“A New But Old Command!-

“A New But Old Command!”(I Jn.2:7-11).
Some of us may be completely ignorant of what is happening around us. To my Cameroonian friends we are talking about the war on biblical interpretation going on in neighboring Nigeria.
The pulpits of Nigerian Pentecostals seems to have become platforms for entertaining Christians as preachers challenge the preaching of each other.
At one point I have asked myself how these pulpit wars help to deepen the faith of faithful followers?
The originator of this drama is Dr. Abel Damina. We are not in any way closer to those who cast the first stone on him, but we are not also in any way defending his teaching. By our own understanding there are many areas in which he is quite on course, but in some areas he is seemingly heretical. Even so, it’s a matter of us blind people describing the elephant by the body part we are clinging on to!
All the same, how does this concern us in this meditation? It concerns us because of the Caveat which the text enjoins on us believers. For those whose feet are not firmly standing on Christ the solid rock, they can be easily swept off their feet by any wind of change.
To this end John writes: “Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning…” As old as this command is, John is writing it to us as a new command. The truth of the new command is seen in Christ and us. It shows itself in that “the darkness is passing and the true light is shining.”
While we all may claim to be in the light, the telltale of those who are in the light are clear and visible for all to see and share in it.
So therefore, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble… “
There is nothing that can cause those who are in the light to stumble. So where are you?
Your answer – just like mine – is between you and your Redeemer!
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit enable us to be veritable lights of Christ in a world pleasured by darkness. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.