Through the Bible - 2 John

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love... I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

A persecuted church receives a short, potent charge: practice the truth, protect the truth, and hold love and truth together.

The Setting of John's Second Letter

John's second letter was probably written near the same time as his first, somewhere around the early 90s AD. John was the youngest of the disciples and lived the longest. By this time nearly every other eyewitness of the Lord had gone on to be with Him. Near the end of his life, in the late 80s AD, John was exiled to the desert island of Patmos off the coast of Asia Minor, because the Romans wanted to put him to death as they had so many other leaders of the church.

The legend goes that they tried to boil him in oil but he did not die, so they exiled him to Patmos. There he received the revelation of Jesus Christ that we will look at in a couple of weeks. After his release, he returned to Ephesus, where he lived his latter years, and it is believed he wrote this letter from there—just as with 1 John and, as we will see, 3 John.

Who Is the Elect Lady?

This letter is unique among John's writings because of how he addresses it: "the elder unto the elect lady and her children." There has been much discussion over who the elect lady is. Some teachers believe it is written to a godly woman and her family. I believe it is written to a church. Throughout the letter John names no one except God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He changes the names to protect the innocent, because this was a time of beginning persecution.

I believe John wrote to a persecuted body of believers—"the elect lady," whoever led the church, and "her children," the body of Christ there. Notice the final line: "The children of thy elect sister greet you." I take that to mean the church John was with sends greetings to the church he is writing. This persecution was during the reign of Domitian, emperor of Rome, who in his later years became a tyrant and a great persecutor of the church.

The Heresy John Confronts

John writes to encourage this church in two areas: first, to practice the truth and keep the commandments; second, to protect the truth and guard against counterfeits. We have seen throughout these New Testament letters that false teachers came into the body of Christ very early. We can imagine the early church was perfect, but the New Testament shows it was not.

One early heresy was Gnosticism, which came in at the tail end of the first century and deeply affected the church in the second. It denied the humanity of Jesus. In our day the denial is reversed—higher critics deny the deity of Jesus. In the first century there were eyewitnesses to His resurrection, His miracles, His walking on water and feeding multitudes, so they had no problem with His divinity. They struggled with His humanity.

This denial is dangerous. Without Jesus being fully man, He is not the right propitiation for our sins. He cannot be the atoning sacrifice if He did not come in the flesh. His physical birth and His life as a man on this earth are essential for our salvation. The Scriptures reveal that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

The Joy of Walking in Truth

John's exhortation to practice the truth is just as essential for us today. It is a glorious thing to walk in the truth. In his third letter John says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." It brought John joy, it brings God glory, and it remains so today—yet many who call themselves Christians and sit in churches do not walk in the truth.

On the day of Christ Jesus, when He separates the sheep from the goats, many will say, "Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, we cast out demons in your name," and He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness." They had an appearance of godliness but denied the power thereof. Jesus' kingdom parables speak often of this separation—between wheat and tares, between the faithful servant and the wicked one. There is always division between hot and cold, and many within the body are simply lukewarm.

Knowing the Truth to Discern Error

On Wednesday nights we have been going through 1 Timothy, which speaks of those who bring in damnable heresies and lead people astray. The whole point of sound doctrine is that believers grow into maturity. Paul says the end of the commandment is "love from a pure heart, out of a good conscience, and from sincere faith," yet some have swerved from this into "fruitless discussion."

The best way to discern truth from error is to know the truth. You could spend an eternity studying the ins and outs of error—becoming an expert on the Latter-day Saints, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Kabbalah, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism. But I would encourage you, as the Word of God encourages you, to become an expert in God's truth. When you know the truth, you can discern error. And knowing the truth, Jesus tells us in John 8, sets us free. John, like Peter, Paul, and Jude, speaks in strong terms here—do not even invite false teachers into your house.

The Balance of Love and Truth

Notice the repetition of two words in the opening verses: love and truth. There needs to be a balance of love and truth in your life and mine. I believe it was John MacArthur who said that truth without love leads to brutality, and love without truth leads to heresy. We see this throughout church history.

There were times when the church stood on sola scriptura, focused on the Word and truth, yet departed from love—and great brutality was done in the name of Jesus that was completely off base. There is danger of this in our own lives, where we become so legalistic that we lay heavy burdens on people that no one can carry.

But the opposite is also true. Look at the last fifty years of Western Christianity and you will see the church set aside the truth of God simply to be "loving," with a definition of love far from the Scriptures—thinking love means complete tolerance of everything. Even within the Lutheran church, founded on sola scriptura, you see a turning away from truth toward what they think love is. Paul would write to many of our denominations the same way he wrote to carnal Corinth.

When Jesus came, John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, "full of grace and truth." Grace stems from love. We who live out our faith in this world must also be full of grace and truth. That happens only as we abide in Him and His word abides in us, and you can discern whether a person is abiding by the fruit in their life—and the first fruit of the Spirit is love.

Rightly Dividing the Word

We must rightly divide the word of truth, as Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. Studying God's Word takes time; it does not happen by osmosis. Setting your Bible on the nightstand will not beam it into your heart while you sleep. Some think a popular book—The Purpose Driven Life, Becoming a Better You—will build them up in Christ. Those may offer tidbits, but there is no substitute for rightly dividing the word of truth.

Billy Graham once said, in paraphrase, that if he had it all to do over again he would spend more time simply reading the Bible. A friend who helped Pastor Chuck Smith move his library said it took several men all day. When someone asked Chuck if he had read every book, he said, "Well, the good ones." And when asked how many times he had read through the Bible, he said he stopped counting years ago at a hundred—and it showed, because he was a man full of grace and truth.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace from God

John writes, "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." We need the grace of God to be with us. We may have received Christ by grace, yet not have His grace with us, giving it out to others. That is an essential aspect of the believer's life. And like Paul in each of his thirteen letters, and as in 1 and 2 Peter, John says these things—grace, mercy, and peace—come from God only, for that is the only place they will be found.

Rejoicing to Find Believers Walking in Truth

"I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth." As I have traveled around the world, it does not matter the country or language—it is a great blessing to meet believers who walk in the truth and find you have brothers and sisters everywhere. When I traveled to the Philippines last year, I flew from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Cebu, and immediately some men from Calvary Chapel Cebu picked me up. There was instant koinonia with men I had never met.

They put me on a bus for five and a half hours, and I sat next to a stranger. When I told him I was going to teach at the Calvary Chapel in Dumaguete, he said, "I'm from Dumaguete, and I'm a believer." Instantly there was fellowship and great rejoicing—the joy of meeting someone whom the truth has set free. We rejoice when we are doing what the Lord has commanded.

Love Shown Through Obedience

"And now I beseech thee, lady... that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments." Keeping His commandments reveals our love for God. Because the enemy and our flesh have defiled the definition of love, people wonder how to love God—do I buy Him flowers and chocolates? Jesus tells us in John's gospel, and John tells us here, that the supreme way we show our love for God is by obedience to Him.

This is the commandment—nothing new, but what was from the beginning—that we love one another. The word used is agape, a self-sacrificing love that seeks nothing in return. Worldly love loves to get something; a man may tell a girl he loves her only to get from her. But the love of God seeks nothing back. We are to love one another and love God in this manner.

Protecting the Truth Against Deceivers

"For many deceivers are entered into the world." One sorry fact for the church is that it has forgotten this. Jesus told us to be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves; the church has often been gentle but not discerning. We must know the truth so that when someone teaches error we can say, "Show me where that is in the Bible." Jesus promised in the Olivet discourse that many false christs and false prophets would come and deceive many.

These deceivers "confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." This is the Gnostic heresy, specifically docetism, a dualistic teaching that Jesus was not fully man. John calls such a person "a deceiver and an antichrist." Could you imagine a preacher today calling another preacher an antichrist? John had no problem saying these teachers are of the spirit of antichrist. Many are likely in hell now because they latched onto false doctrine as gospel truth. False teachers often use the Word of God—Satan himself used Scripture against Jesus, and Satan knows the Bible better than you or I.

Walk Circumspectly

"Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward." Be on guard. Paul told the Ephesians to walk circumspectly, understanding the times, because the days are evil. To walk circumspectly is to walk like a Roman soldier. The Romans conquered the known world by studying the art of war—crafting their armor and helmets so they could hear commands on the battlefield. To be circumspect is to have your eyes wide open and ears attentive, listening to the Lord while aware of what is happening in the world.

It concerns me how many believers have no clue what is going on in the world. When I taught Isaiah at the Bible college last week, I asked about a major news story on the front page of every newspaper in the Western world, and the students looked at me blankly. We must be aware, because the days are evil and deceivers seek to deceive many. Every one of us wants to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant," so let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure.

The Person and the Doctrine of Christ

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." John deals with two heresies. The first, in verse 7, concerns the person of Christ; the second, in verse 9, the doctrine of Christ. Two thousand years later we still face both. In our day the person of Christ is diminished by denying His deity; in John's day it was His humanity.

If a person departs from the clear teaching of God's Word, they do not have the Lord Jesus Christ, and because Jesus is God, they do not have God either. The inverse is true: he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. So the implication is clear—abide in the doctrine of Christ. Stay strong and stay plugged in to Him.

Do Not Receive or Bid Godspeed

"If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." If someone comes to your door with a magazine from the Jehovah's Witnesses or a book from the Latter-day Saints, do not receive them into your house. You may stand at your door and share the Word of God, but I have talked with many Mormons over the years and never seen one come to the truth in our conversation—not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because they are deceived, and I do not want to bring their deception into my house.

We tend to say, "God bless you," but God cannot bless someone in their deception. Once Josh and I talked with two Mormon men for at least an hour and a half coming out of a lunch meeting. Before they left, we let them know plainly: if you do not repent and turn to the Lord, you have no chance of heaven. I almost always finish such conversations by bringing them to Hebrews 10:

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

I tell them: I have given you the knowledge of the truth. There is no good work that obtains salvation, no number of doors to knock on, no sacrifice for sin beyond the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you do not receive Him, the only thing you have to look forward to is a certain and fearful expectation of judgment. If anything, I hope it scares them. I want to be a speed bump on people's way to hell, to at least slow them down.

Partakers of Evil Deeds

"For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." That is heavy, and we should consider it instead of skimming past it. If we wish such a person Godspeed, we become partakers of their evil deeds. What we should do is what God told Ezekiel in chapter 3—be a watchman on the wall who warns them, who seeks to turn them from their deception and their departure from the truth, rather than sharing in their sinful path.

Face to Face That Our Joy May Be Full

"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full." This was a short, quick exhortation to a church in persecution—guard the truth, keep the commandments, stay away from false teachers. Yet John longs to come and meet them face to face, that their joy might be full.

In 1 John 1:4 he uses the same phrase: "These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." Joy is full in the fellowship of the body of Christ. Wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He is in their midst, and Psalm 16:11 says, "In thy presence is fulness of joy." What a blessing to gather and fellowship together—and we look forward to the day when we experience the fullness of His presence unhindered by space and time. "The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen."

The Charge of the Letter

Whether we lived in the first century or live here in 2009—and I believe the last century—we are called to practice the truth and keep the commandments of God; to protect the truth and guard against the counterfeits, because there are always many deceivers; and to hold a balance of love and truth, because truth without love leads to brutality and love without truth leads to heresy. We do not want to be partakers of either.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for this letter. Although short, it is potent and powerful. Lord, John two thousand years ago desired that the church would be strong, thoroughly equipped for every good work, able to stand upon the truth and declare it boldly. Lord, it is my desire that we living here in Southern California in 2009 would also be strong in Your truth. Help us to sanctify You in our hearts, that we would always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us. Stir us by Your Spirit to study to show ourselves approved, that we not be ashamed—whether when we interact with non-believers or on the day we stand before You—because we have rightly divided Your word of truth. Plant Your truth deep in our hearts, and as it is watered by Your Spirit, let it grow and produce fruit in our lives. I pray that my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters would be fruitful for You in everything we say and do. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen.