Another Gospel

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. – 2 John 1:9-11 ESV

John, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, took his role seriously. He had high regard for the teachings of Jesus and a strong sense of responsibility when it came to the wellbeing of the body of Christ. Like Paul, his fellow apostle, John was always on the lookout for those who would do harm to the church of Jesus Christ. They were both very aware that the enemy was out to destroy what Jesus had created. And Jesus, on the very night He was betrayed into the hands of the Jewish religious leaders, had made a heartfelt request of His Heavenly Father:

“I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” – John 17:14-19 NLT

Jesus knew His followers were going to face intense opposition. Satan was going to throw all his resources against those who aligned themselves with Jesus Christ. When his attempt to thwart the redemptive plan of God by murdering the Son of God proved an abysmal failure, Satan would ramp up his efforts to stifle the Gospel by diluting and distorting it with lies and half-truths. But notice what Jesus prayed that night. He asked that His Father would keep His followers holy or set apart by the truth of His Word.

The truth of the Gospel message was going to be the key to resisting the lies of the enemy. And John warns his readers that anyone who did not remain committed to the teachings of Jesus never really knew Him. If they ended up rejecting the claims of Jesus to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world, it would be because they never truly believed in Him, to begin with. And John bluntly states that the rejection of Jesus as the incarnation of God in the flesh was to reject God Himself.

Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. – 2 John 1:9 NLT

It is interesting to note that John describes these deserters of the Gospel as “running ahead.” He used the Greek word, parabainō, which conveys the idea of passing over or stepping around something. It is often translated as “transgress.” Under the influence of the false teachers, these people would choose to walk around the truths regarding Jesus and pass on to something new and seemingly better. Convinced that they were hearing new and improved information regarding Jesus, they would leave the teachings of the apostles behind. But John warns that, in doing so, they would be turning their backs on God. And John was not making this up. He was simply repeating what He had heard Jesus say.

“If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.” – John 5:31-38 NLT

The testimony of God verified the claims of Jesus. And no additional truth or new revelations from the lips of men were going to replace what God had declared about Jesus. “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him” (Luke 9:35 NLT).

John had no doubt as to Jesus’ deity and His claims of divinity. He had heard Jesus boldly claim, “I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me” (John 8:18 ESV). And John had been an eye-witness to not only the crucifixion of Jesus but also His miraculous resurrection. Everything had happened just as Jesus had said it would. He had risen from the dead, and John had seen it with his own eyes. 

So, John flatly asserts that if anyone suddenly decided that the truth as testified by God was false, they were the ones who were in error. John could well remember the extremely harsh words Jesus had spoken to the religious leaders of the Jews.

“Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” – John 8:19 NLT

A false understanding of Jesus and His identity will lead to a false understanding of God. If Jesus was just a man, then God is a liar. If Jesus did not resurrect from the dead, then God has provided no means by which men can be restored to a right relationship with Him. The apostle Paul pointed out the futility of faith in a Jesus who did not rise from the grave.

…if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. – 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 NLT

But Paul goes on to provide the truth regarding Jesus’ death and resurrection.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. – 1 Corinthians 15:19 NLT

And John fully supports Paul’s assertion when he states, “But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9 NLT). Those who remain committed to and dependent upon the promise of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone will not be disappointed. To know Jesus is to know the Father. That is why Jesus claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” (John 14:6-7 NLT).

John wanted his audience to know that they were to have nothing to do with those who preached a different version of Jesus. If their teaching contradicted that of Jesus and the apostles, the church was to have nothing to do with them.

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. – 2 John 1:10 NLT

When it came to the Gospel, there was to be no place for toleration of alternate versions or new insights into who Jesus was and what He had come to do. The apostle Paul accused the church in Corinth of happily putting up with all kinds of false messages, including “a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed” (2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT). He issued a similar condemnation to the church in Galatia.

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News. – Galatians 1:6 NLT

This was a real problem in the early days of the church, and it remains so even today. And the warning John gave to the members of the church in Asia Minor is just as relevant for us as it was for them.

Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work… – 2 John 1:11 NLT

The Gospel is the Gospel. It is not to be added to, distorted in any way, clarified, or amplified. In fact, the apostle Paul warns that anyone who tampers with the Gospel message as testified by God, proclaimed by Jesus, and preached by the apostles was to be cursed.

Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. – Galatians 1:8-9 NLT

Serious and sober words because the message of the Gospel is the key to eternal life.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The Truth Vs. The Lie

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! 8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward. – 2 John 1:7-8 ESV

John is encouraging his readers to live their lives according to the truth of the Gospel. And at the core of the gospel message can be found the love of God. The “good news” is that God sent His Son to be the payment for mankind’s sin debt. Jesus Christ took on human flesh so that He might do what no other human being has ever been able to do: Obey every single law given by God. And Jesus did so willingly and perfectly.  The apostle Paul points out the necessity for Jesus to become a man so that He might obey God’s commands “in the flesh.”  

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

The author of Hebrews supports Paul’s point, adding that Jesus became like us so that He might become the acceptable substitute for us.

…it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. – Hebrews 2:17 NLT

And Paul expands the scope of God’s actions by pointing out that it was Jesus’ sinlessness or purity that made Him an acceptable sacrifice to God. He paid for our sins with His life and provided a means by which we can be restored to a right relationship with God.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

And all of this was done because God “so loved the world” (John 3:16). The truly amazing thing is that God’s love was in spite of us, not because of us. He loved us when we were at our worst. As Paul points out in Romans, it was “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV). And it is that same kind of selfless, sacrificial love that we are to share with those around us, especially to those within the body of Christ. We are to live our lives according to the truth of the Gospel – in keeping with the love displayed through the Gospel.

But John had some words of warning for the local fellowship to whom he was writing. He wanted them to recognize the very real threat of those who would seek to distort the truth. John had been around long enough to know that the message of the Gospel was under constant attack, from without and from within. There were those outside the church who opposed the truth regarding Jesus Christ. They rejected the claims that He was the Messiah and the Savior of the world. They denied the reality of the resurrection. To them, Christianity was nothing more than just another cult or sect of Judaism. But even the Jews themselves took issue with this movement they labeled “the way.” To them, Christians were, at best, a nuisance and, at worst, a very real threat to their religious system. So, the Jews persecuted Christians wherever and whenever they could.

But the greatest threats to the faith usually come from within. And the agents behind these threats are subtle and sinister, disguising themselves as purveyors of truth and beacons of light. But notice that John describes these people as “deceivers.” They claim to be fellow followers of Christ, yet all the while denying His deity.  John pulls no punches when he states that they “do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh” (2 John 1:7 ESV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body.”

The truth regarding the incarnation of Jesus was under constant attack. And there were those who, while claiming to be followers of Jesus, regularly denied the teaching that Jesus took on human flesh. And you can see why this bothered John. If Jesus did not become a man, then the Gospel lost its power. It was the humanity of Jesus that made Him the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. Yet these deceivers were eliminating the possibility of the incarnation. In fact, John talked about the impact of these false teachers in his first letter.

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. – 1 John 4:2 NLT

So, what were these “deceivers” saying about Jesus? Obviously, they were denying His humanity. They were claiming that Jesus, the man, had not been born of the Father and was, therefore, not divine. By denying the deity of Jesus, they were contradicting the testimony of God Himself and John pointed this out in his previous letter.

All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. – 1 John 5:10 NLT

These false teachers were denying that Jesus was God’s Anointed One who had come in the flesh. And John labels anyone propagating these lies as “the deceiver and the antichrist!” (2 John 1:7 ESV). In essence, John accuses these people of being Satan himself. John remembered how Jesus had described Satan: “He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NLT).

In his second letter to the believers in Thessalonica, Paul warned them about a future day when the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, would appear on the scene.

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth. – 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NLT

This end-times character will show up on the world scene, exhibiting great power and utilizing deception to turn the world away from the truth of the Gospel. As a pawn of Satan, the Antichrist will convince people to reject the truth that could save them – the truth regarding God’s love as displayed through the incarnation of His Son, and demonstrated by His sacrificial death on the cross as the payment for their sin debt.

And while the Antichrist is not scheduled to appear until the period known as the Great Tribulation, his spirit is alive and well. Even in John’s day, this deceptive influence was making its way through the local church as these false teachers spread around the world disseminating their half-truths and pious-sounding platitudes about Jesus. That is why John warned his readers to “Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward” (2 John 1:8 ESV). 

But what is John saying here? Is he inferring that the believers to whom he is writing can somehow lose their salvation? John refers to them losing “the things we have worked for.” He and the rest of the apostles had spent their lives spreading the truth of the Gospel all around the known world. They had diligently and faithfully preached the life-transformative power of the gospel to save and sanctify. John had fully believed and taught the words of Jesus: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 ESV).

He wanted his fellow Christ-followers to experience all that Jesus had died to deliver to them. He longed for them to experience the abundant life Jesus had promised. But if they bought into the lies of the false teachers and began to question the very deity of Jesus, they would find themselves doubting the very truth of the Gospel and questioning their own salvation.

John is in no way suggesting that Christians can lose their reward. They are at no risk of missing out on eternity. In fact, it seems that John is warning that if you accept the lies of the false teachers, you never really believed the truth of the Gospel to begin with. Your faith was false all along. Which brings us back to love, the topic John covered in the previous verses of his letter. Love is the driving force of the Gospel message, as illustrated in God sending His own Son in the likeness of human flesh. The apostle Paul points out that Jesus…“gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8 NLT).

And He did it out of love. If you fail to believe that, you have failed to experience the love of God. And you will never experience the abundant life Jesus came to offer. And if you deny that Jesus was God in the flesh, you have no hope of ever enjoying the ultimate reward of eternal life.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

As I Have Loved You

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. – 2 John 1:5-6 ESV

Love one another. Now, where in the world would John have picked up an idea like that? It doesn’t take much digging to find out that John had been heavily influenced by the three-plus years he had spent with Jesus. His time spent under the tutelage of his friend, rabbi, and teacher, had made an impact on him. And ever since Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, John had spent his life fulfilling the commission given to him and his fellow disciples.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 18:18-20 ESV

The “dear lady” to whom John had written his letter was none other than a local congregation of believers located somewhere in the province of Asia Minor. And John was writing to encourage the members of this church to observe and keep the commands of Jesus. And John had one particular command of Jesus in mind when writing his letter.

John well recalled that fateful night in that upper room in Jerusalem, where Jesus had shared a last Passover meal with he and the rest of the disciples. The image of Judas walking out of the room in order to betray Jesus must have been indelibly etched into John’s mind. But it is obvious that he never forgot the words Jesus spoke to them just before they made their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. He recorded them in his gospel account.

“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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35 ESV

There was a great deal that Jesus had taught His disciples during the time they had been together. But this particular statement from Jesus had resonated with John and had remained a focus of his ministry long after Jesus had returned to His rightful place at His Heavenly Father’s side.

Jesus referred to this command to love one another as a “new commandment.” And yet, in the first of the three letters John wrote, he described this command as an “old commandment.” Consider his words carefully.

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. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 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. – 1 John 7-11 ESV

Even under the Mosaic Law, the people of God were required to love one another. But it was based on the concept of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus had stated that this idea encompassed all the teaching found in the Law and the Prophets.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12 ESV

It was a reciprocal kind of love. In fact, Leviticus 19:18 reads: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus declared that He had come to fulfill or complete everything written in the Law and the Prophets.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” – Matthew 5:17 ESV

The kind of love commanded under the Law was reciprocal in nature. And, according to Leviticus 19:18, it was a love that used self as the standard: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

But what made this old commandment new, was the arrival of Jesus on the scene. He had come to reveal a new way to love, one that was based on a much higher standard than “as you love yourself.”

That night in the upper room, Jesus had expanded the command to love one another by adding the important phrase: “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34 ESV). He was establishing Himself as the new criteria for measuring and modeling love. It was not enough to love others as you loved yourself. Now, the standard was Christ’s love. It was going to be a selfless and sacrificial love. A lay-it-all-on-the-line kind of love. And just a few chapters later in his gospel, John recorded Jesus repeating this new command to love one another.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” – John 15:12-14 ESV

Now, in his letter to the “the elect lady and her children,” John was reminding this local congregation of Christ-followers to love one another in the same that Christ loved them. This selfless, sacrificial love was to be the mark of each and every believer. Again, in his first letter, John explained:

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. – 1 John 4:19-21 ESV

The motivation behind their love for one another was to be the love of God for them, as expressed in the sacrificial death of His Son. As John recorded in his gospel:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 ESV

How easy it is to enjoy the love of God, as demonstrated in His Son’s substitutionary death on our behalf. And how quickly we can express our love back to God for all that He has done for us. But John would have us remember how hypocritical it is to state our love for God while refusing to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we love God, we are obligated to love all those whom He loves.

And John wants his audience to know that our love for God is best expressed through our obedience to His commandments.

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. – 2 John 1:6 ESV

The New Living Translation puts it this way “Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.”

For John, our love for God and others were inseparably linked. You could not do one and not the other. The greatest expression of love for God was to obey His commands, and one of His primary commands was the His children love one another.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. – 1 John 5:2-3 ESV

It should not be difficult for believers in Christ to love one another. In fact, it should be a joy to love as we have been loved. It should bring us great pleasure to share with others the love that God has lavishly and graciously showered on us.

John had been steeped in the love of Christ. And, as one of His apostles, John was passing on His message of love to the growing body of Christ – the Church. And each time he stressed love for one another, John must have recalled the closing words of the prayer Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father that night in the garden: “…that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26 ESV).

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Cause to Rejoice

4 I rejoiced greatly because I have found some of your children living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded us. – 2 John 1:4 ESV

During the three-plus years that John had spent as a disciple of Jesus, he had heard His Lord and Savior say a lot about the topic of truth. He had heard Jesus issue the bold statement:  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT). And Jesus wasn’t simply claiming to have a knowledge of the truth. He was declaring Himself to be truth itself. And John would have recalled the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.

But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”. – John 4:23-24 NLT

Jesus had contrasted the worship of the Samaritan woman and her people with the future form of worship that God would deem acceptable and truthful.  But what does it mean to worship the Father in spirit and in truth? Thomas L. Constable provides us with an answer to that very important question. He begins by rewording the phrase, “worship in spirit and in truth” as “truly spiritual” worship. Then he provides a definition.

It is, first, worship that is spiritual in every respect: in its source, mediator, object, subject, basis, and method. It rises from the spirit of the worshipper, not just his or her mouth; it is heartfelt. Moreover it proceeds from a person who has spiritual life because of the new birth that the Holy Spirit has affected. It passes from believers to God through a spiritual mediator, namely, Jesus Christ. Its object is spiritual, namely, God who is spirit. Its subject is spiritual matters. This worship can include physical matters, such as singing and studying, but it comprehends the spiritual realm as well as the physical. Its basis is the spiritual work that Jesus Christ did in His incarnation and atonement. Its method is spiritual as contrasted with physical; it does not consist of merely physical actions but involves the interaction of the human spirit with the divine spirit. – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on John, 2008 Edition

So much of what masquerades as worship today is purely physical in nature. It’s all about where and how we worship, rather than the why that motivates our worship. It can become all about form and function, with little emphasis on the focus of our worship: God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.

We place a high priority on style and substance, forgetting that God looks on the heart. And John would have recalled the words that Jesus used to slam the hypocritical condition of the worship of His day.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” – Matthew 15:8-9 NLT

The Jewish people were busy going through the motions of worship, yet all the while they were rejecting “the truth” of God as revealed in the Son of God. Here was the Incarnate Word standing in their midst and they refused to accept Him. But there were some Jews who accepted Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. And, in his gospel, John records Jesus’ remarks to this faithful remnant.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32 NLT

So, here in the second installment of his 3-letter address to a local congregation, John rejoices for their belief in and adherence to the truth. He uses the Greek word peripateō, which can literally mean “to make one’s way.” It could be used to describe the physical task of walking from one place to another, but could also refer to someone going about the daily activity of living their life.

John is ecstatic because he has received news that some within the local congregation are “living according to the truth.” That does not automatically infer that others are not living according to the truth. He is simply stating what he knows to be a fact. Some within the local fellowship are resting in and relying upon the truth of Jesus Christ. That truth resides in them and is flowing out from them and, for this, John is extremely grateful and glad. John “has merely stated that he knows of some Christians in the church addressed who are ‘walking in the truth.’ He does not know for certain that all of them are, and concern over this is probably part of the motivation for writing the letter” (NET Bible Study Notes).

As John penned the words of this letter, he could not help but recall the many times he had heard Jesus speak about the truth. Now, years later and long after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, John was witnessing the fulfillment of the promise his Messiah and friend had made before He left this earth.

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” – 14:15-17 NLT

John knew that the indwelling Holy Spirit was the reason this faithful remnant were living according to the truth. They were not manufacturing their faith on their own. It was the work of the Spirit of God, who leads into all truth. And John would have well-remember the words he recorded, spoken from the lips of Jesus Himself.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’” – John 16:13-15 NLT

What a comfort it must have been to John to see the outworkings of this promise in the lives of those to whom he ministered. Every time he visited a local congregation, he got a chance to see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise lived out in human lives by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. And it caused him to rejoice.

All of this was in answer to the selfless prayer offered up by Jesus to His Heavenly Father that night in the garden.

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” – John 17-19 NLT

The truth. It’s far from relative. And it’s certainly not subjective. It emanates from the very throne of God in the form of the Son of God and is verified to be true by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. John was seeing life change take place in the lives of those to whom he was writing. And it was because of their belief in and reliance upon the truth of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. And that was cause for John to rejoice. 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

In Truth and Love

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. – 2 John 1:1-3 ESV

This letter, written by John the apostle is, as its title indicates, the second in his trilogy of epistles written sometime between A.D. 90-95. It is believed that all three of these letters were written by John while he was living in Ephesus. Much shorter in length than his previous letter and marked by a more personal and intimate tone, some scholars have concluded that this letter was written to an individual. They cite his use of the term “elect lady” in the salutation of the letter. But it seems more likely that John is simply using the feminine designation to refer to the church because she is the bride of Christ.

For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. – Ephesians 5:23 NLT

For 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

Let us be glad and rejoice,
    and let us give honor to him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb,
    and his bride has prepared herself. – Revelation 19:7 NLT

John is writing to a local congregation, which he refers to as the “children” of the “elect lady.” John reminds this local fellowship that they make up the elect of God. He uses the Greek word eklektos, which means, “picked out or chosen.” He wants them to know that each of them have been placed in the body of Christ by God the Father. They were chosen in advance by God and their presence in the body of Christ was according to His divine will.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. – Romans 8:29 ESV

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. – Ephesians 1:5 NLT

…because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. – Ephesians 1:11 NLT

John, in just a few short words, is picking up on Paul’s description of the body of Christ as an organism, not an organization. The church is a melting pot, created by God and consisting of people from all walks of life and every imaginable background.

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NLT

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT

John opens his letter by referring to himself as “the elder.” This stands in stark contrast to the manner in which Paul typically referred to himself in his epistles. Take his letter to the Ephesian church.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God… – Ephesians 1:1 ESV

John was also an apostle of Christ Jesus and would have been perfectly justified if he had chosen to use that title. But he chose to refer to himself an elder. Why? The Greek term he used is presbyteros and throughout the New Testament it is translated as elder, bishop, and presbyter. This was the title used to refer to those men whose job it was to provide spiritual oversight and leadership for the church. John was letting his audience know that he was writing as a caregiver. This letter was written with a pastor’s heart. He makes this clear by describing them as those “whom I love in truth” (2 John 1:1 ESV).

John was writing this letter out of love. It may be that he kept his introduction rather cryptic because he was attempting to protect the identity of those to whom he wrote. This letter was likely written toward the close of the First Century, a time when the church was beginning to face increasing persecution. And since John’s main area of ministry was Asia Minor, it makes sense to conclude that the church to whom he was writing was located in a Roman province. It’s quite probable that this small congregation of believers was experiencing growing pressure to compromise their faith. But John reminds them that his love for them is based on “the truth.”

This simple phrase was a favorite of John’s and can be found throughout his gospel. And you don’t have to be a biblical scholar to determine how John came up with it.

“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32 NLT

The truth was the good news of Jesus Christ. It was the message of the Gospel as proclaimed by John the Baptist and lived out in real life by Jesus Himself. John opened his gospel with the declaration that Jesus was the embodiment of the truth.

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. – John 1:14 ESV

He went on to stress that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17 ESV). And John would quote Jesus as saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV).

The incarnation of Jesus was the penultimate expression of God’s love.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 NLT

And it was the truth of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection that made John’s love for this local congregation possible. John pointed that out in his first letter.

We love each other because he loved us first. – 1 John 4:19 NLT

And John lets this fledgling congregation know that they are loved, not just by him, but by “all who know the truth” (2 John 1:1 ESV). They can rest assured that the global body of Christ cares for them just as much as John does. They are not alone. And John lets them know that this bond they share with all the other churches scattered throughout Asia Minor and the rest of the world is “because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever” (2 John 1:2 ESV).

The truth regarding Jesus Christ and His message of redemption is what holds the body of Christ together. If this local congregation of believers was to take its eyes off of Jesus, they would lose sight of the hope found in His resurrection and promised return. They shared a common commitment to the eternality of the Gospel message. The truth of Jesus Christ was not just a temporary salve for life’s difficulties, but a permanent hope based on the promise of eternal life. The truth will be with us forever. This means we must not judge the veracity of God’s promise based on current circumstances. Whatever this local fellowship was experiencing was not to be the determiner of the truth. The truth, displayed in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and centered on His promised return, has a permanence to it that should bring hope in the midst of suffering, joy in the face of sorrow, and a sense of peace even when faced with difficulty.

And John reminds his audience, “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us…” (2 John 1:3 ESV). These divine gifts will never cease, no matter what happens to us or around us. The grace, mercy, and peace of God will never run out because our God is faithful. His unmerited favor and compassion will never diminish. So, we can experience the inner tranquility that comes from knowing He is with us no matter what is taking place around us. He will never leave us or forsake us. We are loved – permanently, perfectly, and eternally. As Paul so aptly and eloquently put it:

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. – Romans 8:38 NLT

John wraps up his greeting by assuring his readers that grace, mercy, and peace come “from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son” (2 John 1:3 ESV). They are gifts from the Father and the Son and they appear in the form of truth and love. He wants them to never stop believing the truth because it is the basis for understanding God’s love for them. And when they are able to comprehend just how much God loves them, they will be able to love others more effectively and selflessly. 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Our Patient, Merciful God.

Isaiah, 29-30, 2 John

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. – Isaiah 30:18 ESV

In the midst of all of Israel's rebellion and stubborn refusal to honor God, God repeatedly called them to repentance. “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength’” (Isaiah 30:15 ESV). He made it clear what they had to do to receive rest and restoration. All He asked them to do was repent and return to Him. If they would simply be still and place their trust in Him, He would bless them. He would show mercy to them. But verses 15 goes on to say that they were unwilling. Rather than trust God, they relied on their own plans. “‘Ah, stubborn children,’ declares the Lord, ‘who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt’” (Isaiah 30:1-2 ESV). They were like children “unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord” (Isaiah 30:9 ESV). They refused to listen to what the prophets were telling them. They preferred to be told lies. It sounds familiar. Paul warned Timothy that this same scenario would exist in his day. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3 ESV). Paul described a day in which the sins of the people of Israel would be lived out again – in the life of the church. “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT).

What does this passage reveal about God?

The very fact that this planet still exists and the human race has not been completely obliterated by God speaks volumes about His patience, faithfulness, mercy and grace. He continues to watch as even those who call themselves by His name reject His will for them and refuse to acknowledge His sovereignty over them. In Isaiah's day, God accused the people of Israel of going through the motions spiritually – “…this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men” (Isaiah 29:13 ESV). Jesus would quote this very passage when speaking to the religious leaders in His day. “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you…” (Matthew 15:7 ESV). God was not interested in religious rituals and acts of pious posturing. He wanted His people to show Him love through their faithful obedience to His commands. He wanted them to trust Him and to rely on His plan for them. Obedience is not just a matter of going through the motions. It is to involve the heart. It is to include the will. God had repeatedly told His people: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22 ESV). But in spite of the disobedience of His people, God has continued to show patient, faithful endurance. He has continued to pour out His grace and mercy. And He will faithfully fulfill each and every promise He has made to the people of Israel and to His Church.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Our capacity for stubbornness and disobedience is astounding. After all of God's blessings, the people of Israel still could not bring themselves to remain faithful to God. They even believed that they could hide their disobedience and unfaithfulness from Him. “Who sees us? Who knows us?” (Isaiah 29:15 ESV). God accused them of turning things upside down – of reversing the roles – making themselves the gods of their own lives. “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; of the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:16 ESV). The apostle Paul would echo this thought in his letter to the believers in Rome: “Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Romans 9:20 NLT). What arrogance and pride we can exhibit as God's creation. How easy it is to forget the one who made us. How quickly we can forget the grace and mercy of God that led us out of darkness into the light. Peter reminds us: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV). Like the people of Israel, we owe all that we have to God. Our very existence as His people is due to His love, kindness, mercy and grace. And yet, how easy it is for us to return His unmerited favor with disobedience, stubbornness, and a willful rejection of His will for our lives.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

In John's second epistle, he commends his readers for “walking in the truth” (2 John 4 ESV). He encourages them to continue obeying the command of Christ to love one another. He wanted them to live out their faith in real life, even in the midst of false teaching and daily difficulties. God had been faithful to them and he wanted them to remain faithful to God by abiding in the teaching of Christ. As Christ followers, we must never forget that God has showered us with His mercy and grace. He has placed us into His family and made us His children and heirs. He has promised us an eternity with Him free from sin, pain, sorrow and death. All He asks is that we remain faithful to Him while we wait for the final fulfillment of His plan. He tells us the same thing He told the people of Israel in Isaiah's day: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15 NLT). While we wait on Him, we must rest in Him. He must trust Him. We must abide in Him. He calls out to us, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10 ESV). He knows what He is doing. He is patiently, graciously working out His plan. And we must patiently, faithfully trust Him.

Father, forgive me for abusing Your mercy and grace. Forgive me for taking Your mercy and grace for granted. I would be nothing without You. I have no right to question Your authority over my life. I have no reason to question Your faithful love and sovereignty in my life. Help me learn to continually return to You and find my rest in You. Amen