1 John 2:11

But, for the Christian who hates another Christian, there is no *light. He is wrong when he hates another Christian. He does not obey the command and he is in error. He is like someone in the dark. A person who wanders in the dark has lost his way. He does not know where he is. He does not know where he is going. If he is in the dark for too long, he may become blind. His eyes can no longer see the *light.

The person who hates other people is like someone who walks in darkness. It is as if hate makes this person’s eyes blind. What he does is wrong. And he cannot see where he is going. This person will lose the sense of unity with the *Lord. He can no longer find his way back to God.

Verse 12

God forgave us so that we could know him. He makes us strong so that we can overcome the devil.

In the next three verses, John writes to children, fathers and young people. Probably he uses the word ‘children’ for the whole group. Some members of that group he calls the fathers and other members he calls the young men. The fathers are those, both men and women, who are more mature in their Christian lives. This is not a distinction because of age.

He writes first to all those people who have come to know the *Lord. He reminds them that God forgave their *sins. This is a fact that they should know. They can be confident that this is true. In this knowledge, they can be strong Christians. God has forgiven them. And they share in the life that he gives.

‘The name’ means the person. Christ is the person. So, God forgave them because of Christ. He is the reason why God forgave their *sins. It was because of who the *Lord Jesus is. God forgives because of what the *Lord Jesus has done. He died for their *sins. He rose up from the dead to *save them. He rescued them from *sin. They now belong to the *Lord Jesus. They are now his people.