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.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read. I left out about as much as I posted, and I encourage you to follow the link and read the rest for yourself.
The Elder: The writer of this book identifies himself as the Elder. Presumably, his first readers knew exactly who he was, and from the earliest times, Christians have understood this was the Apostle John writing.
“John the apostle, who was now a very old man, generally supposed to be about ninety, and therefore uses the term presbyter or elder, not as the name of an office, but as designating his advanced age. He is allowed to have been the oldest of all the apostles, and to have been the only one who died a natural death.” (Clarke)
To the elect lady and her children: Perhaps this was an individual Christian woman John wanted to warn and encourage by this letter. Or, the term might be a symbolic way of addressing this particular congregation.
“This appears to have been some noted person, whom both her singular piety, and rank in the world, made eminent, and capable of having great influence for the support of the Christian interest.” (Poole)
John probably did not name himself, the elect lady or her children by name because this was written during a time of persecution. Perhaps John didn’t want to implicate anyone by name in a written letter. If the letter was intercepted and the authorities knew who it was written to by name, it might mean death for those persons.
Whom I love in truth, and not only I: Whomever the elect lady was, she was loved by all who have known the truth. If we know and love the truth, we will love those who also know and love the truth — the truth which abides in us also lives in others who know the truth.
We see John quite focused on the idea of truth, as he was in all of his writings. He used the word truth some thirty-seven times in his New Testament writings.
This shows that what binds Christians together is not social compatibility or political compatibility or class compatibility. What binds us together is a common truth. This is why truth is important to Christians.
Will be with us forever: The truth does not change. The truth will be true forever, and we will have the truth forever in eternity. Many people today think that the truth changes from age to age and from generation to generation, but the Bible knows that the truth will be with us forever.
The Son of the Father: “The apostle still keeps in view the miraculous conception of Christ; a thing which the Gnostics absolutely denied; a doctrine which is at the ground work of our salvation.”
I plead with you, lady: John was not too proud to beg on such an important matter — not when it came to something as vital in the Christian life as the commandment that we must love one another.
Not as though I wrote a new commandment: John knew this was nothing new to his readers (he repeated the theme all through 1 John and his gospel). Yet because it was so essential, it had to be repeated and used as a reminder.
That we love one another: The integrity of our Christian life can be measured by our love for one another (as in John 13:35 and 1 John 4:20-21).
This is love, that we walk according to His commandments: If we love God, we will obey His commandments. We do this not because we think His commandments are heavy burdens, but because we see that they are best for us. They are guides and gifts to us from God.
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: John mainly had in mind the danger in his own time, of those who thought that Jesus, being God, could have no real connection with the material world. They said that He only had an apparent connection with the material world.
To combat this, John made a plain declaration: we must confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This means Jesus came as a real man in His first coming, but also means He will come as a human being — although glorified humanity, and that added to His eternal deity — a real flesh and blood Jesus will come again to the earth.
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.
In our own day, we must deal with modern denials of the Biblical Jesus with the same passion John did in his day. Today, with our “scholarly” denials of Jesus and the historical record of the Gospels, it is more important than ever to know who the true Jesus is according to the Bible and to love and serve the true Jesus.
“To say no to God’s way of revealing himself is to say no to God himself, for he will not let himself be known by men except on his own terms.” (Marshall)
Transgresses: The word transgresses has the idea of “going beyond a boundary.” We never go “beyond” the teaching of Jesus, of who He is and what He has done for us. Anyone who thinks we have or should go beyond what the Bible plainly says about Jesus transgresses.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine: If someone comes to us, denying the true doctrine of Jesus, and promoting a false doctrine of Jesus, John says we should give no hospitality, no aid, to the ones who promote their own false version of Jesus. To do so is to share in his evil deeds.
“Suppose the visiting teacher claimed to be a Christian missionary or even a prophet but taught what was clearly false doctrine. Hospitality would demand that he be provided for, but to do so would seem to be participation in the spread of his false teachings. Should he be received or not?” (Boice)
He who greets him: John means greets in a much more involved context than our own. In that culture, it meant to show hospitality and give aid. Yet, for the weak or unskilled believer, it is best if they do not even greet (in the sense of speaking to) those who promote a false Jesus (like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses).
Do not receive him into your house nor greet him: This may also be translated do not receive him into the house. John may be referring most specifically to not allowing these heretical teachers to come into the house where Christians meet together.
Shares in his evil deeds: We are defined by what we reject as much as by what we accept. In this, some are so open minded that they are empty headed. It is wise to keep an open mind on many things; but one would never keep an open mind about which poisons a person might try. You may say yes to all the right things; but one must also say no to what is false and evil. We need to become good at rejecting what should be rejected.
The children of your elect sister: Telling us that the elect lady (2 John 1) has an elect sister, and that they both have children does little to identify with certainty who John is writing to. Perhaps all it tells us is that if John used the term elect lady as a symbol for the church, he used it rather loosely (saying that she has a sister and children). The most likely idea is that the elect lady (a particular church) had an elect sister — other “sister” churches from which John brings a greeting.
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.
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So, what do you think? Was John writing this letter to a woman or to a church? When I opened the verses this morning and saw "to the lady chosen by God" I thought "oh my... now that's a lot of pressure".
I believe the "lady chosen by God" was a lady who knew Jesus and now took Christians into her home for "church". Maybe she was one of the Marys or maybe she was that woman who was about to be stoned to death for adultery that Jesus rescued. Maybe she was someone who ate at one of Jesus' pot luck dinners on the hillside.
I also believe that women should indeed lead a church if no man is called and a woman steps up. My grandmother, Rebecca Jane Dodson Athey, was in that situation. The preacher traveled up into the mountains to preach at the local churches. A lot of times the snow would get too deep or the river would running too high after the Spring thaw, the preacher couldn't get to Front Royal so my grandmom would teach.
I think this is the kind of woman John is talking about. A woman chosen by God to step up.
According to the commentary, the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, promote their own false version of Jesus. It would be really easy for someone who was not chosen by God to accept the laying on of hands and start teaching fake [or more believable] renditions of Christ.
We all know there are people like Jim Jones roaming earth leading cults that are not only injurious to the "church" but also, in Jim Jones' case, dangerous to those who follow such a fake.
Maybe she was afraid of letting someone in to preach, only to find out they were there to arrest and imprison all the Christians! I know that's what Saul of Tarsus was doing... arresting Christians... That's why he was on that Damascus Road, according to him.
As a woman, I guess I have a different perspective than Mr. Guzik.
Remember, the Pharisees and the Sadducees wouldn't accept Jesus as the Messiah because on the census record, the name of Jesus' father was either left blank or someone would have written in "unknown". Back then being a Jewish man was a matter of blood. You couldn't just take a test and join. You had to show them how you are related directly to Abraham.
On top of that, Mary, His mother, was betrothed to Joseph but they weren't married and Joseph didn't claim Jesus as his son. That made Mary an adulterous woman. She was in danger of being stoned to death for having an illegitimate baby... a Bastard.
Maybe more than one new convert had a problem with accepting Jesus as a Jewish Messiah. There those stupid humans go again, putting God in a box.
Maybe it was easier to just say Jesus was never born to a woman because Gods can't be borne by humans. I've heard that. I've also heard that Jesus couldn't have died on the cross because Jesus is God and gods don't die. That argument should fall on its face, Jesus was human flesh and blood, and humans do have beating hearts that stop beating.
Maybe that woman was so aggravated by some man who insisted that women should sit in the back and shut up, that she wanted to do physical harm and throw him out.... making her appear "intolerant and unloving".
Maybe John is telling the woman to "hang in there" and just show them kindness. Maybe John was saying show them Christian Love, before showing them the door, because some of her Faith and Love might rub off on them.
Some men will NEVER consider women their equal.
Remember... we are Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We are Brothers and Sisters adopted into the Family of God. Maybe this letter is about how Women called by God should react when facing bigheaded self-important men.
Anyway.... these verses are untitled by my Online Bible... and I have to title this... so... I guess...
"The lady chosen by God"
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