Verse 8
In another sense, however, this old commandment was new (fresh, Gr. kainos). John often wrote in terms of black or white contrasts in this epistle, but in 1 John 2:7-8 he spoke of both and. With the Incarnation, the light of God had entered the world more brightly than ever before (Hebrews 1:1-3). This was a new commandment in that it belongs to the new age that Jesus inaugurated (John 14:6).
"It is not a recent innovation, yet it is qualitatively new as experienced in Christ." [Note: Hiebert, "An Expositional . . .," 145:422.]
This light was dispelling the darkness of sin and would continue to do so until the final increase of that light will result in the complete annihilation of darkness. When Jesus Christ issued the great commandment anew He called it a new commandment even though God had given it previously (Leviticus 19:18). Now it was important in a new sense due to His coming as the Light of the World (John 13:34-35).
The new commandment "is true" in Christ and in Christians in this sense: Jesus Christ’s obedience to His Father fulfilled it first, and Christians’ obedience to God is fulfilling it now. As Christ’s disciples obey the command to love one another, this command has the character of truth. In other words, Christian love is truth manifested, both in Jesus who modeled it and in His disciples who follow His example.
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