off with he that says he abides in him ought him also to walk even as he So this kind of leads us with this concept of identification. If we're in the light as he is in the light, we walk as he is in the light. we kind of left ourselves with this concept of who's assessing this performance. And in fact, if we in fact are in the light, then if in fact we believe that that life is the light that he gives us, and ultimately we find ourselves in him, then the walk becomes evident of who we are. So today we're going to deal with this black and white issue again of John's new commandment, old commandment. So I think John's confused or we're confused, one or the other.

We're going to kind of work through this to kind of see who's confused. I presume it's us and not him. So in verse 7 then it says, brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment. Then he's going to tell us in 8 that we have a new commandment. What's going on here? Anyway, we'll get to that when we get to 8. But this Old Commandment, which is what you've had from the beginning, the Old Commandment is the word which you've heard from the beginning. So let's kind of look at this. First of all, who's he addressing? The brethren, right? So is this written to non-believers? No, it's written to us, isn't it? And those that he was writing to at the time that he wrote the epistle. New. So the question I have for the class is this new, this no new commandment that he's writing to do, does this new imply something new in time or new in substance?

What are your thoughts even before we drill down and look at this in more detail? A whole other kind. You think it's of substance then, rather than of time? Anybody else have a difference? I think it's time. Yeah, I'd go for time. New. Because it talks about from the beginning. Okay, new and time, new and substance. This is good. This is where I want you right now. This is perfect. How many think this is time? Well, you said time. Let's put your hand up now. How many think substance? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And how many don't have a clue?

Well, you should have asked that first. All right. Let's go back to Luke 5, 33 to 38. This was kind of fun for me to kind of pick up on this in a parable. So the question to the class is, since we're so convinced we know whether it's substance or time, right? Let's go back here. So whoever gets this, please read it for us. Winnie did such a good job, I'm going to ask her to read everything from now on. You've got 10 seconds, then I'm going to read it.

The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers. The disciples of the Pharisees also do the same. But yours eat and drink. And Jesus said to them, you cannot make the attendance of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come and when the bridegroom is taken away from them. And they will fast in those days. And he was also telling them a parable.

No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on the old garment, otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into the old wine skins, otherwise the new wine will burst the skins will be spilled out and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins. All right. Be down through 38? Yep. Okay.

So what did we read this for? Does this imply time or does this imply substance or of a different kind? Am I leading you down the garden path here? That's a bait. It's a bait. And I'm not sure that I didn't lead you down a rabbit trail here. So we'll see how this plays out. So what is Christ saying through this parable? Anybody want to interpret this parable for us? You can't go on the way you've been going. It's not going to help. You need a new focus. Why does he use this as an analogy? The wineskins and the wine. That's something that people of that day would relate to. Because you can't mix the two. You can't mix what? This is his parable of the cloth and the wineskins. He's talking about the old gospel and the new gospel that has come in. Okay, what's the old gospel?

It sounds like an oxymoron. Well, it is the law of Moses. Okay, alright. Donna? Well, I was just thinking law and grace. So what happens to the wineskin if you put new wine in it? What does the parable indicate? It gives you facts there. What happens? It leaks, it bursts. Not capable, right?

So, you know, the gospel is beyond simply our sins are forgiven, isn't it? It's the fact that ultimately we have a sin nature that's been crucified, and ultimately the life that we now live is one in fact that's lived by our faith, by God's great grace, that we have a life that's capable of being lived.

So old wine is the old principle of doing right before God to please Him. The new wineskin that we're putting in is a new life, and that life is in Christ. So in a sense that Luke parable is suggesting that the New Commandment is in fact of a new kind. Although he says, I'm not writing you a new commandment, but an old commandment. So is the Old Commandment in fact what we're talking about here with the wines?

Go ahead. Well, and this is probably maybe where you're headed, but once you understand the grace that's been provided through Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross, then you can go back to the Old Testament and look at it in a whole new way, right? I like that. So, how does that put the Old Testament into perspective? The Old Commandment. We're going to deal with this Old Commandment here in a second. We're just kind of opening the door.

Well, the Jews will be living under the law again here on the earth during Christ's reign. I think that's what they're talking about there. The law is faithful and just and righteous and all that stuff. And the Jews will live under that one these days with the Holy Spirit leading them.

All right. So, so John is saying I'm not writing you a new commandment, but an old commandment. So is the old commandment then going back under law, Jack? Is that what we're talking about here? Is he encouraging him to go back under legal principles? Well, I'm just kind of speculating about that myself. You think it's possible that he is? I think it's possible that he is. But who's he writing to here? To Brethren.

Do you think he's returning us then under a law system? No. No. The light has come in. He's telling you that the old commandment has been temporarily put in neutral, so to speak, or taken out of the way for the time being, but it will be used again for the nation of Israel here on earth. Okay. Do you think John in any way at this point in time is reflecting on the Kingdom Age as he's talking to the brethren? I don't think so. This is not Kingdom Age stuff.

But, you know, we're going to try to sort through this. Again, this is a contrast, isn't it? This Old Commandment, New Commandment stuff. Let's see if by the time we're done with the class today we can get this sorted out. Because this gets really, really interesting.

All right, so I'm going to take you to the verb form here. He's not writing a New Commandment, but an Old Commandment to which, by the way, you have heard from the beginning. Okay, what's the tense here? We've heard. Essence. This refers to the commandment, this commandment that we've heard, this old commandment, not a new commandment.

Well, it's imperfect active, which means it refers back to the beginning. So what's imperfect active? Roy, imperfect tense. Okay, active, it's happening. All right. So you have heard from the beginning. That means we've heard it. But it's continuing to take place, isn't it? Alright, let's now get to this issue about the Old Commandments. And we've heard this. We've heard it. You know about it. And by the way, it has an ongoing result. What is the Old Commandment? Is this the beginning of the human race? Is this the Genesis 3? What's the Genesis 3 commandment?

What Tom? Be fruitful and multiply. If I had to look at Eve and Adam's original sin, I thought the commandment was to be fruitful and multiply. Maybe I missed something here Tom. What kind of glasses are you looking through? Maybe I need a new prescription here. What was the commandment? I mean, what Cain and Abel, you can kind of begin back in Genesis. Is this the old commandment we're talking about here? The results of the original sin? What's that? Genesis 3? I'm not even going to go there.

Alright, do you think the old commandment is the Mosaic Law? Or any law system? Remember, he said, brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment. Did John write to them about the original sin and the consequences thereof, that ultimately to restore fellowship, that ultimately you had to, you know, the woman's going to have pain in childbirth and ultimately men are going to have to work their tail off?

Maybe, by the way, that's where we've fallen short. We no longer sweat for our work, do we? We work in offices and computers. I think there's actually not, that's kind of profound if you think about it. There's something, I don't know you guys, when you're really put in a hard day of physical work, don't you get spiritually tuned in? I don't know. Maybe that's why I'm not tuned in enough. Somebody had something to say here. Okay. Mosaic law.

How about the gospel? Do you think this is what John just simply, your sins are forgiven? Is that the old commandment that he'd written to them? I think it relates, this whole issue here of the Old Commandment relates very much to how we define the beginning. He said that you've heard this from the beginning. The beginning of what? Well, either way the beginning relates to the word Logos because it says the Old Commandment is the word which you've heard from the beginning.

So what was John's presentation of the word? That's the gospel of John, is it not? Let's go back to John 1. A couple of key verses in John 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word, this is Logos, right? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God.

Verse 4, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. We're going to come back to life again. Verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. Verse 14, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Anyway, Logos says the Old Commandment is the Word which you've heard from the beginning. John's been preaching this Word ever since he wrote the Gospel account. I've got to believe in the conversations he had with the brethren. that the Lord Jesus Christ was the beginning, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Tom? Well, probably now that you've helped us focus better, I imagine John was in some way reminiscing with a purpose, saying, this is how it was when I was with the Lord and He was there as He was to be. Boy, eyewitness, right? Was there any better eyewitness of the Lord Jesus Christ than the Apostle John? None. I mean, it wasn't, you know, these disciples and apostles weren't competing for first place, but we got a feeling that the Lord and John had a very special relationship, don't we?

I mean, something very, very special. So this Old Commandment is the Word which you've heard from the beginning. I've been telling you about the Lord Jesus Christ from the very beginning. I don't think the beginning in any way relates to the garden account or the Mosaic Law or even, gee, God and Christ died for our sins. In the beginning, the Word relates to what I saw of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what I've been writing to you from the very beginning. Don't you think that fits in context here? Isn't that best? I think so. Let's continue.

So in John, I said, Logos denotes the essential word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power we have in union with him. And I think that's what John is trying to express here. We're dealing, remember, 1 John 1 establishes us in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? And when we lose the theme of the fellowship that John's writing to us about, we lose the whole purpose of what John really has to say to the brethren. And remember, we're brethren, because the word is as much for us today as it was for them.

Remember, it's only in the Epistle of John where we see this concept of abiding come up. And we dealt with abiding last week. It's only in John that we understand the role of the Holy Spirit as he enables us to respond to God's great grace. And the purpose of the Spirit isn't to reform the old man. I mean, the purpose of the Spirit is to reveal us who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning, John says, I've been telling you about this, and I'm going to continue to tell you about this. No new commandment here. It's the old one. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody okay with that? All right.

So what's the beginning? Their first knowledge of spiritual things? I don't think so. Their first hearing of the gospel? Perhaps. But remember, the gospel is more than our sins being forgiven. The Gospel is everything about who Christ is from the very beginning to the crucifixion and ultimately the resurrection. Let's examine more closely at the Old Commandment that John wrote to them. How about 1 John 1, 5-7?

Let's go back in grayness again in this fellowship. It says here, this then is the message, and Winnie read this this morning, which we've heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other, And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sins. This is the beginning of the message of fellowship. And that's, I think, what we're dealing with here. So to summarize these verses, God is light. If we walk in the light as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins. That doesn't mean we're not cleansed from all sins already. It says, as we walk by faith, we realize that these sins that continue to show up are dealt with and were restored in the fellowship of who we are in him. What about the text that immediately precedes this verse in terms of the commandment from the beginning?

He that says he abides in him ought him also so to walk, even as he walked. So the commandment is this fellowship which comes as a result of our abiding. It's all about John. It's all about the message John has shared from his gospel into his epistle.

And then, so the first John 2.6 is about walking, or about what immediately follows.

That's our text for next week. He that says he's in the light and hates his brothers in darkness, but he that loves his brother abides in the light and there's no occasion of stumbling in him. Fellowship. Fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ is having the light be revealed and the walk is consistent with the life. That's the message John had from the very beginning. All right. The love of the brother.

And in fact, Christ himself called it a new, not an old commandment, didn't he? So this is a new commandment back to this issue of this. Remember, I'm not writing a new commandment unto you, but Christ himself said it was a new commandment. And the reason it was a new commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ is why? Why is this new as Christ himself portrayed this truth to those that heard it? Why was it new from Christ? there to drop them and give them a lead.

Okay, good Tom. Let's look at the evidence for this. John 13, 34, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you and that you also love one another. 1 John 3.11, for this is the message that you've heard from the beginning of John reflecting the message he's been sharing from the very beginning, that we should love one another.

2 John 1.5, and now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which you've heard from the beginning, that we love one another.

Bit confusing, isn't it? this new commandment, this old commandment. So John's saying that he's not like he's writing a new commandment. I've been telling you this before, but the Lord Jesus Christ said, in fact, that I give you a new commandment. It's just that John is calling it an old commandment, because this is what the Lord says, and this is what he's been trying to portray to the brethren.

This is old. I've been telling you about this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, in fact, said it was new. Is this in any way a contradiction? I really don't think so. Overall, this command to love one another appears at least a dozen times in the Old Testament, yet is it really new? And I'm going to challenge the class here. Look at this. Look what I found in Leviticus.

In Leviticus 19.18, it says, You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I'm the Lord. Now, let's put this into perspective. You're the nation of Israel. The law has been written and given. And by the way, it's just not the Ten Commandments. It's how many? 613. How are we doing here? I've shared this before.

Maybe some of you have not heard this. I was on a plane flying to Sydney a number of years ago. And there was this Jewish man with his little skullcap on next to me and he was sharing to me about his recent year in New York City going to some rabbinical school in New York. And he was returning to Sydney to apply everything he'd learned. And I challenged this young man about the 613 laws, how he was doing.

He said he was keeping all of them. Can you imagine this? So here Margaret was, never mind, sitting next to me with, never mind, I can't go there because it would be misinterpreted. Anyway, so Margaret's next to me, barely able to fit in her seat, if you can believe this. So here I am for several hours talking to this guy about keeping the 613 commandments. He really thought he was keeping them all. Can you imagine this? Nothing I could say could convince him otherwise. What do you think?

So, back to Leviticus 19.18, how were the Jewish people interpreting this? How was he doing it? Sacrificing it? What's that? How was he doing it? Sacrificing it?

I fell short because I didn't know all 613. I just started with the Ten Commandments, much less all these other things. Love this God with all his heart and soul and forgiving everybody. Anyway, back to the question. The question is, how was the nation of Israel interpreting this verse in Leviticus, assuming they'd heard it? I thought Christ said he's giving them a new commandment. We're talking about new in substance, new in time. If I'm a Jew living, quote, what was the Jew who lived a righteous life or at least a life that was acceptable before God?

What kind of life was that? Well, his emphasis was on himself to obey the law. Okay. And what happened when they fell short? I think a Jew who was loving by faith in those days realized that he or she was not keeping the 613 laws. Yeah, sure they did. That's the reason they had to sacrifice. And perhaps this is another example of this, right? So what's that life like?

What if you're a Jew in 1200 BC and you're told that you need to love one another as yourself? And you're saying to the Lord, I don't know that I'm quite making this. says as I have loved you, it's a divine love that he has given us to come in for. So your standard is different. But how are you doing even at loving your neighbor as you love yourself, right? I have a question.

So are we going to the place where, you know, earlier we were talking about old wineskins and new wineskins. So is the old wineskin the law? It's the same commandment, but it's in a new skin, which is Christ. Totally a new wineskin, so we have an opportunity to apply this in a way that was never possible before.

And secondly, Roy importantly pointed out that here we're dealing with love the neighbor as we love ourselves. I don't think any of us can measure up to that in our earthly capabilities. The righteous Jew, quote-unquote, or the Jew who looked to the sacrifice by the high priest annually to have his or her sins forgiven, is still a Jew who lived by faith. They realized they fell short, and they know that the sacrifice of bulls and goats for a while brought them into a right relationship with the Lord.

But now we have a new commandment and a new wineskin of a different sort. It's not only loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, but in fact, we love our neighbor as Christ loved us, right? Wow. That's even more difficult, isn't it? I mean, some of us, I guess, could reach the point of occasionally loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, because those people that are depressed and hate themselves, maybe they feel that they can love their neighbor more than they love themselves. That's a psychiatric issue, isn't it? Anyway, let's go on here.

In all these sections of 1 John, the Gospel of John, the emphasis is on the walk and the identification. So would we think that loving one another as he is loved us is anything other than identification truth? That's where the fellowship comes from. When we're in fellowship and the walk reflects our fellowship, our love for one another becomes automatic.

There's no work. There's no toil. There are no tears. I love Tom because Christ loved me. And now that's easy because by faith I can live that truth. Otherwise, there's no way. This is not a working harder at God's Word to please God scenario. Only by an act of faith can we love one another, because He's loved us. And that's another life. And that's a walk. That's one of fellowship. Well, and that walk you talk about, it's not a fellowship of back and forth.

We're totally dependent on Him. The life doesn't flow unless we're totally dependent on the life of Christ, that we realize where we are. Otherwise it comes out of us and it's spoiled. If you look to yourself to do this, you can only sense failure each and every day.

Let's also look at Galatians 5, 13, 14 to put this kind of in the view of the Jews' perspective. And so whoever gets Galatians 5, 13 and 14, let's go ahead and take a look at that. you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Okay, so back to this issue of loving your neighbor by yourself as the law being fulfilled. And Paul, through his challenge to get out from underneath the law, says it's all fulfilled. In fact, this is a walk. It's the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we, in fact, have an opportunity to love one another, not only as we love ourselves, but also as he loved us.

Romans 6.4 is a good example here. I love this verse because it really is something I reflect day in and day out as I return to the power of the flesh.

Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so also should we walk in newness of life. It's because we've been crucified Not only are sins forgiven, but we and our sin nature has been crucified. We've been buried with him. So Roy and I had a good time of fellowship last night.

We were reflecting on this kind of issue of the burial and the resurrection and newness of life. In fact, that we would in fact have this opportunity by God's great grace to walk a whole new life, a newness of life. that reflects this important truth of co-crucifixion, co-burial, and co-resurrection. It's an act of faith by God's great grace. Quit working at it, everybody. Rest and live that life. It's wonderful when we're there. Right?

Well, I was looking at John that you quoted, the John 13 passage there, 34, and it's in the context of chapter 14 and 15 where he actually, he spells out on the basis of fellowship these two commands. The one you read is command number one, love one another, but secondly in chapter 14, he says, let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. They're linked together, like you had mentioned. Believing in him, his work on the cross which includes us, identifying us with himself, is a package that enables us He's going to love everyone around us in the same way. It really takes the pressure off, doesn't it? It's a rest. It's a peace. It's a trust.

John is the author of this. We don't find this in the other Gospels. That's true. Not that Matthew, Mark, and Luke fall short. It's just addressed so much with a different audience and deals with kind of Old Testament kinds of truth and often Kingdom Age views. The parables at times are kind of nice, and I think the parable today does relate to what we're talking about here.

A new wineskin is a new life in Christ, and we can't put the old law system into that new life without bursting it. There's no relationship. This is oil and water. The law was perfectly righteous as God is righteous, but our ability to respond to it is not there. We don't have the capability. We need to get moving here.

1 John 2.8, again a new commandment I write to you. What's the matter with this guy? He wouldn't even tell me he's not writing a new commandment. Now he says a new commandment I write to you. Which thing is true in him and in you? Because the darkness is passing away and the true life is already shining. Again, is John contradicting himself by calling this new? What's going on here? Let's see if we can't sort this out. Paradox. Paradox is something that's contradictory, isn't it?

Here I think, but true, old and teaching, but now the new is the practice of this old command. He said, I've been telling you about this. What's new now is the application. Yet this commandment, the substance of which is brotherly love, this is in one sense new, John 13, 34, Christ called it new because it was first taught to him by Christ. But now, is it old? Isn't it? Well, again, I think the concept here is the application of this, in fact, is the New Commandment. Perhaps you didn't hear the old one that I've been telling you about, but now the application perhaps is new. In many ways, it's another example of the black and white contrast that John paints throughout his epistles. This is John.

And boy, I'll tell you, there's just no ability to take on 1 John until you've got some Pauline theology ingrained in your heart and soul. This is just difficult stuff if you go directly here. You wonder whether you're saved if you go to the book of 1 John before you've in fact tackled Romans and Galatians to some extent.

So I think the Lord, again, had this in mind when he allowed the scripture to be put in the order in which it's put. That's an opinion. There's no ability to support that with anything factual. But keep in mind, the purpose of John is not to confuse. Purpose of this is to build on the great grace message that Paul's already established us in. Very important to reflect on that, I think. All right, let's go ahead.

What things are true in him? The walk, the life. Remember the verse, verse eight said, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him? And by the way, guess what? In you too. So back to this, what things are true in him? It's the walk and the life which results in the fellowship that John continues to bring us back to. Its truth is shown in the life of Christ in you, isn't it? In reality, the new commandment is the resurrected Christ himself living the life out here. So John's saying, I've been telling you about this, but now I'm going to re-insist that this new message is the fact that our, in fact, is that life portrayed. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 3, 2 and 3, and I've got it here for you.

You are our epistle. written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly the Lord sees that light in us, but others perceive it. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, minstered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh. That is of the heart.

And if you go back to 2 Corinthians 3 and read the verses that follow, he said, although the tablets of stone brought great glory, it compares nothing to what, in fact, we are as epistles of that message written on the stones or tablets of our heart. Boy, what a contrast. to think the law was holy, perfect, and righteous. And Paul says, you as a written epistle in your heart is much more glorious to God than in fact any tablet of stone that I once wrote to Moses. Unbelievable. That's, if you will, the old commandment that I'm telling you about now new and applied in fact that the world is witnessing that were new people and new creations in Christ, and were commanded to walk in that life and in that truth. The darkness, by the way, is passing away. Interesting. What is darkness? What's darkness? It's darkness that's passing away. He's writing this to the brethren. What darkness?

Our dependence on the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thank you. The whole world system, right? What are the three sources of falling short? By the way, I can handle just one of them. I don't need the other two. It's Satan himself, right? Cosmos, the world system, and third, our flesh. All fall short of God's glory. Not fall short a little bit. Totally separated. Darkness. All three. The Word says that this darkness is passing away. What's this passing away stuff?

I thought ultimately our sins were done with and the sin nature crucified. present, middle, indicative. Present tense meaning middle voice. Occupying now or occurring now means present tense. We are performing this action on ourselves is the middle kind of tense and indicative is what?

It's a fact. So this darkness is passing away is something that we're experiencing, that we're part of this, and ultimately it's factual. So does that mean that we don't have troubles that show up? This passing away is something that we're experiencing on an ongoing basis. First John 2, 17, then the world is passing away and the lust of it, that he that does the will of God abides forever. So the truth is that as we're walking in grace, we're maintaining our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and that life increasingly is showing up. The darkness is starting and continuing to pass away. And if you will, I've said this many times, I'll say it again, as the light becomes brighter and shinier, and we'll kind of finish off with that, the darkness becomes more revealed for what it really is.

But as we walk in that light, that darkness seems to become more irrelevant in terms of who we are in Christ. But in terms of our own experience, is it complete? Never. As long as we're in this earthly body, this darkness will never completely pass away in terms of earthly experience.

But remember, God sees us in Christ, our life is in Christ, and darkness becomes increasingly declared for what it really is and becomes You know, I think in reality, passing away is we walk more so in the new life. The truth of the new commandment is shown because you have come out of the darkness and are walking in the light and therefore keeping the new commandment. And by faith, not fleshly will. It says here in this verse that the light is already shining. Present, active, indicative. The light is there.

We experience it each and every day. So whether it be old or new, how are you doing here? Whether this commandment is an old commandment that John says, I've been telling you about this, guys. What's the matter with you? Or the new commandment, if you will, is having this life ultimately now being, by our faith, being experienced by the shining light that is about us each and every day.

You ever find yourself disappointed with yourself? That's good. William R. Newell in his great commentary to Romans chapter 6 really brings this up constantly. To be disappointed with yourself is what? To have trusted in yourself, right? So that's darkness, isn't it? Is there any power in your flesh? No. I love Hebrews 4, 9, and 11. I'm going to end there.

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God For he who has entered his rest has himself also ceased from his own works as God did from his. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. So when we leave the rest, we become self-bound, we become disobedient, disappointed, and fail. So the beginning of a life that's ingrained in him and that walk becomes evident of who we are in him is one that begins with rest. And that rest is grace-based and our response by faith. So, nothing new here.

Keep looking down, right? Is anyone confused by what I mean by keep looking down? You know, I would say that the large majority of the body of Christ keeps looking up, right? It's a position of pity, isn't it? our wishfulness, our hopefulness. We pray down because that's where God has us and that's what his view is. We need to quit looking at circumstances from our own perspective, but looking at how those circumstances are God's way of conforming us to the image of his Son. I wish I had that totally down, but we all unfortunately still have that darkness that continues to pass away as we live by faith.

Gary, would you close us in prayer please? Father, we do thank you for John and enlightening us on what fellowship is, the importance of it. Father, we just do thank you for grace, the unmerited, unlimited blessings of God, based on the total inadequacy of your precious Son. And we just thank you for all the things we learn, and we can apply and rest and behold you in Christ's name. Amen.