Episode Details

Welcome to the Hope Bible School verse-by-verse Bible study of 1 John. This is Jeff M Newman. Get a new lesson every other week on Mondays at 12:00 PM Eastern.

In Lesson 33, we are going to study 1 John 2:11.

Let’s read our verse.

1 John 2:11 But whoever hates a fellow believer is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.

Let’s start by focusing on the first part of the verse: But whoever hates a fellow believer is in the darkness and walks in the darkness.

But (1161. de) means on the other hand or in contrast to the previous verse (Lesson 33 - 1 John 2:10) which is about people who love fellow believers and live in the light.

Whoever hates (3588. ho, hé, to) (3404. miseó) means a person who detests, loves less, has ill will towards, esteems less, or renounces one’s choice in favor of another.

A fellow believer (80. adelphos) is a fellow-Christian or follower of Jesus.

Is in the darkness (4653. skotia) means is in spiritual darkness, or blocked from the light of God when faith is lacking. (HELPS- Word-studies).

Walks in the darkness (4043. peripateó) (4653. skotia) means the way a person conducts their life or their day to day behavior while in spiritual darkness.

In other words, when someone detests, esteems less, or has ill will toward another follower of Jesus, they are blocked from the light of God. They are in spiritual darkness due to their lack of faith, and as a result, they are conducting their life in spiritual darkness.

In the previous verse, 1 John 2:10, we learned that if someone loves their fellow Christ follower, they are living in the light.

In this verse, we learn, that if someone hates Christ followers, they are living and walking in the darkness.

They do not have faith in Jesus’ command to love others as He loved them.

Hate is fundamentally incompatible with the Christian faith.

Jesus doesn’t want you to walk in the darkness. He wants you to follow Him and walk in the light.

In John 8:12, we read that Jesus is the light of the world; He says that when you follow Him, you will have the light of life.

John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The opposite of walking in the light is walking in the darkness.

In Proverbs 4:19, we read that the way of the wicked is dark.

Proverbs 4:19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Now let’s focus on the final part of the verse: They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded their eyes.