2 John
Author: John
The elder writes to the elect lady and her children, urging them to walk in truth and love and not to receive deceivers.
Outline
Truth and love (1–6)
The elder rejoices that her children walk in truth and asks that they love one another.
The deceivers (7–11)
Many deceivers deny that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and the household is not to bid them Godspeed.
A visit instead of paper (12–13)
He has many things to say and hopes to speak face to face, so that their joy may be full.
Key verses
2 John 1:6
This is love, that they walk after his commandments.
2 John 1:7
The deceiver and the antichrist is the one who denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
2 John 1:10
If someone comes and does not bring this doctrine, they are not to receive him into the house.
Second John is short enough to fit on a single sheet, and it uses the shortness. 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 dwells 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. Whether the elect lady is a person or a way of naming a church, the letter treats her household as a real place where teachers arrive and ask to be received. The greeting already joins the two words the rest of the note will refuse to split. Truth and love are not alternate moods. They are the air of the greeting.
The elder rejoices greatly that he found of her children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. The joy is specific. It is not that the household is famous, or large, or untroubled. It is that some of the children are walking in the truth that was received. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. Love is defined before it can be used as a reason to welcome anyone. Walking after his commandments is what the word means in this letter. A household that wants to be loving and does not want to ask what was commanded from the beginning has already left the elder’s vocabulary.
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. The test is the same one First John stated at more length. A teacher who will not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not offering a deeper spirituality. He is the deceiver the church was told to expect. The practical rule follows at once, because the letter is about a door. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Hospitality is a Christian duty in the other letters of this collection. Here it is limited, because a greeting can function as a partnership. To wish a false teacher well on his way is to share the work he is doing in the next town. The elder does not ask the lady to be cruel to strangers. He asks her not to lend her house and her blessing to a denial of the incarnation.
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. The children of thy elect sister greet thee. The unfinished sentences are part of the letter’s point. Paper is enough for the warning and not enough for the fellowship. He will come if he can. Until then the rule is portable. Walk in the commandment you had from the beginning. Love is that walk. And when a teacher arrives who will not say that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, do not make his journey easier. Second John is the small letter that keeps a household from confusing courtesy with agreement, written by an elder who still hopes to say the rest in person.