John is writing to the “elect lady” who has seemingly erred on the side of love and needs to give more heed to the truth.
we are not as close to God as we ought to be
How should we love our brethren? Like the Son loves us and like the Father loves the Son.
The work of rebuilding the wall is not fully completed until the city is inhabited with a sufficient population and the wall is dedicated to the Lord. If you have done a work for the Lord, make sure that you finish the work by making sure that it set on a firm foundation and by dedicating it to the Lord and to His service.
A covenant is a solemn agreement. The most important covenants in the Bible are those in which God makes a covenant with man: the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, etc. Here is a covenant which man makes with God. The Israelites recognize the importance of God and covenant together to wholly follow Him.
