Truth and Love Walk Hand in Hand

Truth and love: Two sides of the Christian life. This second letter from John is a personal greeting to help a generous woman and the local church express love within the boundaries of truth.

In his opening greeting, John adopts a little phrase that grabs our attention. “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.”

If we understand these three important words—love, mercy, and grace—we can grasp the beauty of our whole Christian life. In their subtle differences, we discover God’s work on our behalf.

First, God is love. It’s who He is, yet His love never saved a sinner. Instead, it causes Him to exercise mercy and grace (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Because God is love, He, by mercy, provides for the need of sinful man. In mercy, all the demands of holiness have been satisfied in Jesus Christ’s work on our behalf. Now God is free to act in grace. He comes to you, a lost sinner, and says, “I love you and have provided by My mercy a Savior for you.”

Our salvation expresses not only God’s love but also His justice and righteousness. We not only need John 3:16 but also Romans 3:26. “To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Because God is just and righteous, His mercy provides a Savior—all because He loves you.

Therefore, John can now write, “Grace be with you”—that is how God saves you. “Mercy”—mercy provided a Savior. “And peace”—when you have all this, God’s peace goes beyond what we can understand and will keep your heart secure.

This is a timeless truth. It won’t ever change. John celebrates how his “children” order their lives by the Word of God and love each other. John says this is the commandment we’ve had from the beginning.

Here we have it: Walk in truth and love each other. What may sometimes feel like objective opposites is the balance we need today in the church. And how do we express His love through our lives? We “walk according to His commandments.” Does He mean His Ten Commandments? Well, that’s a starting point. But the Christian is called to a higher plane where we are to produce, with the Spirit’s empowerment, His love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. If these things are in us, we are walking after His commandments. Take a close look at your life. Are they there?

Loving people this way is sidewalk salvation—it walks down the street. Remember, the people reading this lived in a cruel and pagan Roman world. Bloody Emperor Nero persecuted Christians. Yet, men and women walked down Roman roads, living after God’s commandments. They translated the gospel into life. We need this same kind of obedience from love in our day.

“This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” In other words, this commandment isn’t new. The Lord Jesus taught this. Now let’s get busy and walk in it.

Next: A warning about antichrists.