For this is the message which you have heard … that …, compare comments on 2.7. This points forward to the that clause, which gives the contents of the message. Some useful restructurings are “the message you heard … is this: we…” (Good News Translation), ‘there is a message…. It is that….’ The Greek verb is not in the perfect tense but in the aorist, which is to show that the reference is to action regarded as a completed whole, irrespective of its duration.

From the beginning refers to the beginning of the preaching of the gospel; compare comments on 2.7. But the wider context reminds the reader of the other meaning the phrase can have in this Letter; see Introduction, page 1.

That we should love one another: the verb is in the present tense, expressing duration.

It is important to note that this commandment to love is given as part of “the message you have heard,” that is, the gospel message. In John’s view gospel and commandment, though different, clearly are aspects of the same thing; both call the believers to a life that is free from sin.

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .