A Study Through the Letters of Johnنموونە

Day 9: Loving in Truth

(Read 2 John)

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— because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 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. 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.

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. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 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. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.

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.

The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.

Reflection on the passage:

I can still picture the way my older cousin Tom’s handwriting looked on the standard plain stationary he always used for writing letters. During my young adult years, God used Tom as an important spiritual influence on my life. He had a particular spiritual gift of speaking truth. Knowing that he cared about and understood me, I would write him about my struggles with spiritual dryness and doubt. In reading his replies, I experienced him loving me by taking my questions seriously, being authentic about his own struggles, and communicating truths to me. In a similar way, the apostle John wrote his second letter “to the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth”.

We don’t know for certain whether John was writing this letter literally to one woman and her children, or whether this was a metaphor for a local church. Perhaps he was protecting this church’s identity in a time of persecution. Either way this letter echoes some of the same themes as 1 John, and particularly expresses the beautiful connection between truth and love. He writes about the truth being in us and with us forever and about God’s “grace, mercy, and peace” being “with us in truth and love”. He exhorts us to “walk in the truth” and “walk in love,” both of which are connected to following Christ’s command to love one another. For John, truth is not just an abstraction. It's personal, because Truth is embodied in the Person of Christ, who is Love.

Out of love for the people of God, John draws protective boundaries with the truth. The false teachers that John referred to in the previous letter are referenced here again. Rather than continue in Christ’s teachings, these “antichrists” had “run ahead” and gone off course in their teaching. To protect the dear children of God, vulnerable to deception, he warns them not to welcome the false teachers into their home.

John then warmly concludes that he would prefer to say more in person, rather than via paper and ink. As much as I looked forward to the letters from my cousin, in-person conversations were even better! May we be Christ’s agents of truth and love to the dear ones God placed in our lives.

Focus verse for prayerful reflection:

Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.” (2 John 1:8)

1. Reflect on how the gospel has been passed on to you, beginning with the first apostles, including John. Who are the people who have personally passed down the truths of our faith to you?

2. In what ways have you not only received these essential truths, but continued in them and passed them on?

For further reading:

Read Ephesians 4:11-16 to see how Paul addresses the topics of deception, truth, and love.