seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 John 1:1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
This is from the commentary.Many deceivers have gone out into the world: John was aware false teachers were a danger to the church in his day.
“The immediate problem in [2 John] is that of traveling teachers or missionaries. According to Christian ethics all who thus traveled about were to be shown hospitality by Christians in the town to which they came.” (Boice)
This is a deceiver and an antichrist: Against this false idea of Jesus, John insists those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh are the deceivers and have the spirit of the antichrist.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God: There is nothing noble, sincere, courageous, or admirable in a false Jesus. To deny the Biblical Jesus is always to reject the Father and the Son both. John here draws a critical line of truth, over which it is heresy to transgress.
The children of your elect sister: This last reference to the elect sister and her children remind us that though we must be on guard against false teachers, the true followers of Jesus are more than just our group. If we allow our desire to defend the truth to make us unloving and intolerant, Satan has won a great victory.
Women and children.... we're a lot different from men. Women and children, back in the days of John and Paul and Peter were, separate from men. Men ran things, and women had babies and gleaned the fields. Women were not educated, as a rule. Not many women were rich enough to afford education. Most women and girls didn't read. So... if there was a Bible to read... they couldn't have read it anyway. [Of course, there were not Bibles back in the day when John was writing letters.] So... the Gospel was delivered by Word of Mouth. Since the Gospel was delivered by word of mouth... it could easily be misconstrued, either by accident, or by design. No one who was new to the flock would know they were being lied to.
So, John says, [parenthetically] if you want to avoid the anti-Christ spewing garbage, you had to look for the one sign they could not deceive.
John says the Gospel is built on Love. Jesus told us to love one another. If the man delivering a message, isn't delivering a message of love, don't even let him in the house.
Here's another little hint.... if someone says "well I might just kill myself if you don't".... it's not of Christ. That person doesn't have Christ in their life. If they did, they would be more willing to smile and show love rather than put the blame on you for their behavior.
I hate it when I run into an obvious Anti-Christ.
One moved into our neighborhood recently. She tried that garbage on me yesterday. I told her to get her big dog under control. She was standing outside my door, and her dog is a 4' tall puppy ready to happily pounce. It would definitely knock me down. She said "I guess I'll just kill it". Rude... and manipulative... that's her thing. I have seen no love in this woman. She's only interested in herself. The dog is her protection. She has been abused and now she is abusive. It's going to take a lot of work to get her near "like", let alone "love". The world will accept her or she will show them her hateful side.
John says Love is the key.
All those people who were on the hillside when Jesus was feeding and healing the masses, saw love and shared it.
There were a lot more who never heard Jesus' talk. There were a lot more who never witnessed Jesus' healing. They would see the "possibilities" of steering a crowd to their way of thinking. People seeking Jesus get caught up by someone exploring "possibilities" and they are captured in a place where the Gospel is skewed. There is no love in these people who only want to pass the hat. They are preaching a fake Gospel.
Here's the key....
All you need is love.
