New Commandment

The “new commandment” is Christ’s instruction for Christians to love one another. The phrase appears four times in the New Testament, all in the writings of John (John 13:34; 1 John 2:7, 8; 2 John 1:5). Jesus first gave this command to his disciples on the night he was arrested: “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another” (John 13:34). This command appears in other places in the Bible (John 15:12, 17; Romans 13:8; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11–12), but is not called “new” in those passages.

Jesus had already told his disciples to love their enemies (Matthew 5:43–45) and to love their neighbors as themselves (Luke 10:25–37). The “new commandment” demanded that Christians love each other. It did not replace the other two love commands. Jesus intended this command to create a strong and convincing testimony for those outside the church. This would clearly show three things:

that his followers lived like Christ by loving one another;

that true human community is built on Christ; and

that this love confirms that what Jesus said about himself and his work is true (John 13:35; 17:21–23).

Jesus chose the word used to describe the Old Testament law. By doing this, he gave his new commandment the same level of authority. The Old Testament law also included commands to love (Leviticus 19:18, 34; Deuteronomy 10:19). The apostle Paul referred to love as the “law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2), and James called the love command the “royal law” (James 2:8) and “the perfect law of liberty” (1:25; 2:12).

The word “commandment” had another meaning as well. Many Jews in the time of Jesus wrongly thought that obeying commandments would make them worthy of God’s blessing (Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:2). Jesus made it clear, however, that love was a natural result of God’s blessing, not a necessary condition for it. For Jesus, the commandment showed how the blessed should behave. Disciples were commanded to love in the same way that branches are “commanded” to bear fruit: by staying connected to the vine (Jesus), Christians can love (John 15:4).

The new commandment gets its special character from the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). Jesus established the new covenant at the Last Supper. Under the new covenant, God “writes” his law on the hearts of believers (Hebrews 10:16). This means he actively works in them through the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27; 2 Corinthians 3:3). God gives them a new desire to obey him (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16).

The new commandment to love is the main part of the new covenant (Romans 13:8, 10; Galatians 5:14). Obedience is therefore a gift, because “love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God” (1 John 4:7). Love is the result of faith (1 John 3:23) and is part of the gospel itself (1 John 3:11).

The close relationship between the new covenant and the new commandment helps explain why the command to love is called new. Christ’s incarnation inaugurated a new age. As John writes, “The darkness is fading and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). In the context of his departure (John 13:33–35), Jesus gave his disciples a defining commandment (mutual love) that would characterize life in this new age. Obedience to this commandment was to identify them as the disciples of Jesus during his absence (John 13:35; 17:21–23). In this sense, the love commandment is new not because love itself was previously unknown, but because it now functions as the central mark of allegiance to Christ in the inaugurated new age, oriented toward its final consummation

What made the era new was that Jesus Christ’s coming revealed God the Father in a way that had never been seen before (John 1:18; 10:30; 17:6–8). No prophet had ever been able to say, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, the command from Jesus that his disciples love each other “as I have loved you” (John 13:34) was new and shocking by any human standard. No one had ever loved perfectly as Jesus did (John 13:1). Following his example of love was a new commandment.

The greatness of the love of Jesus led him to “lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Similarly, John concluded that “we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). Love means not refusing to help a fellow Christian who is in need (1 John 3:17). Love means gladly sacrificing one's own good for another's benefit.

See also Ten Commandments; Biblical Concept of Law.