1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. 7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who 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.

 1 John 4:6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

 Some of the most powerful words written in the Bible are written in 1 John. A relationship with the light is a relationship with love. Jesus Christ is the Light of men. If we claim to walk in the light we must walk as He walks. If we walk in the Light as He is the Light then we will take on the characteristics of His love. We will keep His word if we walk as He walks and we will not sin because He does not sin and we walk as He walks. Everyone who is born again of God loves as He is love. He who does not love is not born again of God, because the seed of the new nature is love. Knowing God changes us and He recreates us with the material of love. If we do not love, it shows that the knowledge of God is not influencing us. The knowledge that changes us is the knowledge that Jesus Christ die on the cross for us, His enemies. We were the worst kind of people and He loved us so much that He became our resolutions, our salvation from our sin. The idea is that He save us from our sin and that we do not continue to sin. In chapter one of 1 John, he tells us that if we are confess our sin Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we do not sin then we walk in the darkness and do not walk in the light. In chapter two John tells us that if we say we walk in the light yet hate our brother we are still in the dark. In chapter three Johns says that we cannot abide in Him and practice sin.

 John says that those who are born of God do not practice sin, because Jesus Christ’s seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Jesus Christ does not sin. The seed of Jesus Christ, He has planet in us, does not sin. He who continues in their sin cannot love as He loves. Those who know God, has God manifested in them through Jesus Christ and the sealing of the Holy Spirit that we live in Him and through Him. He loves us and His Love abides in us and we abide in Him because He gave us His Spirit of Love. His love is being perfected in us that we might love those whom He loves. We have never seen God but love Him whenever we love one who He abides in. When we do not show love to the one He is dwelling in then we are not showing Him love also. If we confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God then God abides in us. We fellowship with Him when we fellowship with those He makes His abode in. How can we say we love God and hate the one He abides in?

 When love is perfected (matures) in us we conform to the Law, for love is the foundation of the Law. We have confidence in the Day of Judgment, because the Law is perfected in us. As His nature of love is perfected in us, we are transformed into His likeness and He does not sin. Love does not sin. Fear of judgment comes from doing wrong. Love lives in righteousness and He does not sin and His abiding in us creates a new nature, like His. Our new nature grows and matures in us and the image of Christ’s love is formed in us. As the new nature becomes our nature love becomes our new nature.

 His love for us is the seed of the new nature and we cannot love as He loves unless the seed of His love is planted in our hearts. If we believe God loves us, then we are changed by His love and He abides in us. If we do not love our brother, then how do we know His love is in us? The focus of our being is on the cross and the love He displayed for us. We also investigate the love He has for our brother. As we know Him, we come to know His love for our brother. How can we love Him and hate the one He loves so much? If we hate the one He loves to the point of His death on the cross, then we do not understand His death and we need to study it more.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB - The Lockman Foundation