In 1 John 1:7-11, the apostle John writes:
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, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 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.
First, the commandment is an old commandment. It was commanded long ago: love your neighbor as yourself. This is nothing new. Yet while it is an old commandment, is it a new commandment? The solution to this conundrum lies in understanding John’s redemptive-historical grid.
John is employing a two-age schema just as Paul does throughout his epistles. We may speak of the present sinful order and the coming age of consummation. As a result, our current age is defined by two points: Christ’s death-resurrection and His coming and subsequent consummation. New Testament believers have a somewhat mixed experience. They have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, but have not yet experienced the bodily resurrection and therefore encounter the consequences of the Fall into sin. They rest on Christ’s finished work and have been renewed in the inner man, but continue to struggle with sin.
This age-overlap dynamic alters the way we understand God’s commandments. We are still bound to keep them, of course, but we are only free to keep them in Christ. Since all men born via ordinary generation are fallen in Adam, they are totally depraved and therefore unable to keep the law.
So when John writes “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” we can see how the two-age overlap is the proper interpretive grid. The age of the curse – the sinful era – is passing away and the true light in Jesus Christ is already shining – particularly in the hearts of those united to Him by faith.
Through the sanctifying power of the Spirit that comes through union with Christ, believers are able to “do” the law because their relationship to the law is defined through Christ rather than through Adam or themselves. As such they are justified on Christ’s account and because of their union with Him, the true lawkeeper, believers are able to “do” the law in freedom.
Therefore, the one who obeys the commandment demonstrates that he is united to Christ for “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light.” Obeying the commandment acts as proof because only those united to Christ are able to do it. But on the flip side, the one who does not love his brother betrays the fact that he is not united to Christ and belongs to the old order or darkness. “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.”
This brings us to the question: Is John speaking about a new commandment or an old commandment? Well, it depends on your perspective. If you are asking from the standpoint of the requirements of the commandment, then it is old. However, if you are asking about the believer’s understanding of the commandment and how it is to be kept [namely through whom] – then that is a redemptive-historical “new.”