2 John Introduction
Introduction
The Second Epistle of John is a very brief letter of only thirteen verses. It is addressed to “the elect lady and her children,” which most interpreters have understood to be a way of referring to a Christian congregation and its members. Continuing the same concerns taken up in 1 John, this letter urges these Christians to remain firm in the true faith and to love one another (verse 5). This is not a new commandment, the author reminds the readers. It is the commandment “ye have heard from the beginning” (verse 6) from the Lord Jesus Christ himself (John 15.12). The readers are also warned about the false teachers who deny the bodily reality of Jesus' incarnation (verse 7) and concludes by urging them to be strong and steadfast in the true faith.
Outline
Greetings (1-3)
Obeying the Truth and Living in Love (4-11)
Final Words (12-13)
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2 John Introduction: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
2 John Intro
Intro
The same person who wrote 1 John to encourage believers also found it necessary to write to other churches where the false teachers might go to spread their ideas and practices. The letter of 2 John addresses one such gathering, referring to the church as a lady and its members as her children. The author describes the members of his own community as the children of your sister. (This was apparently typical of early followers of Jesus; there is a similar greeting at the end of 1 Peter.) He identifies himself as a church leader by using the title elder.
Apparently some people from this church had just come to visit him and he was pleased to learn that they were walking in the truth. He warns the church not to support the false teachers in any way. Despite its brevity, this letter expresses all of the themes that receive deeper development in 1 John.
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