2nd John
“A Few Last Thoughts”
Introduction to 2 John
In the 1st century A.D., the early church experienced incredible growth and spread throughout the world at that time (Act 8:5; Rom 10:14-18; Col 1:5-6,23).
Several factors contributed to this spread of the gospel…
• Paul and the Apostles were able to travel and depend upon Christians opening their homes to them—Phm 1:22
• He encouraged Christians to support those who were teachers of good things – Gal 6:6
• John commended and encouraged those who provided lodging and support for traveling missionaries – 3Jo 1:5-8
However, showing such hospitality was not without its potential for supporting the spread of false teachers and their doctrines. It was often too easy for teachers of error to take advantage of the Christian’s hospitality to strangers.
Thus it was necessary to counsel Christians to use proper discernment in sending traveling teachers on their way.
The Second Epistle of John, consisting of just one chapter, addresses this very problem.
AUTHOR
The author identifies himself as “The Elder”, believed by most scholars to be the apostle John.
The internal evidence that supports this conclusion:
• The three epistles attributed to John use much of the same language and ideas
• All three have similar concepts and language that we find in the Gospel of John
• The term “elder” would be a fitting description of John as the author writing in his old age
As for external evidence, Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp (who in turn was an associate of John), quotes from it and mentions the apostle John by name. Both Clement of Alexandria and Dionysius, living in the third century A.D., also credit John with being the author.
RECIPIENTS
The epistle is addressed to “the elect lady and her children.” Taken literally, the epistle is written to a particular woman and her children. Many scholars understand this to be the case.
Some have even supposed the Greek words for “elect lady” may refer to given names, such as: Electa the Lady, The chosen Kyria, Electa Kyria.
Taken figuratively, it could refer to a local church. Some scholars believe that “elect lady and her children” (2Jo 1:1) and “children of your elect sister” (2Jo 1:13) refer to two particular congregations.
But as we teach here at Turning Point, “If the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.”
Our belief that the most obvious meaning of Scripture is the most correct meaning, so here we hold to the literal view.
PLACE AND DATE
Ephesus is usually suggested as the location from which John wrote this epistle, as he was known to live there in the later years of his life. Estimation of the date of writing varies widely, some placing it before the destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.). Most however place it around 90-95 A.D.
PURPOSE AND THEME
In such a short letter, the purpose is straightforward and twofold:
• Encourage brotherly love, and keeping the commandments of God – 2Jo 1:5-6
• Warn against supporting or encouraging false teachers – 2Jo 1:10-11
Based on 2Jo 1:7, the false teachers were likely the Gnostics we’ve already discussed. The theme of the book in a nutshell is: Walking in truth and love!
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So let’s dive in and see what the elder John has to say as directed by the Holy Spirit! Greeting:
First, the Elder’s Love (2Jo 1:1-3)
“1 The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, 2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”
Both John and the Apostle Paul love this trilogy of words—grace, mercy, and peace—and use it often in their greetings. Paul uses either “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” or “grace, mercy, and peace from the God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”
And here John uses the same trilogy to greet this family of believers.
And the order of the words is intentional—GRACE (undeserved favor) leads to MERCY (God’s forgiveness), and mercy leads to PEACE (with God thru salvation.)
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Then we see what brings joy to John’s heart:
Vs. 4 “I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.”
Nothing thrills a Christian parent’s heart more than to see their children walking in the truth found in Scripture!
Interestingly, the word he uses for “found” is εὕρηκa—eureka!
To walk in the truth is to walk in safety, soundness of thought, and certain salvation, so no wonder John was thrilled to find it in the good woman’s children!
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The happy discovery leads him to make a request:
Vs 5-6 “And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”
This is soooo John, whose constant mantra is for God’s children to walk in love.
So it for sure is not a new commandment, but is the one commandment left us by our Lord:
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Moses gave Ten Commandments, Jesus gave one, yet in this one commandment, all the others are fulfilled!
Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
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And LOVE is proven genuine by the resolve to walk in His commandments.
“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”
And John is only echoing Jesus, who said:
John 14:23 “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
And in 1st John we read, “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”
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Then John’s request leads to a concern:
Vs. 7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
Here again he seems to be pointing to the Gnostics, but not JUST the Gnostics—deceivers come in many disguises wearing many masks!
For the fourth and last time in his letters John uses the term antichrist. Three times in 1 John and once here in 2 John. The term means to actively, strenuously resist, stand up against, and vehemently reject the real Christ.
Although the term is only found in first and second John, the concept along with other descriptive words is all throughout the NT.
Antichrist is also called:
• The man of lawlessness: 2 Thes 2:3
• The son of perdition: 2 Thes. 2:3
• The Little Horn: Daniel 7:8, 8:9
• The Vile Person: Daniel 11:21
Now, in his first letter, John reminds them that “You have heard that the Antichrist (singular) is coming, yet even now many antichrists have come, by which we know it is the last hour.”—2:18
So John talks about a singular, capital “A” antichrist, and about many small “a” antichrist types.
And he mentions a “spirit of antichrist” in 1 John 4:3
His point to the elect lady and by default to all of us is that the spirit of antichrist that resists and hates Jesus Christ is already in the world manifesting through people that have become animated by it!
And he doesn’t want her or her children to be deceived by it! So he warns her in vs. 8:
“Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”
The Message paraphrase words it like this: “And be very careful around them (false teachers) so you don’t lose out on what we’ve worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you.”
The idea is, that they should be particularly on their guard, and that their first concern should be to protect their own hearts, so that they should not succumb to the dangerous attacks of error.
For the danger is that they might lose some of the reward they might have had in heaven!
1 Cor. 3 tells us plainly that every believer in Christ will go before the “Bema” or judgment seat of Christ where our works will be tested.
Our works are how we served Christ while on this earth.
They will be tried by the fire of God’s piercing scrutiny.
If our works were to His glory in obedience to Him, “he will receive a reward.”—1 Cor. 3:14
But “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved…”—vs 15
This is the great danger of false teachers and deceivers—they can literally rob you of eternal rewards if you buy their lies!
Col 2:8 “Don’t let anyone capture you (like a predator carries away its prey) with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers[a] of this world, rather than from Christ.
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Then John advises how to handle these antichrist type false teachers:
Vs. 10-11 “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.”
People in our day would say, “That’s not very loving! You shouldn’t treat people that way!”
But there are times in life when we must deal severely and decisively with sin, and this is one of them!
“If your hand offends you (causes you to stumble) cut it off. And if your eye offends you (causes you to stumble) pluck it out!”
Translated: Deal decisively with anything that threatens your spiritual well-being!
John closes his brief letter with the resolve to see them in person:
Vs. 12-13 “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.”