2022-5丨General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

Message Six The Lord’s New Commandment Given to Us— That We Love One Another

2 Thes. 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope in grace,

2 Thes. 2:17 Comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.

Heb. 12:6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives."

F. God has poured out His love in our hearts with the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), who has been given to us, as the motivating power within us, so that we may more than conquer in all our tribulations (8:37 and footnote 1).

Rom. 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.

Rom. 8:37 footnote 1: Because of God's unchanging love for us and the fact that Christ has accomplished everything on our behalf, neither tribulation nor persecution can suppress or defeat us; rather, in all these things we more than overcome and conquer through Him who loved us.

Jer. 31:3 Jehovah appeared to me from afar, saying, / Indeed I have loved you with an eternal love, / Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come for Him to depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the uttermost.

Rom. 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers

Rom. 8:39 Nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

III. In 1 John 2:7-8, relating to the Lord's commandment in John 13:34, the apostle John says, “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 heard. Yet again a new commandment 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”:

1 John 2:7 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 heard.

1 John 2:8 Yet again a new commandment 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.

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

A. The commandment regarding brotherly love is both old and new: old, because the believers have had it from the beginning of their Christian life; new, because in their Christian walk it dawns with new light and shines with new enlightenment and fresh power again and again—1 John 2:7-8; 3:11, 23; cf. John 13:34.

1 John 2:7 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 heard.

1 John 2:8 Yet again a new commandment 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.

1 John 3:11 For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,

1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, even as He gave a commandment to us.

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

B. The fact that the old commandment is new is true in the Lord, since He not only gave it to His believers but also renews it in their daily walk continually; it is true also in the believers, since they not only have received it once for all but also are enlightened and refreshed by it repeatedly.

Morning Nourishment

Rom. 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

1 John 2:8 Yet again a new commandment 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.

In the realm of grace the first thing we enjoy is the love of God...(Rom. 5:5). Many times in our Christian life we need encouragement and confirmation. As we pass through periods of suffering, we may have questions and doubts. Perhaps you say, “Why are there so many troubles in my Christian life? Why are there so many trials and tests?”... Although these doubts arise, we cannot deny that the love of God is within us. From the day we first called on the Lord Jesus, the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This means that the Spirit reveals, confirms, and assures us with the love of God. The indwelling Holy Spirit seems to say, “Don’t doubt. God loves you. You don’t understand why you must suffer now, but one day you will say, ‘Father, I thank You for the troubles and trials which I passed through.’” When you enter the gate of eternity, you will say, “Praise the Lord for the sufferings and tests which fell upon me on my journey. God used them to transform me.” (Life-study of Romans, pp. 102-103)

We cannot deny the presence of God’s love within us...Christ died for ungodly sinners such as we. Once we were enemies, but Christ shed His blood on the cross to reconcile us to God. What love is this! If God has given us His own Son, surely He will not do anything to hurt us. God is sovereign. He knows what is best for us. The choice is His, not ours. Regardless of our preference, what God has planned for us will be our portion. Everything related to us has been prepared by our Father. We should simply pray, “Lord, have your way. I simply want what You want. I leave everything entirely in Your hands.” This is our response to God when we realize afresh that He loves us so and that His love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. (Life-study of Romans, p. 103)

The commandment of brotherly love is both old and new: old, because the believers have had it from the beginning of their Christian life; new, because in their Christian walk it dawns with new light and shines with new enlightenment and fresh power again and again.

The relative pronoun “which” in 1 John 2:8... refers to the fact that the old commandment of brotherly love is new in the believers’ Christian walk. This is true in the Lord, since He not only gave it to His believers but also renews it in their daily walk all the time. This is true also in the believers, since they have not only received it once for all, but also are enlightened and refreshed by it repeatedly.

In verse 8 John tells us that the darkness is passing away and that the true light already shines. The passing away of the darkness is its vanishing in the shining of the true light. The true light is the light of the Lord’s commandment. Because this light shines, the commandment of brotherly love dawns in the darkness and makes the old commandment new and fresh throughout the entire Christian life.

After any kind of human commandment has been given, it gradually becomes old. Human commandments are not living. Because these commandments are not living, they never dawn and they never shine. But the commandment given by the Lord is His living word. Because His commandment is His living word, this word shines. When this living word dawns in the darkness, it dawns with heavenly light. The shining of heavenly light makes old things new. In particular, it makes the old commandment new, fresh, and full of light. (Life-study of 1 John, pp. 144-145)