1 John 2:3-11
Chapter 2
True Knowledge of Good
The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments.If you say, ‘I know him,’ but do not keep his commands, you are a liar, and the truth is not in you.
But if you keep his word, God’s love is made complete in you. This is how we know that we are in him:
whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ must live as he lived.
Overcoming the Evil One
Beloved, I am not writing you a new commandment, but reminding you of an old one, one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard.
But, in a way, I give it as a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines.
If you say you are in the light but hate your brother or sister, you are still in darkness.
If you love your brothers and sisters, you stay in the light, and nothing within you will cause you to fall.
But if you hate your brother or sister, you are in darkness and walking blindly without knowing where you’re going, for darkness has blinded you.
Commentaries
True Knowledge of God.
In contrast to sin is the observance of the commandments, which is the fruit and sign of communion with God. To know God, in the biblical sense (cf. Jr 31:34), is not to have an abstract idea of him but to enter into a personal relationship and live in communion with him. For St. John, this knowledge is expressed very concretely; it is equivalent to being with him (3:5) and observing the commandments (3).
Overcoming the Evil One.
Overcoming the evil one also means overcoming the world—from the Johannine perspective—which “belongs to the evil one” (5:19) and dominates the powers acting within it. The world can be broken down into these three powers: “The evil desires of human nature” (cf. Jn 3:6; Eph 2:3; 1 Pt 2:11), the “lust of the eyes” (3:17; cf. Jas 4:16), and the “pride of riches.” For the believer, victory over both the world and the evil one is a gift from Christ, but it is also a task: “an indication” (2:13; 4:4; 5:4) and “an imperative” (15a). There is no middle ground, no alternative: either the love of the Father or the love of the world (15b; cf. Jas 4:4; Mt 6:24).