2:7
John now gives a second set of tests. It is worth noting that John is interested in testing the reality of faith. Just because someone says they believe in Jesus does not mean that they actually believe. Faith is not just a feeling, though it may involve feelings. It is something that is real, and something that will have real consequences. The first set of tests involved whether or not someone obeyed God’s commands, the second set involve our attitude towards each other. It is important that God comes first. This parallels the pattern of the ten commandments, where the first half are concerned with our relationship with God, and the second half with our relationship with each other.
The “test” was not something new, not something introduced out of thin air, it was part of God’s teaching from the beginning (see earlier comment on the ten commandments), and is part of the gospel. In that sense nothing has changed. Love God and love others is the consistent message of the Bible, and you cannot have one without the other.
2:8
Yet, in another sense the commandment is new. Jesus said in John 13:34 that He was giving them a new commandment, to love one another as He has loved us. In one sense nothing has changed, the commands remain the same, but in another everything has changed. Without Christ we were lost in sin, trapped by sin. But now, we have been set free, we start to live a new life. We start to become ever more Christlike. The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. We are waiting for the return of Christ, for something to happen, but something has also already happened. Something very significant has happened.
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