The greatest lessons of life bear repetition In 1 John, we continually encountered three major emphases:
Believe in the biblical Jesus.
- Obey God's commandments.
Love one another.
2 John offers no new (major) exhortations. John's theme continues. He will tell us to hold fast to the truth, to obey God's commandments, and to love one another.
- So this second letter from John will help us "bring home" the truths of the first. Let's get into its content.
1. John's Greeting (1-3)
1 The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.
Who Is This Letter For?
The letter begins in a more typical way than 1 John. The traditional beginning of Greek correspondence included a self-announcement followed by a word of greeting. For various reasons, John didn't follow this tradition in 1 John but does so here.
He referred to himself as the elder, a title which indicated his position, age, and long experience with this particular church (1).
He then referred to them as the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth (1).
The Bride Of Christ
But what would make John want to refer to this particular church as the elect lady? Why use a feminine description for the fellowship, one which was comprised of women, but also men?
The church is thought of as the bride of Christ. One of the strongest allusions to this bride-ness of the church is found in Ephesians 5, where husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25).
"I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:2, NLT)
2. John's Joy (4-6)
When We Walk In The Truth (4)
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
- Somehow, John had received news about that church. He celebrated the fact many of them were walking in the truth (4). They weren't perfect people, but the general direction of their lives was "in step with the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:14). And this living out of biblical truth was the cause of John's celebration.
- There is a sad implication in John's triumphant celebration. Some of them were walking in the truth, which meant some of them weren't.
- Be a believer who becomes a disciple. Become an apprentice of Christ. Allow His truth to move you into daily application.
- He wants to transform you. And that transformation is supernatural, authored by the Spirit as He takes you from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). But you must engage with Him by allowing for mind transformation, and then walking in the truth.
When We Love One Another (5)
5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
He reminded them that the command to love one another was not a new commandment (5).
"I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." (John 13:34)
He'd built his case for love in 1 John, but now he asks a specific group or church to carry out the command to love. He pleads with one particular fellowship to get their love on.
Love your church as your primary community. Too many treat the body of Christ like a secondary group with whom they hold a loose membership. They will closely align with their city or school or workplace or children's activities or gym, but keep their church family at arms distance. This should not be.
When We Obey His Commandments (6)
6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
One last attribute John valued is our adherence to God's commands. He wants us to walk according to His commandments (6). He particularly means love, but all of God's commandments are a way to love God, His people, or this world.
So John wants us to walk in, live in, generally adhere to, the commands of God.
This reminds us of the spiraling way John wrote about love and obedience. To him, there is a reciprocal relationship between loving others and obeying God's commands. God's great command is love, and obedience to Him means we'll love. And to love means we will obey. Love and obedience work together.
This is important because many modern believers consider love and obedience independent of one another. John, though, says otherwise. They are dependent upon each other.
3. John's Warning (7-11)
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
Watch Out
In his first letter, John had alluded to deceivers who had gone out from the church:
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." (1 John 2:19)
Here, he doubles back to deal with the departers again, saying many deceivers have gone out into the world (7). They did not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh (7). This means there was some error in their teaching about the identity of Christ. John thinks of people like this as deceivers and antichrists (7).
But notice how the sentence begins: For. Why does John say it this way? Double back to the last section. He'd said we need to love one another. Why? For (or because) many deceivers have gone out into the world (7).
If we don't stick together, we will be swallowed alive by the false ideas the world swims in. But if we love one another, adhere to the truth, and encourage each other to obey God, we stand a better chance at adhering to true Christian doctrine.
True Christian community is a great defense against deception.
Watch Yourselves
- So John said, "Watch yourselves" (8). He feared an outcome where believers, through distraction with false doctrine and false teachers, would lose what they had worked for (8). His desire was for them (and us) to win a full reward (8).
- What does this mean? Salvation, we know, is a free gift and secured in Christ for all true believers, so he must not mean the loss of salvation. But John did believe in future rewards for our service today. He didn't want his audience to miss out on the wage Christ would give them for their service and toil in His kingdom.
A Loving Truth
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
This is another one of John's black and white claims. He doesn't leave room for a gray area. If someone rejects the teaching of Christ, especially by denying the identity of Jesus as God the Son, the Son of God, then they don't have God. It's plain and simple.
And if they hold to Jesus' teaching, including His teaching about His identity, they have both the Father and the Son (9).
We visited this truth when studying 1 John 2:
No Son, no Father. But if you know the Son, you know the Father.
A Loving Action
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
- Strong words
- If anyone does not bring this teaching, they should not be received into our homes or given any greeting (10). To greet such a person means we are taking part in their wicked works (11).
- We must not let the scope of these verses go beyond their original intention.
Not All Error
- First of all, John did not write about every known error in existence. He had particular errors in mind, and throughout all his letters, he combatted false views about Jesus. In short, this isn't about all error, but error masquerading as Christianity.
Not All Who Hold The Error
- Second, John is not thinking of everyone who has ever believed such errors, but those who have led the charge in propagating them.
The Most Terrible Error
- Third, John is not talking about mere errors on secondary issues coming from otherwise orthodox leaders. No, he is talking about error of the most grievous kind, where the gospel itself is at stake.
The House
- Finally, John might not even be talking about your home at all. There are many who think he is referring not to your house but the house of God, the church gathering.
- There, the false teachers were to be given no official greeting, no customary welcome, and no missionary support.
For Today
- Churches, denominations, or networks could suggest safe teaching -- in the form of podcasts, books, teaching invitations, and articles -- for the people in their care.
- Individuals could be more discerning when selecting books, podcasts, or other materials which will direct things like their decision making, relationships, parenting, finances, or physical goals.
- Individuals and churches should remember that the commission to love one another does not mean we should foster extreme tolerance, which never condemns anyone's views. We must recall that an unwillingness to call deceit error is not love.
4. John's Conclusion (12-13)
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your elect sister greet you.
Servant Of Christ And His People
John concludes this brief letter by saying he had more to say, much to write to them (12). But rather than continue writing, he said he would rather not use paper and ink (12). Instead, he wanted a face to face encounter (12).
Many writers would much rather communicate in written form, but John was not primarily a writer, but a pastor-teacher-apostle. He loved person-to-person ministry.
- Beautiful things happen when we are together.
Sister Congregation
- But after making that statement, John closed with a greeting from their elect sister (13), a greeting from a sister church of theirs, likely the church John was with when writing these letters.