Christopher J.

Coleman
3/28/07
Sermon Preparation

“The True Light is Already Shining”

An Expository Sermon on 1 John 2:3-11
Manuscript.

Scripture Reading, ESV:

2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his
commandments. 2:4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is
a liar, and the truth is not in him, 2:5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of
God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 2:6 whoever says he abides
in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 2:7 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. 2:8 At the same time, it is a new
commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the
darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 2:9 Whoever says he is in
the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in
the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 2:11 But whoever hates his brother
is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Prayer for Illumination:

Our Father, we have heard wonderful things out of your Word. We praise you for
revealing Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament and ask you to give us your Spirit
so that we may understand the fullness of your truth. Amen.

Introduction:
In our day in age, there are many things that bring about doubt within the
Christian’s mind. The Gospel, and its truths, are under attack on many fronts. Islam
seems to be growing exponentially across Europe and the world. Our society continues to
embrace the thoughts and philosophies of relativism, hedonism and paganism. More and
more the essential truths of the Gospel, namely the resurrection of Christ, the exclusivity
of Christ and the free grace of God in Christ are being questioned and out-right denied by
our society. What does this do to your confidence, beloved? Does this cause you to doubt
God and the promises he has made for his church? Do you question whether God will
arise against these, his enemies?
But I suspect other things bring on the clouds of doubt in your mind. When you
look at yourself, you see how dark and dirty your heart is. Maybe you hold grudges
against co-workers. Maybe you are jealous of others who are promoted above you. And
maybe you, gentlemen, take a long look at the young-girl in the short skirt. And you
know, beloved, that all these actions are mere consequences of what lies deep in your
heart. When you see just how often you have offended God throughout the week, I
suspect you begin to doubt whether you are truly his child. How can I, a person who
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commits such horrible deeds, possibly be in the favor of a Holy God? You doubt the
promise of Gospel.
Well, let me assure you brothers and sisters. God has good-news to proclaim to
you this morning. “Have confidence, beloved, for the true light is already shining and the
darkness is passing away!” 1 John 2:3-11 directly addresses our doubt by assuring us that
our trust in the Gospel is firm and that the enemies of it will not stand. Today I have three
truths to impart to you: (1) The Confidence of Faith and (2) The Command of Faith and
the (3) The Consequence of Faith. But, the main point is that we can be confident in our
relationship with God because we exhibit love and care for our fellow Christians. The
Confidence in Christ is that he, Christ, is greater than the ones in the world, the Light is
greater than the oncoming Darkness. Now, lets see exactly how John develops these two
truths.

1 John 2.3-2.6, The Confidence of Love:

In verse three John is seeking to communicate to his is audience that they can be
confident that they have believed the Gospel because they keep his commandments.
Remember, when John originally wrote this letter he was seeking to provide
assurance to his readers. He wanted his audience to know that their faith was genuine, in
spite of the enemies of the Gospel that sought to undermine their faith. We said that these
people denied foundational aspects of Jesus’ incarnation and ministry. It also seems, as
we will see, that these enemies of the Gospel also had a hard time loving their neighbor.
Lets look back at verse three. John’s first words here “And by this we know…”
refers to cognitive knowledge. This is knowledge that you have when you read a book or
a letter. John is saying something like: “By this we can be sure…” “By this we can be
confident…” But what are they to be sure of?
Well, John tells us“…that we have come to know him…” This knowledge is
different than the previous knowledge. Here it refers to personal knowledge. John says
that his audience has come to know “him,” a person. Within the context, this clearly
seems to be Jesus Christ. In 2:1-2 John tells us about Jesus Christ, our advocate before
the Father. So, John is saying “ We can be confident that we have personally known Jesus
if…”
“…we keep his commandments.” If we keep Jesus’ commandments we can be
sure that we have believed the Gospel. But, what is this commandment? Look at Jesus’
statement in the Gospel of John, chapter 15 verse 12: “This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you.” John repeats this theme of love for ones
brother throughout his epistle. It clearly seems that he picked up this aspect of Jesus’
teaching.
Verse four now presents us with a negative example of what John has just taught.
The major problem with this person is that their actions do not line up with their
confession. “Whoever says ‘I know him…’ ” Again, this is personal knowledge, anyone
claims to have a personal knowledge of Christ and the Gospel. “…but does not keep his
commandments…” This hypothetical person, who claims to know the Gospel, at the
same time doesn’t keep Jesus’ love commandment. This person can have no confidence
that they personally know Christ and his Gospel. Therefore, this person “…is a liar and
the truth is not in him.” This person lies, that is he does not know Christ. His actions do
not line up with his confession.
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In verse five, John now presents us with a positive example of someone who
keeps the love commandment and can therefore have confidence in his knowledge of
Gospel. Their actions show that the Gospel is bringing them through the process of
sanctification. “But whoever keeps his word…” Anyone who does in fact keep Jesus’
love commandment, in this person “…truly the Love of God is perfected.” As opposed to
the example of verse four who is a liar and not in the truth, this person can be sure that he
knows Christ. God’s love for him, through Christ and the Gospel, assures this person that
they will be made perfect one day. (4:9-10 for why “love of God” is a subjective genitive
“the love God has for us.”)
In verses 2.5b-2.6 John now tells us that we can be confident that we have
believed the Gospel if we live as Christ. It seems best to see the end of verse five
beginning a new idea. This is so because John’s phrase “By this we may be sure…” is the
same phrase, in Greek, that began verse 3. So, this verse also refers to cognitive
knowledge. John’s next phrase “…that we are in him…” Is different, yet it is similar to
the language of verse 3 and the personal knowledge of Christ. But it also seems to reflect
the “in Christ” language of John 15. John’s phrase “…who says he abides in him…” Is
also synonymous with personal knowledge of Christ and his saving work. John ends this
section with an imperative, this person “…ought to walk in the same way in which he
walked.” Here the person’s confession is again linked to their actions, but this time the
norm is Christ’s life and the way he lived. Which we must conclude is synonymous with
his love commandment.
So, beloved, be confident in your faith in Christ and his saving work because you
exercise love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ.

*Excursus: this is not Salvation by works*

I want to be clear on this, beloved. John is not saying that we know and believe
the gospel because of our love toward our brother, but that we can be confident in the free
offer on the gospel because we love our brother. Love is linked to confidence, not being
made right with God. John is saying that our actions should agree with our confession. If
we confess that we have been saved by Christ alone, then we ought to follow his
commands and by following his commands we may be assured of our justification.
Indeed, one of our own doctrinal standards, the Heidelberg Catechism mentions
this point. The Catechism is generally split into three sections: Guilt, Grace and
Gratitude. Guilt is our sinfulness and need for a savior. Grace is God’s free gift of pardon
and justification through Christ alone. And Gratitude is our response to the first two,
namely how to wretched sinners respond to the free grace of the gospel, by being
thankful to God for such grace by living in obedience. The Catechism opens the
Gratitude section on Lord’s Day 32, Question and Answer 86, which says:

Q. Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace alone through Christ, without
any merit of our own, why must we yet do good works?

A. Because Christ, having redeemed us by His blood, also renews us by His Holy Spirit
to be His image, so that with our whole life we may show ourselves thankful to God for
His benefits, and He may be praised by us. Further, that we ourselves may be assured of
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our faith by its fruits, (Matt. 7:17-18, Gal. 5:22-24, 2 Peter 1:10-11) and that by our godly
walk of life we may win our neighbors for Christ.1

The important part of that answer is that “we ourselves may be assured of our
faith by its fruits…” This clearly seems to be in line with what John has been teaching us
thus far. Part of our assurance, what I am calling confidence, that we have been delivered
from our misery by grace alone through Christ alone it that do good works, which in
John’s epistle is most evident in our love for our Christian brothers and sister. I just
wanted to make sure that all of you were clear on what I am saying and that I am not
teaching that man is made righteous based on his love for his brothers. So, lets get back
to the text.

2.7-2.8 The Confidence of Christ:

Verse seven brings us to our second major point, namely the confidence that we
can have in Christ, himself. In this verse John is seeking to tell us that this
commandment, which he is writing, is not novel but is something his audience is familiar
with. John’s use of “Beloved” is specifically of Christians. “…I am writing you no new
commandment, but an old commandment…” John’s commandment, spoken above in
verse 3-6 is not new and novel but old, something they are familiar with. Most likely this
“old commandment” was the one that we mentioned above, namely Jesus’ command to
love each other as he had loved them.
But, now in verse eight, John wants these same people to know that he is also
writing a new commandment: the true light is already shining. “At the same time, it is a
new commandment…” Even though they have received and heard the old commandment
to love their brothers, John writes to them a new, different, commandment. “…the
darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” This is the content of this
new commandment. Its actually not a command at all, it is simply telling us what actually
is the case. John is using commandment, here, not in the sense above: as an imperative.
But he is using commandment as an indicative: what is actually the case whether or not I
obey. Therefore, this “new commandment” isn’t a commandment at all, in the ordinary
sense of the word. This new commandment is simply as statement that the enemies of the
Gospel are dying and that the promised light to Israel will be victorious.
Jesus is the Light, now presently shining as John wrote this in the first century,
almost 2,000 years ago. John is saying something deeply profound about who Jesus
actually is: Jesus is the promised eschatological light of Israel. 2 Samuel 23.2-4 speaks of
one who will rule justly over men, a king in the line of David that will rule in equity. This
passage reflects the language of the Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7.12-16. This king is
said to “dawn on them [Israel] like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a
cloudless morning…” But this promised light would not come as quickly as though is
Israel had hoped. Therefore the prophets had to reassure the people of the Promised light
that will rescue them from the darkness of their exile (Lamentations 3.2). So, Isaiah 9.2,
60.1-3, 19-20 all record Isaiah promise to Israel that her light will come, 9.2, and that
this light will be a child, 9.6-7 (which also refers to David and the kingdom, see point 2

1
(See also Belgic Confession, Article 24 and Canons of Dort, 5.10-12)
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above). Then, at the beginning of John’s Gospel he tells us that Jesus is the light. (1.4-
5,9-10) It seems that John presupposes that the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, of Jesus
time were in darkness (i.e. exile). Jesus as the true light shines as the one promised in 2
Samuel 23 and Isaiah 9. In John 12.46 and Acts 26.18 we learn that anyone who believes
in the Light does not remain in darkness. This language is reflected by John in 1 John
2:9-11. Acts tells us that the same is true of Gentiles as it is true of Jews. And, finally in
Revelation 21.23-24, we learn that at the end of the age, there will be no need for the sun
because God’s light will enlighten everything. And this light will come from the lamb,
Christ.
Therefore, it is this promised light that is now shinning, beloved, even today. The
arrow has been loosed from its bow and had pierced the skin of the great-dragon. Christ
has dealt the deathblow, the dragon is dying he has no hope of survival.

2.9-2.11 The Consequence of Faith:

In verses 2.9-11 John seeks to communicate the same message as he did in verse
3-6: That your actions must line up with your confession. But, in this section John uses
the vivid image of one who walks in darkness and one who walks in the light and then
explains the consequences that go along with each.
In verse nine John gives us a negative example: their confession does not line up
with their actions. “Whoever says he is in the light…” This person claims to understand
and believe the Gospel. But “…hates his brother…” This person, who claims to be part of
Christ and the Gospel, at the same time, hates his brother, this person “…is still in
darkness.” They are in fact not part of the light nor his Gospel. Their claim to the Gospel
is nullified by their hatred of their brothers and sisters.
In contrast with the person in verse nine, John now offers a positive example:
anyone who loves their brother is in fact part of Christ and his Gospel, and the
consequences of this. “Whoever loves his brother…” this example is clearly in contrast
with the negative example of verse nine. This one “…abides in the light…” That is he
knows, believes and is part of Christ and his Gospel message. “…and in him there is no
cause for stumbling.” Because he is a partaker of the light he can see where he is going
and will not fall into the pit. John uses an interesting word here to describe what the ESV
translates as “cause for stumbling.” The Greek word ska◊ndalon, can also mean “trap” or
“pit.” (BDAG, 926) John seems to be clearly drawing a picture of someone walking
along a path of some kind. This person can either walk with a light or continue to walk in
darkness. If he has a light, then he can see the “pit” or “trap” that lies in front. (see v. 6
and 11) This “pit” is a vivid illustration of what it could look like to “fall” into sin,
namely in this context, not to love your brother. The consequence of loving you brother
and being in the light is that you can see where the pits of sin are and can therefore more
easily avoid them.
Again in verse eleven John draws another vivid picture. Here, again, we have a
negative example of the consequences of not loving your brother and being in darkness.
A vivid picture of what it looks like to walk in darkness, because he has not loved his
brother. “But whoever hates his brother…” this is clear parallel back to the hypothetical
person of verse nine. This one, who hates his brother “…is in darkness and walks in the
darkness…” again, the consequence of hating your brother is living this life void of the
light of the Gospel. And because this person is in the darkness he “…does not where he is
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going…” We all know how dark it feels when you suddenly turn out all the lights in your
house. Your pupils have not dilated and thus allow in less light. It’s so dark that you can
barely see your hand in front of your face. You carefully and slowly place one foot in
front of the other and make your way to bed. But, since it is dark you don’t see the
bookcase in front of you and your bare toe bangs into the hard wood with a loud “thud.”
Your toe immediately begins to throb. This is the type of picture John is trying to paint.
John now offers the reason why this person is in darkness, “…because the darkness has
blinded his eyes.” This person has been in the darkness so long that he cannot see at all.
His life is so devoid of light that he cannot anything. The darkness has blinded him to the
truth and its life-changing light.

Application:
Now, what can we say by way of application:
First, to you beloved of the Lord, those of you who trust in Christ for the complete
forgiveness of all of your sins: be confident. Be confident because the true light is now
shining. The darkness of Islam has no hope to stand against the light and power of Christ.
Any enemy of the Gospel of Jesus, whether man or institution, cannot hope to prosper
forever, because the conquering King has come and is now active in the world. All the
enemies of the Gospel are perishing and Jesus is coming soon.
Also, to you beloved, be confident. The doubts that arise in your heart because of
the gross sin that you observe there is also passing away. As we saw in 2:5, anyone who
believes in Christ and loves his brother can be assured that God by His Holy Spirit and
through the witness of the Gospel is bringing you to perfection. Your sanctification has
already begun and God promises to complete it. So, be confident in Christ and his work.
Also, be confident in the Gospel because you love your brother.
To you who do not yet trust Christ as your savior, I pled with you: “Look to the
light.” Forsake the darkness that has darkened your mind and hardened your heart to the
sweet nectar of the Gospel. For John’s promise is sure “If you confess your sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”
(1:9) So, confess your sins and trust in Jesus Christ, not yourself, and his works to make
you righteous before the Father.
Again, to you beloved of the Lord, love one another because he has first loved us.
Lay down you life for the person to your left and right. Put them ahead of your own gain.
Seek their well fare before yours. And do this all out of thankfulness to the God in Three
Persons for their free gift of salvation. Let us pray…

Closing Prayer:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit thank you for the covenant you made between
yourselves before time began. Thank you that you decided to redeem a remnant to be
your sons and your daughters, before they were ever created. Let us live a life of holiness
and obedience motivated by thankfulness to you for over-flowing grace. Amen.