The Old Becomes New

Plans are to teach 1 John here in China next fall. As work on Ruth is finishing up it is leaving some time to work on 1 John. A verse I found interesting was “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you” (1 John 2:7 - 8, ESV). Reading this verse raises two questions: What is the commandment and how can it be new if it is already old?

As we look ahead we learn the commandment is about loving one another. The commandment is old because it is found at Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord” (NASB). But then John says he is writing a new commandment. This raises a question of how loving one another can be both an old and a new commandment.

When placed in a time frame loving one another can’t be both old and new. But if there is some new insight associated with the commandment then in that sense it is seen as new. To love one another is not new in time, but maybe John is going to reveal something new about its character; something that couldn’t be understood before the time of Jesus Christ. What this new meaning is will be the focus of our next entry.

Before we leave this entry, consider something else that can be both old and new. Sometime in the past we were born physically. As the days go by we keep getting older and evidence of that can be seen when we look in the mirror. If we experienced the new birth then we become a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Living within the old is something that is new and that is because of Jesus Christ. Maybe because of Jesus, something that is old about love now becomes new.

Have you become comfortable with that which you are familiar, that which in a way has become old? You may live near a famous landmark, but after a while it becomes just a landmark. With familiarity comes complacency and soon we are not living with the enthusiasm and care we once had. We need to continue to discover things; to bring that which is new into our lives, allowing the old to pass away.