In his First Epistle, St. John wrote, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.” (1 Jn 2:3-5)
Didymus the Blind (c. 313–398), an Alexandrian exegete, wrote, “Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having personal experience of it.” In the Bible, “to know” someone often includes an experiential and relational dimension. When Jesus said, “I never knew you” (Mt 7:23) and “I do not know you” (Mt 25:12), this does not mean Jesus did not know who they were but that they were not in a good relationship with him. In 1 John, “to know God” includes both a right understanding of him and a right relationship with him.
According to St. Augustine, God’s love is perfected in us when we love our enemies so that they become our brothers and sisters. The saint said, “What is perfection in love? To love even one’s enemies, and to love them to the degree that they may be brothers … Love your enemies in such a way that you wish them to be brothers; love your enemies in such a way that they are brought into your fellowship.”
The commandment to love is both old and new (1 Jn 2:7-8). St. Bede said, “God’s commandment to love was old because it had been around since the beginning of time, but it was also new, because once the darkness was taken away, it poured the desire for new light into our hearts.”
The sixth century Oecumenius commented: “The commandment is new in that it is no longer restricted to Israel as it was under the law of Moses. Under that law it was normal to love one’s friends and to hate one’s enemies, as Jesus himself testified. But he then turned that around by saying that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, concentrating on the fact that these people are human beings like ourselves and not worrying about how they feel toward us.”
St. John addressed the “children,” “fathers,” and “young men” of the community (1 Jn 2:12-14). According to Andreas, a seventh-century monk, “The different ages here are to be understood in spiritual terms; they refer to our maturity in faith. First you must become a child and be weaned off evil. It is in this state that you must put off the weight of your old sins. Once you have done this, you can progress to the status of adolescents, when you must struggle against evil. Finally you will be deemed worthy of the deep knowledge of God which characterizes parents. This is the best and truest order of growth toward acceptance by the Father.”
St. John taught that “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16) are from the world. St. Hilary of Arles said, “The lust of the flesh is what pertains to our physical appetites, whereas the lust of the eye and the pride of life are what pertains to the vices of the soul, such as inordinate self-love, which does not come from the Father but from the devil.”
St. Augustine said, “By not having the concupiscence of the world, neither the desire of the flesh nor the desire of the eyes nor the ambition of the world will conquer you, and you will make a place for charity to enter, so that you may love God, because, if the love of the world is there, the love of God won’t be there. Hold, rather, to the love of God, so that, just as God is eternal, you also may abide in eternity, because a person’s love determines the person’s quality.”
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我們通過愛仇敵來認識天主
聖若望在他的第一封書信中寫道：『如果我們遵守祂的命令，由此便知道我們認識他。那說「我認識他，」而不遵守他命令的，是撒謊的人，在他內沒有真理。但是，誰若遵守他的話，天主的愛在他內纔得以圓滿；由此我們也知道，我們是在他內。』（若望一2:3-5）
狄迪莫斯（313年—398年），是亞歷山大的一位解經家，他寫道：『在聖經中，「知道」這個詞通常意味著不僅要意識到某事，還要有個人經驗和關係的層面。』當耶穌說，『我從來不認識你們』（馬竇7：23）和『我不認識你們』（馬竇25：12）時，這並不意味著耶穌不知道他們是誰，而是他們與他關係不好。在若望一書中，「認識天主」既包括對天主的正確理解，也包括與天主的正確關係。
根據聖奧斯定的說法，當我們愛我們的敵人，使他們成為我們的兄弟姐妹時，天主的愛就會在我們裡面達到圓滿。這聖人說：『什麼是圓滿的愛呢？甚至要愛自己的仇敵，愛他們到可使他們成為兄弟的程度…愛你的敵人，以致期望他們成為兄弟；愛你的敵人，以致使他們被帶入你的相通。』
愛的誡命既古又新（若望一2：7-8）。聖伯逹說：『天主關於愛的誡命是古老的，因為它從一開始就存在，但它也是新的，因為一旦黑暗被帶走，它就會將對新光的渴望傾注到我們的心中』
六世紀的歐庫美尼烏斯評論道：『這條誡命是新的，因為它不再像梅瑟律法那樣局限於以色列。根據這條律法，愛自己的朋友和恨自己的仇敵是正常的，正如耶穌自己所見證的那樣。但他隨後把它扭轉了，說我們應該愛我們的敵人，善待那些恨我們的人，專注於這些人和我們一樣是人的事實，而不是擔心他們對我們的感覺。』
聖若望對團體內的「孩子」、「父老」和「青年」說（若望一2：12-14）。根據七世紀的隱修士安德列亞斯的說法『這裡的不同時代要從屬靈的角度來理解;它們指的是我們在信仰上的成熟。首先，你必須成為一個孩子，並擺脫邪惡。正是在這種狀態下，你必須放下舊罪的重擔。一旦你做到了這一點，你就可以進步到青年的狀態，那時你必須與邪惡作鬥爭。最後，你會被認為配得上對天主的深刻認識，這是父母的特徵。這是邁向為天父接納的最好和最真實的成長次序。』
聖若望教導說：『肉身的貪慾，眼目的貪慾，以及人生的驕奢』（若望一2：16）是出於世界。阿爾勒的聖依拉略說：『肉體的情慾是與我們肉體的慾望有關的東西，而眼睛的情慾和生命的驕傲是與靈魂的惡習有關的，例如過度的自愛，它不是來自天父，而是來自魔鬼。』
聖奧斯定說：『由於世俗的喜悅，肉體的慾望、眼睛的慾望和世俗的野心都不會征服你，你將騰出地方讓愛德進入，這樣你就可以愛天主，因為，如果世界的愛在那裡，天主的愛就不會在那裡。相反，要堅持天主的愛，這樣，就因為天主是永恆的，你也可以維系在永恆中，因為一個人的愛決定了這個人的品格』
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