He that saith he is in the light In Christ; united to him, and truly enlightened by the gospel and the grace of God; and yet hateth his brother (The very name shows the love due to him;) is in darkness until now Void of Christ, and of all true light. He that loveth his brother See 1 John 3:14; abideth in the light Thereby shows that he possesses the saving knowledge of God and of Christ, and that he is truly enlightened with the doctrine of the gospel. And there is none occasion of stumbling in him He walks so as neither to give nor take offence. The apostle alludes here to Christ's words, (John 11:9,) If any one walk in the day he doth not stumble, &c. By expelling ill-will, pride, anger, immoderate selfishness, and all other evil passions, which are occasions of sin, love removes every stumbling-block lying in our way, and enables us to do our duty to our brethren in Christ, or to mankind in general, with ease and pleasure. But he that hateth his brother And he must hate if he does not love him; there is no medium; is in darkness In a state of spiritual blindness, of sin, perplexity, and entanglement. For his malevolence blinds his reason to such a degree that he does not see what is right, and it extinguishes every virtuous inclination which would lead him to practise what in right, and puts him wholly under the power of bad passions; so that, in this darkness, he is in danger not only of stumbling, but of destroying himself; not knowing whither he goeth Whether to heaven or hell, or how near he is to destruction; while he that loves his brother has a free, disencumbered journey.
Related Commentaries of 1 John 2:9
1 John 2:9-11
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.