2 John

Greetings and grace to you,

It wasn't a monumental decision to proceed to 2 John after 1 John. It just kinda happened. Ever since one learns the books of the Bible as a cub, 'First, Second, Third John.....' just seem to run together. And after reading 2 John, I realized that it serves as a sort of 'summary' of 1 John. Most of the main themes covered in 1 John are also mentioned in 2 John (briefly, of course).

Let me take a moment to talk about the 'pre-study' process I have developed. The funny thing about this new pre-study is that I developed it as I was finishing the study in 1 John (a little late, but some things are only seen as helpful after you toil through it). What I did with 1 John (after the fact) and 2 John (beforehand; thankfully) is took a few extra moments to read through the whole book and pull out keywords. I start with words that occur more than a couple times in a section (or if I notice them spread out in each chapter). Then I look for phrases or structures that repeat themselves to see if there is an underlying foundation to build on. This gives me the main 'language' of the book, but also a tremendous resource on which to build the thematic outline. I then use the 'find' feature in Word to count how many times each word actually occurs in the text (for this study, based on the ESV; further study would lead me to count the GK words that may be translated differently). Then I use the cool highlight function to highlight each different word in a different color. While this word-counting is not always a comprehensive window into the book, it often gives a visual (because of the color) image of the text from which I can more easily find main themes and chose memory passages that include many (or most) of the keywords.

So, since 2 John is a 'one-chapter-wonder', I outlined it a bit differently. Two of the three main sections were keyed by words that started with 'T', so that's where I went. The Outline Theme phrase for 2 John is "Walk in Truth, True love, and Teaching". (love is the main theme of the second section, but it had to start with 't' :)

The memory passage is:
2 John 4,6a,9 (ESV)
⁴I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

^6aAnd this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;

⁹Everyone 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.

The introduction is one of the more 'controversial' sections of the letter. John (who is unnamed) addresses the letter to 'the elect lady and her children'; which could be seen as an actual female believer and her kids, or a metaphor for the elect church and the members of that body. There really doesn't seem to be any definitive facts that set this straight, so we're left to interpretation. One commentator doesn't find any reason to read this other than as to a lady and her children; there is no other precedent using this reference as a church, and the word 'lady' in GK is a form of a proper name (Kyria). Another commentator suggests that the letter 'reads' as if it were written to a church, the final greeting is from the elect sister's children (whereas if it were to a lady, why isn't the greeting to the lady herself?), and the word for 'lady' in GK also is a form of the word used for church.

So there you have it. We don't really know. And thankfully, it doesn't really matter. We believe God's Word is true and valuable for OUR life and growth (2 Tim 3:16), so the application for the modern reader is affected very little (if any) by this detail.

The part right after the greeting sets up the theme of the book (and immediately reminds us of 1 John) by using 'love in truth' and 'truth that abides'. John was working with precious little space or time, and didn't want to go any longer without reminding the recipients of the major theme. He goes on in v2 with more sound doctrine; grace, peace and mercy are sent from God the Father and Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

Verse 4 begins the body of the letter and offers our first main theme; walking in truth. John either met in person or heard of some of the believers in this church (you can see how I interpret the recipient of this letter) who were walking in the true commandments of Christ. This is the same commandment that they had from the beginning (1 John 2:7); to love one another. How refreshing to hear that John 'jumped for joy' after seeing the faithful walk of obedience in these believers.

The second section stars with Verse 6; John defines true 'love'. The proof of true love for God is that we walk in His commandments. This walk must be based on the truth of Christ and must endure so that the false teachers can not corrupt them with deception. The devil is a deceiver, the antichrist, and will distort and destroy the children of God at any turn. John warns them to watch themselves in order that they may run the race faithfully and receive a full reward (1 Cor 9:24-27). John writes not of the judgment of our eternal standing (which is sure), but the judgment of our works in Christ (1 Cor 3:11ff).

Verses 9-11 deal with the abiding in and handling of the teaching of Christ. He makes a sharp point; if one abides in the teaching of Christ they have the Father, but if one does not abide in the teaching of Christ they have neither the Father nor the Son. In the issue of hospitality, beware of who you let into your home. John does not contradict the teaching of Christ that we should love and care for others in need or that we should bless the non-believer and proclaim the Gospel. He writes here that if we know a false teacher is attempting to corrupt the truth of Christ we are not to 'let him into our house'. We must beware of giving them any sign of encouragement or approval; tacit or explicit. We must not in any way support (financially or otherwise) their work or give audience to their misguidings. John does not (thankfully) give us a 'rulebook' for which situations are acceptable. If we are walking with Christ and living obediently to His Word, we should be able to, by His wisdom and insight, discern the opportunity for invitation and the occasion for rejection.

John ends the epistle with a wonderful personal touch; 'I'd write more, but I want to come see you face to face; that is what gives my heart joy.'


How do I know God better from this study?
God is jealous (in the holy and righteous fullness of the meaning) for His children and for His Truth. He also rejoices to see us walking in the true teaching of Christ, and adamantly rejects the work of false teachers who would corrupt His Truth for their own purposes. How can we balance this command to 'reject' false teachers and yet be hospitable in love and mercy? While God alone is fully wise, just and gracious, He is constantly renewing us into His image. Holy Spirit is constantly working in the good heart He created in us at our conversion to make us more like Christ. He wants us to walk in His mind and wisdom; He wants us to share His heart for lost souls and His lament for wandering sheep; He wants to give us His vision for our mission in His kingdom. How do we do this? Walk in His love, walk in His truth, and walk in His teaching; abide in Him daily and He will teach us to live from the heart He created and loves.

Grace, mercy, and peace to us in the Truth of Christ,

Ethan