Download discussion questions:  1 John-2:1-11 knowing

Table Talk:  Christians talk of knowing God.  How well do you know God?  How do you evaluate how well you know God?
[“Table Talk” is an opening question or topic for discussion at the beginning of our time together.  The intent is to help group members (around tables, with four to six at each table) build connections with each other, as well as to guide thinking in a direction related to the passage.]

Early in our discussion one of the group members pointed out the affectionate language John uses at the beginning of this passage, “My little children” (1 John 2:1).  After the abrupt beginning of his letter with eyewitness testimony (1 John 1:1-4) he changed to second person “we” describing the confession of sin (vv. 5-10).  Now he changes to an even more personal and affectionate tone.  “Little children” expresses the care of a loving father.  He has established his authority as an eyewitness participant in the earthly ministry of Jesus.  He has summarized the need “we” all have for confession at the end of the last chapter.  He begins this chapter with a reassurance that their sin (that he hopes they don’t commit) will be forgiven.  His manner is much more personal and intimate.  Perhaps he knows he is about to say things that will be hard for some believers to hear.  The difference between what we say and what we do can be an uncomfortable reality.

As we continued to explore the passage, someone pointed out how often the small word “in” occurs – fourteen by our count.  Some are used of the repeated contrast between light and darkness (vv. 9, 10, 11).  Other uses are more personal, describing our relationship with God as being “in” Him (vv. 5b, 6a).  John also uses the word “abide” to describe that relationship (vv. 6, 10).  The closeness John expressed at the beginning of the passage is a reflection of relational closeness with God.  As our group discussed, this theme of abiding in God and He in us is a frequent part of John’s story told in the Gospel (e.g., John 15, John 17).  As discussed in “The Letters of John – A Brief Introduction,” one of the purposes of John’s letters seems to be to reinforce and clarify some of the issues addressed in the Gospel he recorded.  Rather than explain that mutual indwelling (John 17) in this letter, he assumes the readers have a basic understanding (if not successful application) of the idea.

John expects many or even most of his readers will claim to “abide” in God (v. 6) and to “know” God (v. 4).  The point of this passage seems to be that the assertion is capable of being tested.  This may be the awkward or uncomfortable subject that made John want to reassure the readers that they were indeed his beloved little children (vv. 7, 1).  A comment in the group noted the words John includes which describe action:  “keep” commandments, “walk” in light like He walks, not “stumbling” in darkness, “hate” or “love” a brother.  A genuine relationship with God is more than claims about knowing Him or abiding in Him.  John seems to be clear:  there should be observable evidence in our behavior.  Often the problem can be that we are oblivious.  We can say and sincerely believe we are close to God and abiding in Him while we fail to recognize sin in our lives.

If that is an accurate evaluation of what John is saying, knowing what behavior he means is important.  Since the word commandment(s) occurs six times in the passage (compacted into six verses, vv. 3-8), that is a good place to start.  What commandments?  And what is the puzzling talk about a commandment that is not new, but old, but actually is new (vv. 7-8)?  Our discussion explored several possibilities of what John had in mind when he used the word “commandment” (entolēn, ἐντολὴν):

• The two greatest commandments about loving God and loving your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).
• The Ten Commandments from the Old Testament.
• A general summary of all that Jesus had said, especially about taking up the cross and serving others.
• Loving others as He loved us (John 15:12).

Probably John would not have rejected any of these interpretations about his words.  On the other hand, the divinely-inspired writer had something in mind as he wrote.  The article “Commands of Jesus” lists the occurrences in the New Testament where Jesus used the word “command” (noun or verb).  Of course, this does not exhaust the possibilities of what Jesus commanded.  It only gives a starting point focusing on the specific language John uses in 1 John 2:1-11.  That listing of Jesus’ specific commands reveals that His direct, explicit commands (as in, “this is My commandment” or “this I command you”) are about loving one another, directed to His disciples:

John 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

John 15:12  This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

John 15:17  This I command you, that you love one another.

Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets depend on or grow out of the commands to love God and others (Matthew 22:40).  Paul said that love is the fulfillment of the Law (Romans 13:10).  And John knew the words of Jesus about a “new” commandment from the Gospel account he wrote (John 13:34).  After he mentions the “old”/”new” commandment, his examples zero in on loving and hating other believers.  It seems reasonable to conclude that the commandments John emphasizes are Jesus’ words about loving one another.  He told his readers that it was nothing new.  It was an “old” commandment they had from the beginning.  Maybe John was thinking of the “beginning” as the first time they read the Gospel account of Jesus’ teaching.  The church that grew out of John’s report knew about His “new commandment” (John 13:34).  On the other hand (v. 8), it was new, maybe because they needed to hear it afresh.  They were apparently not doing well in applying that particular part of Jesus’ teaching.  Perhaps the different understandings of the Incarnation (Jewish vs. Gentile) were causing friction.  Doctrine was becoming the measure of knowing God.

John’s readers asserted their relationship with God, knowing Him and abiding in Him.  Their behavior towards each other may not have displayed that heart.  They may have been content with what they considered correct doctrine and generally good behavior.  That might be a description of us today.  Our standards of sin (adultery, robbing banks, drunkenness – the lists can vary considerably) too often conform to our general standards of “niceness” and miss the heart of what John might call “relational sin” – our failure to love others in the self-sacrificing way Jesus loves.  “Hating” another person may not always involve seething anger.  Our group noted that sometimes (most of the time?) that relational sin may be as seemingly minor as putting ourselves and our comfort and our self-protection before that of another person.  A friend or a spouse makes a comment that hurts us, so we need to respond to prove our point or to defend our reputation or show that we won’t be treated that way.  We feel self-justified.  We believe that the circumstances warranted our action.  We feel that we were in the right.  Or maybe the relational sin can be something as practical (as one person shared) as finishing the last of the milk knowing that another person would like some milk also.  How often do we dismiss those kinds of attitudes or actions or words as minor or trivial or not really that important?  How often do those subtle relational sins reveal the shallowness of our knowing and abiding in the One who “suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:21-23, emphasis added).  Jesus knew and abided in the Father perfectly.  He could trust the Father He knew so well even in the midst of the unspeakable horror He went through.  He was perfectly able to resist all sin, including relational sin, as evidence of that perfect abiding and trust.  May our communion with the relational God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – continue to grow and be evidenced by our awareness of and struggle against relational sin.