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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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1 John 2:11
Comments
Very different is the one who hates his fellow believer, for his hatred identifies him as someone who has never left the darkness. Every decision he makes and every action he takes is inspired by the darkness, and he is not capable of genuine love or of any obedience acceptable to God. He does not recognise the Lord Jesus Christ, nor does he know the way to the Father, or how his sins can be forgiven, and yet he is unaware of this. He thinks he has wisdom, but it is the wisdom of the world, which does not take account of moral or spiritual danger, and therefore he stumbles through life hurting himself because he lacks spiritual eyes and a sense of spiritual direction.
Application
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Why does John divide people so sharply into those who love and those who hate? Are there not shades of grey in between? It is true that fallen human fathers still know how to give good gifts to their children (Luke 11:13), but only because God restrains them from becoming one hundred percent evil. It is also true that Christians may still be guilty of malice and other sins (1 Peter 2:1), but this is because the work of sanctification is not yet complete. Love and hatred are both trying to draw us entirely to themselves and possess us exclusively. If our behaviour is a mixture of the two, it is because the battle is not yet over. The unbeliever sides with sin, but the believer sides with the law of God.
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