Msg #2405 A Commandment Paradox?

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

A paradox in logic, is a statement that contradicts itself. The man who sits in the seat of the scornful supposes the Bible is full of paradox and fable. I have only found two of each. Trees, vines, brambles and thistles speaking to illustrate a point, is defined as fable, and it is found in Judges.9, and 2Chron.25:18. Proverbs 26:4 and 26:5 are paradoxical because sometimes one should just walk away from a fool, and sometimes he needs to be answered. But 1John 2:7 and 2:8 present a paradox that needs closer examination. “Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, … Again, a new commandment I write unto you” (1John.2:7,8). Certainly, there is no new commandment here, and “the old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.” The lawyer, tempting Jesus, gave it as “love your neighbor.” In 1John.2:8 the apostle John calls this a new commandment, “which thing is true in him and in you.” It is new because of him, dwelling in you, as it were. In Christ all things are new, especially the commandment to “love one another;” it is new “because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” John takes this new capability to be “in the light” and says, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now” (2:9). It is hard to fake love. Many families, and sometimes even churches, are riddled with hate, and grudge-keeping, and infighting. Someone is therein standing in darkness; they might profess Christ, but they do not possess Christ. John writes so we (1^st person) can know that we know him, but he also writes so we can discern Christ NOT in others (2^nd & 3^rd person). Got light? = got love.

An Essay for week #5, Feb 4, 2024

Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs240204.mp3

Good Systematic Theology, 12 volumes - www.GSBaptistChurch.com/theology

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