Daily Bible Study—1 John 2:8

Again, a new commandment I am writing to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. (1 John 2:8, EMTV)




The importance of God's light


A1 Outline

B1 Writing

C1 New commandment

C2 True

B2 Because

C1 Darkness is passing away

C2 True light already shines

A2 Notes

B1 Old/new commandment (comparing 1 John 2:7-8).

C1 This commandment has been around for a long time, and yet it is new and refreshing every day.

C2 The Greek word for new is not new in the sense of a new phone or new computer, it is a word used to describe something revolutionary new. An example would be the first TV or the first satellite in space.

C3 Love in this sense would be

D1 The Jews had a command to love (Exodus 23:4-5, Proverbs 25:21-22) but did not John 4:9.

D2 The Christians are also given a command to love; will we? Luke 6:27, Matthew 5:24

B2 True in Him--Jesus practices this perfectly, and He wants us to do so too.

B3 True in you--this is one of the results of the new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 2:10

B4 Darkness is passing away

C1 Wilbur Pickering's note in his New Testament translation on this verse writes--

I take 'the darkness' to be a reference to Satan's kingdom, while "the true Light is already shining" would refer to the outworking of Christ's victory, which in a certain sense turned all old commandments into new ones—the indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to do what we couldn't, before. Darkness is merely the absence of light; to introduce light in any situation reduces the darkness, which is why the world hates us.

C2 Some take darkness to refer to paganism, Judaism, evil, ignorance, spiritual deadness, or other things.

C3 Cross references--2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Ephesians 5:8-11, Acts 26:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:5

B5 True light already shines--this refers to Jesus and His truth.

C1 Salvation as in 1 Peter 2:9

C2 Jesus as in John 8:12 and 2 Corinthians 4:6

C3 Life that Jesus gives. This would refer to the rebirth of John 3. See John 1:5-9

C4 Truth as in John 3:19-21. This would be the light that exposes our sins. No one can hide from that light.

A3 Questions

B1 Why does John have to write about this commandment?

B2 How did this commandment, which is true in Jesus, become true in Christians?

B3 What or who causes the darkness to be passing away?

B4 Is there darkness in our lives?

B5 What can we do to increase the light in our lives?