A New Command

1 John 2:8 - Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

John 13:34 - "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Romans 13:12 - The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 - You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

Conclusions:

• In a sense a new command was an old one, but for Christ’s disciples it was new, because it was the mark of their brotherhood, created by Christ’s great love for them
• Our standard is Christ’s love for us
• The night is the present evil age
• “Is nearly over; the day is almost here” is a clear example of the New Testament teaching of the nearness of the end times
• These texts do not mean that the early Christians believed that Jesus would return within a few years.
• The early Christians regarded the death and resurrection of Christ as the crucial events of history that began the last days
• Since the next great event in God’s redemptive plan is the second coming of Jesus Christ, the night, no matter how long chronologically it may last, is nearly over
• The day is the appearing of Jesus Christ, which ushers in the consummation of the kingdom
• In Semitic languages, to be the “son of” a quality meant to be characterized by that quality
• Christians do not simply live in the light; they are characterized by the light

Application:

• Is your standard Christ's love for you?
• Have you put aside the deeds of darkness?
• Are you characterized by light?

All scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible