Rejoicing in Love - 2 John 1:4-6

Luke 6:27–36 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

2 John 4–6 ESV

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 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. 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.

Introduction

John is writing this letter to either an individual, dear lady, or this is a veiled reference to a local church. Whatever it is much has reference to his first letter and in this he repeats or builds on the truths of that letter.

Slide

1. Commendation v4

Slide

2 John 4 ESV

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

Slide

a. Rejoicing

Either by visiting the readers or, more likely, by receiving a report from others, John rejoices greatly in the news that some of the readers are walking in the truth.

Slide

b. Walking in The Truth

James and the Epistles of John A. Request and Command (4–6)

“Walking in the truth.” This expression conveys the idea of a believer who confesses the truth of God’s Word and who lives in harmony with that Word. Everything he says or does portrays a life that is governed by God’s law. John writes that the Father has commanded us to walk in the truth (compare

1 John 1:6–7 ESV

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Slide

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Slide

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Slide

c. Commanded

2 John 4 ESV

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

1 John 5:3 ESV

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Slide

John 14:21 ESV

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Slide

2. Exhortation v5-6

Slide

2 John 5–6 ESV

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. 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.

Slide

a. Command v5

2 John 5 ESV

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 come to the main message of his letter and asks for the recipient’s undivided attention. He addresses the members of the church, which he metaphorically calls “dear lady,” and tells them that he is not writing a new command. John uses the term command three times in this passage to indicate his derived authority. The command is not new but old. That is, “we have had [it] from the beginning.” God the Father gave this command through his Son to us (refer to John 13:34).

Slide

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Slide

b. Love v6

2 John 6 ESV

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.

Love The command is that we love one another. The first time this command appears is when the nation Israel travelled through the Sinai desert. Then God told the people, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). He also gave them the command, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5). Kistemaker, S.

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Slide

How do we love God and our neighbour? By obeying the commands God has given us. The commands to love are not two individual precepts God gave the people of Israel. Every command of God is a requirement to show love to him and to our neighbour (see Matt. 22:36–40; Rom. 13:8–10; Gal. 5:14). Kistemaker

Slide

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Slide

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Slide

Galatians 5:14 ESV

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Slide

c. Conduct v6

2 John 6 ESV

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.

John repeats what he has written earlier: “As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love” (see 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:11). His repetition includes the hearing of the command “from the beginning” and the exhortation to “walk in love.” Why does John fall into repetition? Because we have a tendency to hear but not to listen obediently. We hear the command but fail to obey. Kistemaker

Slide

1 John 2:5–6 ESV

5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Conclusion

Slide

Love is not a fleeting emotion but a lasting commitment. Love is a genuine manifestation and fulfilment of the Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. John puts it pointedly when he exhorts his readers, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Kistemaker, S.

Slide

1 John 3:18 ESV

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.