I enjoyed John MacArthur’s outline which surprisingly he
took 4 sermons to work through this short letter. His outline was:
Living
in the Truth
Loving
in the Truth
Loyalty
to the Truth
Looking
to the Truth
[1:1] 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:
What
does it mean the truth that abides in us?
·
On the surface it indicates the truth of the
message of the Gospel has been internalized
by the believers that it lives in them and out through them and is what creates
the community of love.
·
It could allude Jesus as the Truth—big T.who is
the embodiment of the truth and who lives in them.
·
Either way one cannot know the truth without
knowing Christ first…
·
This would serve as an encouragement to the
audience who are unsettled because of the false teachers message. Reassures the
question do we know the truth?
[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.
John
offers a triple blessing, beginning with grace (charis). These are the character of the gospel.
“Grace” is God’s unmerited and undeserved kindness,
which he freely bestows on persons who are unworthy of such attention. It is
everything a holy and righteous God does for sinners that they do not deserve.
Mercy (eleos)
occurs only here in the entire Johannine corpus. It speaks of God’s compassion
and pity, his tenderness and readiness to forgive sin.
Peace (eirēnē)
is a Hebrew concept emphasizing wholeness and well-being of life in all its
aspects. It conveys ideas such as safety, rest, and the absence of hostility
(cf. Rom 5:1; Phil 4:9).
Grace is God doing for us what we do not deserve, mercy is
his not doing to us what we do deserve, and peace is God giving us what we need
based upon his grace and mercy. The word order is significant. God’s grace is
always prior. Mercy and peace flow from it.
John points out that these Christian graces come from
God the Father and from Jesus Christ,
the Father’s Son. The repetition of the preposition “from” is important. It
places the Father and Son on an equal standing and at the same time
distinguishes their separate personhood. Jesus Christ is God the Father’s Son,
but he is also God.
The conclusion to the greeting is different than other
epistles in the Canon of Scripture.
What are the
differences? Compare and
read Romans 1:7, 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2;
Gal 1:3 1 Pet 1:2; Jude 2
1.
Not so much a wish as an affirmation that grace
mercy and peace will accompany both John
and the family.
2.
In the original language there is an emphasis
that says: “What will be with us is
grace , mercy and peace.”
3.
Emphasis is both – not just reader and writer.
4.
Jesus is described as the Father’s Son.
5.
The three fold attributes are described as being
in truth and love.
6.
Some previous and earlier salutation just have
grace and mercy.
In light of the situation that there are traveling false
teacher who are sharing a false message that is unsettling and disturbing the
young Church, these emphasis and differences in presentation here are important
For John to highlight. John is reiterating
some truth here that may well fly in the face of the false teacher’s message.
a)
Reassure God’s grace, mercy and peace as being
present despite what the dissenters were saying
b)
Reinforces a community of love by placing
himself along with the audience as a recipient of these blessings of God
c)
Reflects the truth of Jesus being the Father’s
son as a direct contradiction to the lies of the dissenters. The taught that
Christ didn’t come in the flesh.
d)
That these blessing are experienced by those who
hold to the truth and practices love among themselves. John may have believed the false teachers did
neither of these things.
[4] I rejoiced
greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were
commanded by the Father.
·
Nothing brings joy like those who walk in the
truth. Truth with feet
·
Some of your children- not all of
the children are walking in the truth yet.
There is an implied understanding
of what the command of the Father was. Possible one of three options:
LOOK UP
Mark 9:7 alluding
to the voice from heaven
John 12:50 recognizing
Jesus teaching = Fathers teaching being passed
1 John 3:23 (probably correct one) equating
the gospel message w/ Father’s message
[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.
John has now asked a specific request of the lady-
to have an ongoing love of fellow believers.
What is the
command we have had from the beginning?
From the beginning is a popular phrase found in
John’s letters. It has occurred ten times.
For this one it means the command to love one another has been a part of
the Gospel message since Jesus preached it (John 13:34; 15:12, 17).
In the beginning is connected with a few things:
·
With word
of life as heard and seen and handled at the beginning of the eyewitnesses
·
With the gospel as it was first heard by the
readers of John’s letter
·
With Christ
as the one from the beginning
·
With Satan as the one who sinned at the beginning
·
But the most common one is the connection, like
this one, to the command to love one another.
o
Within this one we have a new understanding of
an old command. The phrase love one
another sums up a portion of the law- with of course the other part being the
love God wholly.
o
To love: has in mind an ongoing love for fellow
believers.
Can Love be
commanded? Yes when you understand true love is action of
caring and unselfish issues. It is to be warm and emotional but that’s not all… In all of John’s writings
loving one another is central. To love one another is the first test of knowing
if someone is a Christian.
Look at 1 John 2:7-11
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment,
but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is
the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new
commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because[a] the darkness is passing
away and the true light is already shining. 9
Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him[b] there is no cause for
stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and
walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the
darkness has blinded his eyes.
And 1 John 3:11-18
11 For this is the message that you have heard
from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should
not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did
he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13
Do not be surprised, brothers,[a] that the world hates you. 14
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the
brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you
know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his
life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes
his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little
children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
And 1 John 4:7-12
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is
from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son
into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is
love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us
and his love is perfected in us.
·
God’s love makes us loving.
·
The reason why we have such an emphasis is that
it is believed that the traveling heretics were exclusive and unloving
[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.
What is the greatest commandment? Love God with whole self and neighbors as self
The
greatest commandment is the most loving commandment. It is a commandment that
obeyed by the Christian birthed out of the loving grace of God that produces in
us a loving fruit (GAL 5:22-23).
NOTE: REPETITION OF THE PHRASE “HEARD FROM
THE BEGINNING”
Jesus defines his disciple love for him in terms
of obeying his commands.
“If you keep my commandments, you will
abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his
love. “ John 15:10
What
does it mean that we should walk in it? There are optional ideas here
·
Walking in love
·
Walking in the command
·
Walking in the truth
·
Walk in truth and love
[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.
This
verse is linked with the previous verse. John is saying the reason we continue
to walk in the truth is BECAUSE there
are many deceivers who have gone out. In others words in order to avoid being
taken by deceivers is by walking in the truth.
Here is where we get into the setting of the situation in
the early church. Deceivers had gone out…
This is the heart of 2 John!
Check out: 1 John 2:19;
4:1
Contextually,
a group had seceded from the community of believer- perhaps specifically those
under John’s area . They had different beliefs about the person and work of
Jesus Christ. This group organized traveling preachers to go around the early
home churches and propagated their
beliefs and bring people around to their understanding of things. This created
confusion for those who were loyal to the gospel and the eyewitness testimony
of the Apostles.
What did the
deceivers teach?
Their
teaching can be inferred in the letters of John. John sets up explanation of
truth and we can deduce from that the teaching of the “deceivers”
·
They claim to know God. Yet read 1 John 1:6; 2:4, 6, 9
·
They claim to be sinless. Yet read 1 John 1:8,10
·
They deny that Jesus is the Christ- Son of God
who has come in the flesh. See what John says
1 John 2:22-23; 4:1-3; 5:9-10
·
They deny that Jesus came by blood- that is important to the atoning death
of Christ. See 1 John 5:6
·
Their behavior showed what they believed- They
did not show the love for fellow believers.
See 1 John 2:11; 3:15 4:20 “If anyone says I love God, yet hates his
brother, he is a liar…”
·
They continued in behavior that was wrong doing.
They didn’t know grace. 1 John 3:6, 8, 10
Is a deceiver and the
antichrist
Those who have gone out are not like the traveling teachers
who were sent out from John’s church-They shared the truth! Rather they deceive like the foretold end time
figure that is opposed to God- the antichrist. Should be the article “an” Many
will display similar traits of hostility towards God.
Because of
the threat of the deceivers the elder warns. Watch yourselves.
How do we watch ourselves in a world
full of error? And if it is deceiving error how will w e know it? (Let opinions go hear)
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this
world rather than on Christ. Col 2:8
The idea is, that they should be particularly on their guard, and that
their first care should be to secure their own hearts, so that they
should not be exposed to the dangerous attacks of error. When error abounds in
the world, our first duty is not to attack it and make war upon it; it
is to look to the citadel of our own souls, and see that all is well guarded
there. When an enemy invades a land, the first thing will not be to go
out against him, regardless of our own strength, or of the security of our
own fortresses, but it will be to see that our forts are well manned, and
that we are secure there from his assaults. If that is so, we may then go
forth with confidence to meet him on the open field. In relation to an error
that is in the world, the first thing for a Christian to do is to take care of
his own heart.
(from
Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
From here there are some variants in the text with this
verse: Best way to show you:
NIV: “so that you may not lose what you have worked for.”
ESV: “so that you may not lose what we have worked for.”
If we take the NIV rendering what is it saying? That what we work for we can lose- what do we
work for- in the biblical context it would mean their faith in Christ and
eternal life. The work of the Christian Jesus says is to believe in the one he
has sent. (John 6:29)
But who puts the faith
to believe in people? God does!
If take the ESV rendering what is it saying? The reader is urged to
take care or else they may lose something that John and his associates worked
hard to provide. Namely… to make known to them to truth of Jesus so that they
might know God and have eternal life.
This rendering works
better.
·
With
all that said- do you have ears to hear the truth and a discerning spirit to
watch carefully what you are listening to? Are you lining up what you hear with
the Scriptures and thinking and loving God with your mind?
What does this mean
“may win a full reward”?
Let opinions go here.
[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.
Those who listened to these deceiver were in danger of
adding to the true Gospel and false gospel.
If the Christian is not careful- they risk leaving behind the teaching
of Christ. If they do that – the sad fact is they are exposed as not true
believers. It shows they do not have God.
One commentator said: “Those who shipwreck doctrine loses
all”
[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.
This last section is a very practical
application to this lady’s situation. ItsLet me introduce it like this.
Can we love those who deceive?
Ps 119:104
Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false
way.
Ps 119:128
Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false
way.
·
If you understand the truth… value the truth of God’s word…know what
God’s truth says… than loving people who mangle the word of God and twists the
truths of Scripture and pure in half Biblical truth with half lies will
come as a struggle.
Why will we struggle? 3 reasons
1.
We struggle because we in
this age value love over truth. God’s Word
says we are to share the truth in love. (Eph 4:15)- I wonder if we as a Church
have turned that around—that we share love in truth (love honestly,
genuinely) as a result we value
sincerity over truth.
2.
We struggle because we are
taught to love the sinner and hate the sin. Yet those who deceive are
showing their hate for God. If people hate God it should affect our emotions
for them. Compassion for them and their soul is different than fellowship love
that we enjoy as a body of Christ. We shouldn’t love every body
indiscriminately the same way. It is a different type of love.
Look at Ps 139:20-22
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate
you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
·
Deceiver take God’s name in vain- be careful to watch for that just
because they Name the name doesn’t mean they are using it the same way we do or
even that they are talking about the same God. That’s why it’s important to
know and grow in your knowledge of who God is.
3.
We struggle because
Biblical truth that is growing in our minds and heart will challenge our
natural perspective of how we should live and love- it’s the work of the Spirit
and the Word in our lives.
So how are we to handle this struggle?
§
The world would have us to believe that to truly
love people we’ll accept regardless of their beliefs- this is called tolerance
§
Ye what kind of love lets someone believe a lie
that eventually destroys them? That’s not love – its indifference- the opposite
of love.
§
To really love someone is to tell them the truth
with gentleness and respect- not in a demeaning fashion
“Our love is to not be so blind as to
ignore the views and conduct of others. Truth should make our love
discriminating… On the other hand we must never champion the truth in a harsh
and bitter spirit.” JRW Stott
·
We must avoid the dangerous tendency of
extremism Pursuing one at the expense of the other.
·
Our love grows soft if it is not softened by
love. Our truth grows hard if not softened by truth.
Concerning these verses:
Pretty straight forward. We
understand that the “this teaching” is the teaching of Christ.
“ Quote from Warren Wiersbe…
Why was John so adamant about this?
Because he did not want any of God's children to: (1) give a false teacher the
impression that his heretical doctrine was acceptable; (2) become infected
because of association and possible friendship; and (3) give the false teacher
ammunition to use at the next place he stopped. If I entertain a cultist, for
example, he will only say to the neighbors, "There's no reason why you
shouldn't let me in. After A, Pastor Wiersbe let me in and we had a wonderful
talk!" My disobedience could very well lead to somebody else's
destruction.”
(from The Bible Exposition
Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook
Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
·
Christian greeting generally carried a
recognition of the true Christian standing and invoked a blessing upon them and
the work and message that they carried.
[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.
·
John
has more to say but wants to say it face to face.
·
He
wishes to see the people who are walking in the truth in person so their joy
can be complete (full)
[13] The children of your elect
sister greet you.
Family-
which why I lean more towards it
(2 John ESV)
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