Rev. Jeremy Klaustermeier, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Warrenton, MO joins Rev. Brady Finnern to study I John 2:7-17.
Love your neighbor. It is a command going back to Leviticus 19:18 that is now written with a forgiveness pen with bloody ink (I John 1:8-9). Darkness surrounds the world, but darkness can not share time with Light. Darkness has a timetable but Light is eternal. Love your neighbor, little children as You are forgiven in Christ. Love your neighbor fathers and young men because You know the Father’s love. Love your neighbor children as you know Your Father in heaven. We love because He first loved us. “Lord God, help us to love our neighbor as You first loved us. As you incorporated all people to Yourself, unite us together in the name of Christ that Your love is not only in our hearts, but extended to others. In Christ, Amen”
Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.
Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.
I John 2:7-17
The New Commandment
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. 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[a] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 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[b] there is no cause for stumbling. 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.
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[c]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Footnotes
- 1 John 2:8 Or that
- 1 John 2:10 Or it
- 1 John 2:16 Or pride in possessions
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org
