Epistles of John

A study of John's three letters

Sunday, May 16, 2010

2nd John

(1) This letter is from John, the *elder. I am writing to **the chosen
lady and to her children, whom I love in the ***TRUTH—as
does everyone else who knows the TRUTH—

  • *elder: Greek - presburteros. Uniform tradition
    holds that John was the presiding elder, or bishop, of the church at
    Ephesus.
  • **the chosen lady: Greek - kuria (feminine
    of kurios). Chuck Missler teaches this is Mary, the mother
    of Jesus, as does the Roman Catholic Church. I don't really buy that.
    Some believe it was written to a specific woman, but that seems unlikely
    simply because of the place of women in the early church. It more likely
    is a metaphor for a local church or a family in that church. The Greek
    word for "church" is feminine (ekklesia) and elsewhere
    feminine imagery is used of the church. It was not Ephesus, since that
    was his base of operations. It was also probably not Colossae, since
    the heretics John deals with are quite similar to those dealt with by
    Paul in Colossians (some five or six years earlier)—yet John writes
    to an audience which seems to be a bit naive about them. This would
    hardly be true if they had Paul’s letter to the Colossians in
    front of them. Indeed, some distance from Colossae is presupposed, since
    that letter was intended to be circulated (Colossians 4:16). Further,
    verse 12 seems to suggest that it is difficult for John to get away
    and make a visit to the church, implying that this is not nearby.
  • ***TRUTH: A key word in 2 John, but what
    is TRUTH? Didn't Pontius Pilate ask "What is truth?"

(2) because the TRUTH lives in us and will be with us forever.

(3) Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and
from Jesus Christ—the *Son of the Father—will
continue to be with us who live in TRUTH and love.

  • *Son of the Father: Emphasizing that He is both Messiah and the Son of God.

(4) How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the TRUTH, just as the Father commanded.

(5) I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.

(6) Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

(7) I say this because many deceivers have gone
out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ *came in a real
body. Such a person is a deceiver and an
antichrist.

  • *came: May be translated "is coming in a real body".
  • 1 John 4:1-3: Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the TRUTH about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
  • There is one sign of the true redeemer and savior -- he is the one who came from God into the world and became man. The incarnation is an essential doctrine of Christian faith. If you can trace a man's origin from his birth, and you know that he entered this human stream though the normal reproductive faculties, and he claims to be a savior, you can write it off, because he is not God's savior. And if he claims not to believe nor to accept this incarnation of the Lord Jesus, then the man is in error. No matter what else he may say, he is not speaking as the spokesman of God.

(8) Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full *reward.

  • *reward: Does not refer to salvation, but
    to the rewards of loyal service. Remember to whom this short letter
    is written - believers.
  • What do you lose, as a Christian, if you get involved with cults and
    heresies and liberal approaches that are so widespread? Will you lose
    your salvation? Not if you are really born again, of course. That rests
    upon the work of Christ for you. You are not going to lose your place
    in heaven, nor your redemption, nor your part in the body of Christ.
    But you do lose a great deal, as John makes clear. You lose the value
    of your life spent here; you waste your time. You throw away precious
    moments and years involved in that which is utterly worthless, and which
    will be displayed at last as wood, hay and stubble, to be consumed in
    the fire of God's searching gaze. You will lose your reward.
  • Revelation. 3:11: I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
    • What do you lose, as a Christian, if you get involved with cults
      and heresies and liberal approaches that are so widespread? Will
      you lose your salvation? Not if you are really born again, of course.
      That rests upon the work of Christ for you. You are not going to
      lose your place in heaven, nor your redemption, nor your part in
      the body of Christ. But you do lose a great deal, as John makes
      clear. You lose the value of your life spent here; you waste
      your time and your life      . You throw away precious moments
      and years involved in that which is utterly worthless

(9) Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

(10) If anyone comes to *your meeting and does not teach the
TRUTH about Christ, don’t invite that person into your
home or give any kind of encouragement.

  • *your meeting: A home church?
  • Perhaps, some in the church felt that John's exhortation to love the
    brethren extended even to false teachers, and were, thus, inviting false
    teachers into their meetings and into their homes. As we witness to
    those who deny the deity of Christ, we must be careful that we aren't
    deceived by their doctrine.

(11) Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

(12) I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

(13) Greetings from the children of *your sister, chosen by God.

  • *your sister: If written from Ephesus, probably refers to the church in Ephesus.

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Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.