Introduction: Today John will continue to talk about the evidence that substantiates the claims of who we are in Jesus. The greatest evidence is the love that we have for our fellow Christians. 7b I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. • The command is that we should one another. • Loving was commanded by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. • Loving your was commanded in Leviticus 19:18. • Jesus brought these together in the in Mark 13:30-31. 7a Brethren, • John addresses them not as brethren but as . • It is remarkable that this son of thunder speaks with such . • Perhaps it wasn’t pride that caused him to call himself the beloved disciple but utter that Jesus, the perfect sinless Son of God loved him. • This love had John. 8a Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. • There is a sense in which the command is new and new. • Jesus made the old new by telling us to love He loved us. (John 13:34) • John made the old even newer by telling us to love others . • Moses gave the . Jesus gave the . John shows us the to do it. 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. • He is talking to about how we treat our brothers and sisters. • The cross of Jesus any excuse that you might have for not loving. • We are to love others according to His model and by His power. • This is the mark of a mature . • To do otherwise makes a of the Gospel and the hater.