2 John

This letter continued some of the subjects that were in 1 John. But John dealt with them in a briefer way. He emphasised their importance to the ‘Lady whom God chose’.

Teaching

Here are the subjects that the apostle John mentioned. They are also in his first letter. They are:

• the truth (vs. 1, 2, 3, 4. Read 1 John 2:21; 3:19).
• the new, but old, command of love (v.5. See 1 John 2:7; 3:11, 23; 4:21).
• the importance of daily lives (v.6. We must ‘live in the way that he commanded’. That means to obey God. We must also ‘live a life of love’.
• Read 1 John 1:7 and 2:6).
• the evil activities of the antichrist (vs. 7-11). [Note: ‘anti’ is the Latin word for ‘against’. So the antichrist is the enemy of Christ. Read 1 John 2:22; 4:1-3.]
• loyalty to two facts about Christ. They are these: The Lord Jesus Christ is God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is a man (vs.7-11. Read 1 John 2:22-23; 4:2-3, 15; 5:1, and 9-10).

Readers

People wonder about ‘the Lady whom God chose’ (v.1). And the words have been a puzzle to many readers for centuries. It might be a person whom the apostle knew. But this is not likely. The Early (first) Church did not encourage women teachers (1 Timothy 2:12. But read Acts 21:9 too).

There is a more probable explanation. This ‘Lady’ could be a particular local church. ‘Her children’ were its members. Maybe John had a reason for the use of these words. There could be dangers for the church. People who were not Christians might read the letter. And they would discover the name and place of the church. Then there could be persecution for that church.

Purpose

The reason for this letter is plain. John warned about false teachers in his first letter. These people were visiting the churches. (Read 1 John 4:1-2.) Now John warned this little church. These false teachers might visit the church members too. And John told them clearly what they must not do. Church members must not welcome false teachers. And they must not invite them into their homes (vs.7, 10).

Everyone knew about the hotels of the first century world. They were very dirty. There was much wrong sex in them too. So it was important to welcome travellers into homes. (Read Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2 and 1 Peter 4:9.)

People knew that Christians were generous. And some people pretended to be believers. So, they would stay in Christian homes. Lucian was a Greek writer of that time. In his ‘Peregrinus’ he wrote about this matter. Someone who pretended to be a Christian would do this all the time. He would stay with generous believers. Then, as soon as they discovered who he was, he would leave. He would go to another place and do the same thing!

Early (first) Christians wrote down some rules in a book. Its name was ‘The Didache’. It was about preachers who travelled. Christians should help each one as much as they could. ‘But he shall not stay with you longer than two or three days, unless there is necessity. He might want to stay among you. If he has a skill, let him work and eat. If he has no skill, give him some work to do. If he refuses to do it, then he is a Christmonger’. (This comes from a Greek word, ‘Christemporos’. It means to use Christ for personal gain.) The Didache tells Christians to avoid such men.

Message

Truth is the main subject of this second letter. The apostle says that believers must:

Know the truth (v.1). John loved the members of this church (‘her children’). And he emphasised his love. Maybe John was contrasting himself with the false teachers. His love was sincere and genuine. They were trying to destroy the church. They hated rather than loved. (Read 1 John 3:11-15.) True believers had ‘come to know’ the truth. This verb spoke about a definite event in the past.

Welcome the truth (vs.2-3). The truth was not just a statement of what we believe. It is not that we accepted it once, in the past. No! Truth saves. We are always receiving it. And we must live by it. It should live in us and stay with us (v.2). Notice how John spoke about the whole Christian group. He said ‘the truth lives in us’. He did not say ‘the truth lives in me’.

Obey the truth (vs.4-6). Truth is not something that we should just keep in our minds. We must use it in every part of our lives. We must do what it says. We must obey its commands. This means that we must all love each other. We must whether we really understand the truth or not (v.4). If we do, then we should love all those who love the truth (vs.5-6).

Barclay was a Christian teacher and writer. And he spoke about this matter. He said that there was only one proof that we love God. It was this. We love other Christians. (Read John 13:34 and 1 John 4:20.)

Guard the truth (vs.7-11). John warned his readers here. He warned them about people who opposed Christ. And they did this by denying that Christ is both God and man. Believers must not welcome a false teacher into their home (v.10). John said something very serious. ‘If you accept him, then you are helping him with his evil work’. There are people like this today. They knock at the doors of our homes. And we should remember John's advice.

Notice something. John cared about the spiritual health of people who accepted false teachers. But there was something more. It affected the whole church. Read verse 8. Some early copies of his letter made this clear. They said ‘That you may not lose what we worked for’.

The first letter started with joy. (Read 1 John 1:4.) And this letter ends with joy (vs 12-13). New Testament faith brings joy (v.12). But nothing must take its unique place (vs 10-11). We must never mix the truth with false teaching.