20.4.5p - 2 John - Loving The Truth

Who is a false teacher? How can we deal with them and still keep the commandments of God to love our neighbor as ourselves? These are the kinds of questions we hope to find out in our study tonight of 2 John.

First, let’s understand what kind of letter 2 John is. One thing that you might notice as you look throughout the New Testament is that many of the shorter books are written to a particular person. Personal letters are typically kept brief. 2 John seems to be a personal letter written to “the elect lady and her children.” Many have tried to figure out who this lady is, but no information is given. Some have suspected that the elect lady would be the church, but it also mentions her children. If the lady is the church, who are the children? Some would say that the children are the members. But the problem with that should be visible for a student of the Bible. The word church does not refer to a building or a denominational hierarchy. It refers to Christians. The word means congregation or group of people. So the lady cannot be the church and the children also be the church. It appears this is written to a lady who John is fond of and wants to write to. She is most likely influential, and he wants her to hear this information so she can spread it to others. Then, they can all make wise decisions.

John introduces himself as “the elder.” This is most likely not referring to John’s age, but his relationship with the lady. John is one of this lady’s elders who is away on travel. He sends this message to 1. Encourage her and her children to walk in the truth and 2. Encourage them to defend themselves against deceivers.

What Is 2 John About?

Unfortunately, there is no purpose statement in the letter. He does not come out and say, “I am writing these things for this reason.” But it’s not too difficult to determine what this is about since the book is only thirteen verses. It becomes much easier when we read the introduction.

2 John 1--4 (ESV) --- 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. 4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

Did you notice the keyword throughout the introduction? John wants her and her children to continue to walk in the truth. Truth is used five times in these four verses. Why is the truth so important to John in this letter? John loves how they know the truth. He says in verse two that the truth abides in them and will be with them forever. What a statement! What God has given them, the truth, cannot be taken away, and it will continue on forever. Think about that statement.

John is saying that the truth this lady and her children believe will be true forever. Is that how we feel about the truth? This reminds me of other texts like 2 Timothy 3:15-16, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Hebrews 1:1-4. In all of these texts, the author says that God has revealed something that will never be untrue. It will never fade away or become obsolete. It is eternal. Knowing these eternal truths helps us make wise decisions, and they help us to cope with the difficulties of this temporary life.

Words of Encouragement

As we continue through this letter, we see that this lady is facing a difficult situation. Two of God’s commandments seem to collide, and John wants to help her navigate through this. In verse 4, he says that he is rejoicing to see that some of her children are walking in the truth. But then he asks her to do something.

Love and Keep Commandments

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.

Verses 5-6 are tricky because they take us down a rabbit trail. He starts to ask her to do something, but then he discusses the true commandment that they have heard from the beginning. This is like telling your children to do something but prefacing it with a reminder about what you have always said. I say to my children, “You can go outside and play with the neighbor, but you have to stay in our yard. You cannot go to the culdesac unless I’m watching.” John is saying, “I am going to ask you to do something, but I still want you to remember the commandments and walk in them.” In verses 8 and 10, He is going to ask the elect lady to watch out for false teachers and not to open her home or greet them.

Do we see how that would seem like a break from the commands? Verses 5-6 are supposed to help with any misunderstanding, but they are a little confusing because they are circular. He says, “This is the commandment: love one another.” Then he says, “This is love: keep his commandments.” What does this mean? In the first part, he is encouraging love because it is in the first and second commandments. In the second part, he is encouraging obedience. Those who love God obey his commandments, including the most important commandments to love God and love our neighbor.

John wants this lady and her children to continue to walk in the truth and love those who are walking in the truth. We must obey the truth and love our neighbor. This is the original command and it must be kept. But she is going to be faced with a situation where keeping that command might be tricky.

Do Not Be Deceived

2 John 7--11 (ESV) --- 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. 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. 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.

The second half of the letter points this lady to some genuine danger that is going around. He gives her three levels of warning.

1. Beware of Antichrists

In verse 7, he says, “Many deceivers have gone out into the word.” They “do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.” These are what second century Christians would call the Gnostics. They deny the humanity of Christ. They say that he did not come in the flesh because all matter is evil. He just looked like he was flesh. These are teaching what is false, and they are against the will of God. He uses a phrase that he used in 1 John, “Antichrists.” They are against the mission of Christ, and they are trying to lead people astray from what is true.

2. We Could Lose Everything

In verses 8-9, he tells the lady and her children to watch out. It is possible to lose everything we have worked for if we leave the teachings of Christ to believe a lie. He says, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” Having God is everything to a Christian. So what does he mean when he says, “Goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ?” These phrases represent those who allow the truth of the Bible to be twisted into some new progressive idea. If they give into the cool new idea, they will lose what they have worked for, and they will not have God. This is why the truth is so important to John. Believing a lie puts everything that matters at stake. Contrary to a common belief today, we can lose our salvation if we give it up to pursue something other than the truth God has given us. John is giving us this warning in this text. We’ll talk about what this means for us in a second.

3. Withhold Love From Them

In verses 10-11, John gives permission to the elect lady to reject someone who is not abiding in the teachings of the apostles and prophets. He says that they are not to be received into her house or given any greeting. This is an odd thing to say because he just told the lady about God’s command to love. In those days, preachers would travel, and Christians were to be known for their hospitality (Romans 12:13), but these false teachers would get into people’s homes and start convincing them of their deceptions. John wants the lady to be aware of their deceptions and to keep those deceivers from receiving any help. She is allowed to withhold love from those who would deceive.

Final Words

The end of the book contains a statement that we are all too familiar with right now.

2 John 12 (ESV) --- 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.

How many of us feel that? The written word is missing an element that can only be solved by seeing one another face to face. How many of us have written text messages that are attempting to describe something extremely complicated? Then, after we spend much time on that text message, we find out that they took everything we said the wrong way. John wants to avoid that by meeting face to face. He also indicates that there is something about being together with those who love the truth that completes our joy. Don’t we feel that right now? But John refused to elaborate more on this idea for fear of being misunderstood. Don’t we wish we had more as we try to apply it to ourselves?

What Is The Application To Us?

The main question that hits me in this study is, “How do I determine if someone is a false teacher today?” As John writes to the elect lady, we see a specific danger that she is going to face as a result of false teachers trying to come and stay at her house. How many strangers are going to be invited into our homes and teach us that Christ has not come in the flesh? So another question might be more applicable, “How should I treat someone who I deem to be a false teacher?” If we haven’t had any strangers over lately, how do we apply this text to our lives? What is the principle that I should teach, and how can I be sure that I’m not a false teacher myself? Let’s focus on the text and see two principles that I believe are obvious.

1. Abiding In The Teaching Is Not Easy

As we seek to love the truth and love others, John tells us that, at some point, we may be given a difficult situation. We may have to do something that seems unloving to remain true. This is part of living in a complicated world. Keeping God’s commandments is not always black and white. On some occasions, we have to decide which is the greater commandment. Jesus was making these decisions throughout his ministry as he decided to heal and do many good works on the Sabbath. He was commanded to love his brother, and he was commanded to keep the Sabbath. Which command was higher? In this case, loving his brother.

There may be times in our lives when we are faced with a similar situation as the elect lady. We have seen religions that clearly go beyond the teachings of Christ. They include teachings that the “prophets” who contradict the teaching of Christ and his apostles entirely. If we follow their teachings, we are going on ahead of the teachings of Christ and his apostles. We cannot support their efforts. We must watch ourselves. We are to do what the Bible says instead of just blindly showing love to them, supporting them, and taking part in their wicked works. It is only those who “abide in the teaching” who have the Father and the Son. But what does all of this mean? Who is contradicting scriptures? How do we know we are “abiding in the teaching?” How do we know we are “walking in the truth?”

First, anyone who raises their teaching to the same level of inspiration as the Bible (Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.) is failing to abide in the teaching. They are contradicting those who were living in the first century and going way beyond the teachings of Christ. As Paul said in Galatians 1, “They are teaching another gospel... Let them be accursed.” But what about the many protestant denominations that might twist scripture and “go beyond” the teachings of Christ in one particular area. They believe in the Bible. How do we know if any of them are walking in the truth?

This little letter could be used to disfellowship from everyone if we say that everyone of a different opinion about any scripture is a false teacher. Do we see a problem with that? We could take this to an extreme that I don’t think John intended. I doubt that there is not one other person on earth right now who shares all of the same opinions about what would please Christ with me. But there are plenty who want to submit their will to the Bible and avoid twisting the scriptures. Plenty of Christians are open to the idea that they could be wrong, and they are willing to change if scriptures reveal that.

Notice that John does not detail all of the areas where disfellowship is allowed. He just says abide in the teachings of Christ. What does that mean? Remember what he says in verse 5-6. We are striving to walk in the truth while loving each other. The apostles and prophets have given us the instructions from Christ, and our mission must be to speak where they speak and be silent where they are silent. This whole approach to scriptures is the foundation of fellowship. We must be looking long and hard at the word, taking into account what the author and reader were going through, discerning what the author meant, and discerning how we can keep that command while showing love to others. Then, we also must be humble and have a willingness to open our understanding up to scrutiny. We can have confidence in our beliefs, but we must be willing to be wrong and change if someone else says something that lines up with the truth.

Abiding in the teaching of Christ is ultimately a matter of the heart. Our hearts must yearn for God to be glorified in whatever we do. This means we must let go of the progressive point of view that we love, and we have to let go of the conservative point of view that we love to approach scriptures with honesty and a sincere love for the truth. When we approach scriptures, we have to lay our traditional beliefs on the chopping block. We also have to put our progressive desires on the chopping block. Whatever does not align with the truth has to be released. This is easier said than done. Many will claim that they do this, but we all hold on to the funniest beliefs. You and I may even fail at this with several specific commands. We really like to hold on to traditions, and we have pride in progressive thinking. But we have hope in a loving God. So we keep pressing on to learn and grow while we hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you have studied the history of the churches of Christ in the 20th century, you know that several issues have arisen to try and come up with “sound doctrine” or “the teachings of Christ.” There are teachings of Christ that are non-negotiable, and there are others that we struggle to understand fully. We need humility, wisdom, and discernment to know the difference. But the Bible gives us one non-negotiable here, “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” That is non-negotiable. In matters that are not clearly on the level of this false teaching in scripture, we must exercise love and patience as we express our opinions or make decisions. Otherwise, we will go beyond the teachings of Christ ourselves.

2. Loving Is Not Easy

The other thing that we see in this letter is that sometimes it is more loving to ourselves and our children to withhold love from those who might be out to deceive us. She must not allow those who are twisting scriptures to speak where the apostles have not spoken. If she does, she risks losing everything for which she has worked. She and her children will be led astray from God. That is what she must look out for. Don’t we need to look out for the same thing? We need to make it our mission to rid ourselves of anything that is not biblical. That is what love does. Refusing the truth, speaking where the Bible does not speak, or being silent where the Bible speaks is not loving. If we do this, we do not love God or our brethren.

Compromising the truth might make our brethren feel better and reduce stress, but it will not be loving. The most loving thing we can do for them is tell the truth in a way that is kind and considerate of the other person’s feelings. But if they are out to deceive us, the most loving thing we can do for God and those around us is to reject them.

Conclusion

Our intention as members of Christ’s church must be to submit to his will and let go of our stubborn pride. Notice verse three says that “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.” As we look through this letter, we see these two commandments colliding: Truth and Love. He is saying that grace, mercy, and peace will be with those who are walking in the truth. These are three beautiful things that we all need from God and Jesus. John says that God provides them to us in truth and love. God is love, and his word, which reveals grace, mercy, and peace toward his children, is truth. Let us live by that word and strive to love one another.

How many ideas do we have to change our minds about? Is the truth in our mind eternal? We learn new things all the time and completely revamp our thinking. We aren’t progressively coming up with new beliefs, but that we see how our old beliefs were falling short of a greater understanding, and we want to refine them so that we can grow. We come to realize that we had no clue before this new information was revealed to us. The truth seems like something very fluid and hard to nail down. But the truth that God has given us is absolute and eternal. He nailed it down for us. The words of the apostles and prophets have been proven true and can be trusted forever. Our only issue is trying to interpret that truth honestly. Our understanding has to be more fluid for us to grow into the mold of scriptures.