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1 John 2 · a question people ask

"I write no new commandment to you" (2:7), and "Again, I write a new commandment to you" (2:8). How do these go together?

In the text

1 John sets down both, one verse after the other. 2:7 goes on, "The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning." (2:7), and 2:8 goes on, "which is true in him and in you" (2:8). These notes set them side by side and don't choose how they fit together.

The verses

“Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.”
1 John 2:7 · World English Bible
“Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.”
1 John 2:8 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 John 2

1 John 2: The world is passing away

1 John 2 says twice that something is passing away: "the darkness is passing away" (2:8), and "The world is passing away with its lusts" (2:17). In the same verse, beside the world passing away, it says, "he who does God’s will remains forever" (2:17).

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions