This text may appear confusing. We are forced to address the question how can something be old and new at the same time? Whether we are talking about the Old Testament or the New Testament, God does expect us to love him and to love others.
When John said in verse seven, he was writing no new commandment, he was referring back to Leviticus 19:18. It is important for us to refer to that text that says, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Therefore, John was correct when he said he was reminding them of no new commandment but one that was old. The person that has a close relationship with God is the person who will demonstrate God’s love regardless of the historical time when they live.
It almost seems John is confused by saying that he is writing a new commandment still talking about love. His concern and getting the point across to the readers is not so much about what person is loving whom. The real issue begins in verse six that says, “He that says he abides in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.” We know that Jesus came to this earth to die and be resurrected because of his love for us. Therefore, it behooves us to also reflect his love in our attitude and behavior.
Check out verses nine through 11. The discussion John is making is really the heart of the matter to resolve our confusion. Christ would have us walk in light as he is light. If we do this, we will love our brother. It should be a natural consequence. The love that we have toward others is proof that we are walking in the light. To the contrary, the person that does not love his brother is walking in darkness because darkness is in him. He who walks in darkness has an occasion of stumbling. The darkness has blinded him so that light has no effect on his path.
The old commandment is in Leviticus requiring us to love our neighbor. The new commandment is explained in our text because it’s entirely different. The contrast is not whether we have been obeying the old and new commandment. The contrast is whether or not we have been walking in the light or in the dark. If we walk in the light, we are walking on the path that Jesus walked which makes it new since he performed his earthly ministry. There is a direct connection between a solid relationship with Christ and how we relate to other people.
John’s concern is for us to demonstrate how the salvation experience has affected us. If we say that we love God but do not love our neighbor, we are telling the world that we enjoy walking in God’s light, but just as much enjoy walking in the world’s darkness. It is a matter of this type of believer trying to have both lifestyles. The old commandment stands solid, but it does so as a commandment of the law. The new commandment is a declaration, not of how we obey the law; it explains how the Holy Spirit has affected us causing us to love the unlovely that results in us loving as God loved. John is drawing a comparison and a contrast between loving because the law says to do it versus loving because Christ is loving through us as we submit to him in obedience.
Christian Writer 