2 John
“Love in the truth”
Full Outline:
- 1:1-3 Introduction:
- Chp. 1:4 Statement of purpose: “Walking in the truth”:
III. Chp. 1:5-1:11 Main body of teaching: “Two Proofs of our walk-in truth”
- 1:5-6 Practice the truth: The test for Christian behavior is “Loving one another”!
- 1:7-11 Protect the truth: The test for Christian belief is the “Person of Christ”
- 1:7-9 Positive: Abide in the truth
- 1:10-11 Negative: Avoid the lies
- Chp. 1:12-13 Closing “That our joy may be full”
2 John
“Love in the truth”
- 1:1-3 Introduction
- 1:4 Statement of purpose: “Walking in the truth”
- 1:5-1:11 Main body of teaching: “Two Proofs of our walk-in truth”
- 1:5-6 Practice the truth: The test for Christian behavior is “Loving one another”!
- 1:7-11 Protect the truth: The test for Christian belief is the “Person of Christ”
- 1:7-9 Positive: Abide in the truth
- 1:10-11 Negative: Avoid the lies
- 1:12-13 Closing “That our joy may be full”
- 1:1-3 Introduction
We begin a new study now and it will be a brief one as we in are in one of the shortest books in the Bible, the little letter of 2 John. But we ought not think that just because of the shortness of the letter that it doesn’t contain much truth as does larger sections of the Bible. The similarities between the three letters of the Apostle John are many but there are major differences as well. They can be attributed to whom John was writing: In 1st John he was writing a general letter to Christians everywhere. Whereas in the next two letters they are personal and directed at individuals.
Another difference is the construction of the letters is 1st John doesn’t follow the normal ancient letter writing pattern as John chose instead to utilizing what I describe as a lyrical style of writing using repeated words and phrases. Here in 2nd John the Bible student will note that John employs the normal writing method of:
- 1:1-3 Introduction
- 1:4 Statement of purpose: “Walking in the truth”
- 1:5-1:11 Main body of teaching: “Two Proofs of our walk-in truth”
- 1:5-6 Practice the truth: The test for Christian behavior is “Loving one another”!
- 1:7-11 Protect the truth: The test for Christian belief is the “Person of Christ”
- 1:7-9 Positive: Abide in the truth
- 1:10-11 Negative: Avoid the lies
6. Chp. 1:12-13 Closing “That our joy may be full”
Introduction
Like most New Testament letters in the introduction, we have both, who the letter is from as well as to whom it was sent too. The letter is from “The Elder” and in John’s first letter he addressed himself in terms both as an apostle as well as an elder. The word “elder” was a common word in that day and was used to describe the leadership in the early church. It was also used to describe someone who was mature in their faith as well as a person who was more advanced in their years. In John’s case all three applied as by the time of the writing of this letter John was still a leader in the early church, mature in his faith as well as advanced in his years. The fact that John addresses his correspondence in this letter this way also suggests that the letter was personal as does to whom John address then letter too; “the elect lady and her children.” There are two possibilities as to the meaning of that phrase:
- First, that it is John’s way of addressing a specific church and the congregation.
- Second, that this is a specific lady and her family whom John had a spiritual relationship with.
Not that it matters much, but I lean towards the second for specific clues in the letter seem to support that position better. The major clue for me is found in verse 3 and the threefold blessing of “Grace, mercy, and peace”. You will only find those three together in letters where they are addressed to individuals such as 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus! The Greek word for lady here is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Martha, but there is no need to suggest that this was her name. Based upon the evidence of the letter she appears to be a woman of prominence in the Church and a person who was esteemed in the Church as it appears that the church meets at her home, verse 10. It is equally interesting that this letter is the only letter on the New Testament addressed to a woman and her children as they are also included in John’s salutation. John calls her one of “God’s elect” whom he has God’s love and affection for.
As we noted in John’s first letter that the love that he was writing about is a kind of love that is “in spite of the individual” love and not the “because of the individual” kind of human love. What this tells us is that John didn’t just have a mere human fondness for this woman but instead had God’s divine love for her that was unconditional. That isn’t to suggest that she wasn’t displaying Christ’s characteristics as John says that he loved her “in truth” which suggests that she was living out her faith. She and her children, as John will write in verse 4, were examples of living out one’s life in the Word of God and in truth. Notice the words of verse 2, “because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever”.
There is today within Christian ecumenicalism a false concept that teaches that we are to love one another never mind the differences of major theological truth. This thought suggests that the primary aspect that the Christian must maintain above all others is “loving one another” and even if that costs the truth. It is to this very topic that John’s letter to this “elect lady” was written. The Apostles point is “You cannot truly love in truth unless you possess truth, and you can only demonstrate that you possess truth by the way you love others!” John seeks to encourage the balance between truth and love as:
Love without truth is Sentimentality
Truth without love is Brutality
The balance between truth and love can only be achievable for the believer when they are enjoying the threefold blessing of “grace, mercy, and peace” which can only be found in the truth which is only in “God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” who IS the “Son of the Father in truth and love”.
1:4 Statement of purpose: “Walking in the truth”
It seems that the context of what John is addressing here in the “statement of purpose” is the same in which he addressed in his first letter and that was the heresy by the Gnostics of separating Jesus from the Godhead and making him a created being. It also seems to suggest that the false teachers that were engaged in this lie had particular success upon young people as John now takes this up to say that the “Elect Lady” should be encouraged as John had spent some time with her children and discovered that they were “walking in the truth”. That is to say that they were ordering their lives around the truths concerning Jesus Christ.
Here was a Christian home in the midst of a pagan world system and false teachers that were infiltrating the church with lies and yet they had not succumbed to the lies that were everywhere. In this home John found young Christians that were following the truths and overcoming those that suggested that “to maintain unity” they need to surrender the truth of the person and work of Christ. The abruptness of this letter suggests further that these false teachers were popular among the youth and had come from the church and split off and were now attacking the very Person that the church gathered around (Jesus) and were now saying that this was old truth that was now obsolete. To this John will address that: “THE Truth of the Person and works of Christ are never necessary to be surrendered for the believer to enjoy time at the altar of love”! Christian unity and “love” are never possible and are never demanded by God if it can only be obtained, enjoyed, or maintained at the expense of truth!
1:5-1:11 Main body of teaching: “Two Proofs of our walk-in truth”
This section divides into two proofs that the “elect lady” and her children can maintain “walking in truth and love”.
- 5-6 The first is the personal; Practice of the truth: Here we see that the test for Christian behavior is “Loving one another”! Thirteen times in in the New Testament we are exhorted to “love one another” and ten of those are found in the writings of the Apostle John. The sheer volume of this exhortation tells us that with regards to this command Christians and the church are far to infrequently following it and it we are apparently slow learners as we need continual exhortation in this regard.
The love in which John mentions here is again a “in spite of love” which tells us that we are not expected to agree with each other on all points, but we better be treating our brothers and sisters like Jesus and not on the basis of their agreement on all points of truth. It is NOT TRUTH that must BEND in unity, instead it is our BEHAVIOR. We are to have others interest inside of us as this conveys the Greek in this passage. But as mentioned that this must never supersede the truth concerning the incarnation and deity of Jesus as He alone is the sole basis of our unity and love!
- 7-11 The second test is that the believer is to; Protect the truth: The test for Christian belief is the “Person of Christ”. To accomplish this John reminds the “Elect lady and her children” that they will need remind themselves that there are “many deceivers” who “have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.” This person, John goes on to say, is a deliberate “deceiver and an antichrist”.
Because John loved this woman and her children, he didn’t want them to fall prey to these false teachers because of the insistence of unity. They were roving fakes that traveled around house-to-house churches and posed a real threat to the believers who were being told that if they were truly loving Christians, they needed to invite them in with hospitality to spread their lies. The pattern of these false teachers is the same as those today which is to attack the Person and work of our Lord Jesus. To counter this John gives two ways in which they can “protect the truth”:
- 1:7-9 Positive: Abide in the truth: Here John’s emphasis is upon the individual Christian maintain by abiding in the truth. They can accomplish this by, “Look to yourself” least they “lose those things they have worked for”. They needed to indulge in self-examination (verse 8) to gage their maturity in the truth. Were they still growing (receiving a full reward) for their study in the Word of God? Maturity is not measured chronologically it isn’t how long we have known something, instead it is seen in what we have done and put into practice of what we have known that indicates maturity. Not what we know but how we behave in what we know!
John writes that if maturity isn’t growing that the believer would know this as there will be a morality as he says, “whoever transgress does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God”. That’s in the negative but in the positive, “He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.” Simply put lies have no transformative power and will be obvious that they can’t change our behavior they just puff out our flesh.
- 1:10-11 Negative: Avoid the lies: The second course of action is to avoid those who teach lies. As most churches at this time met in homes the teachers relied upon the hospitality of the family in whose house the church meet, and John now tells the “elect lady” not to show this kind of hospitality to false teachers who do not “abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son”. For to grant them hospitality was to be involved in spreading the lies that they teach concerning Jesus.
1:12-13 Closing “That our joy may be full”
Vs. 12-13 Here in the closing is another reason I believe that this letter was written to a person and not to a church as John had wished to communicate more to the “Elect lady” and her children but wanted to do so face to face. His sudden writing seemed to be as a direct result of the sister who was near John at the time of the letter and was informing him of the situation at hand and perhaps some of her children were with their aunt?
It is here that we finish this wonderful brief letter encouraging the believer to maintain the balance between truth and love!