2 JOHN 1

There appears to be some dispute regarding both the authorship and the recipient of this letter. In both second and third John, John does not refer to himself as an apostle, but as an elder, which has caused some to conclude that the author may not be John the apostle, but another elder named John, perhaps someone who was mentored by the apostle John.

However, as we go through this letter, it should become apparent that the language, the literary style and the doctrinal points of emphasis of first, second and third John are so similar to the gospel of John that I am convinced they all have the same author, the apostle John.

He does not deny his apostleship by refering to himself as an elder. John may have preferred the term elder because he wanted to emphasize his age and pre-eminence in the Christian community. A traditional apostolic ministry sometimes included traveling to build new churches or to visit established ones, and John's ability to travel may have been restricted, perhaps because he was in exile or perhaps due to his advanced age. John may also have functioned in all five of the ministries mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers). Because of the book of Revelation, we know he also held a prophetic office. So he may have preferred the term elder to apostle, because it more accurately depicted the scope of his ministry. In any case, it's unlikely John gave as much thought to his description of himself as many Bible commentaries do, or as I've done here.

There is also some dispute about the recipient of the letter. Some read it literally, as written to a particular woman John was acquainted with, and some read it as symbolic of a particular church community. I tend to read this literally, but I'm not going to spend any time discussing this further, because the rest of the letter would be applicable in either case.

To make the discussion of this letter easier, I'm going to divide this letter into four sections:

verses 1-4
verses 5-6
verses 7-11
verses 12-13

Here is the amplified translation of verses 1-4:

2 John 1:1 "THE ELDERLY elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the elect (chosen) lady (Cyria) and her children, whom I truly love--and not only I but also all who are [progressively] learning to recognize and know and understand the Truth--

2 Because of the Truth which lives and stays on in our hearts and will be with us forever:

3 Grace (spiritual blessing), mercy, and [soul] peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ (the Messiah), the Father's Son, in all sincerity (truth) and love.

4 I was greatly delighted to find some of your children walking (living) in [the] Truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father [Himself]."

There are references to the truth in all four of these verses, which should not surprise us, because there are more references to truth in John's gospel than in the other three gospels combined. Verse 1 says the lady he is writing to is someone he truly loves, as do all who are progressively learning to recognize, know and understand the truth. This concept of truth being continually revealed to believers is similar to John 14:16-17 (NASB) which says:

John 14:16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."

Throughout his writings, John identifies Christians as being recipients of the Spirit of truth who remains in us. Therefore, the truth he speaks about is not dependent on our best guess at truth, our perceptions, or our best efforts to find truth, but on God's character, revelation and power.

Consider also John 15:26-27, John 16:7 and John 16:13-15 (NASB):

John 15:26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

The Spirit of truth comes directly from the Father, causing Jesus to testify about himself and causing us to testify about Jesus.

John 16:7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."

This is an interesting passage, because it actually states that we are in a better position to serve God as Christians with Jesus interceeding for us in heaven and the Spirit residing in us than we would be if Jesus were walking among us and the Spirit had not been given. We may find it hard to believe that the Spirit residing in us is more advantageous for us than Jesus physically walking among us, but Jesus clearly indicates it is so.

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.

15 "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."

In this passage, Jesus speaks about continuously revealed prophetic truth which the Spirit hears from him and the Father.

All of John's letters seem to be highly influenced by what Jesus said during the last supper, by John's last recollections of him before his death. The truths John wants us to acknowledge about Jesus are primarily with regard to his physical incarnation (completely divine, yet completely human), his atonement and his resurrection. Consider the following passages from the NIV:

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

1 John 1:1 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

4 We write this to make our joy complete."

John 19:33 "But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"

37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced.""

John 20:19 "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.""

In these passages, John contradicts the teaching of some that Jesus only had a spiritual existence, and he links joy to the resurrection, receiving the Spirit and bearing witness to the life-giving presence of Jesus.

The Amplified translation of the next section (verses 5 and 6) are shown below:

2 John 1:5 "And now I beg you, lady (Cyria), not as if I were issuing a new charge (injunction or command), but [simply recalling to your mind] the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

6 And what this love consists in is this: that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments (His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching). This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it]."

The love commandment in the above verses echoes the same principles Jesus taught during the last supper, quoted here from the NKJV:

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments."

John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me."

John 15:9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Beginning with this last passage, we see that the Father loves the Son, and the Son has also loved us. He urges us to remain in his love by keeping his commandments, and his primary commandment is to love one another.

Furthermore, Jesus promises that he and his father will come and make their home in us, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, manifesting themselves to us, even though the world around us neither sees him or knows him.

Finally, Jesus gives us a way to judge those around us. Whoever is motivated by love also love him and are keeping his commandments, and those who do not keep his commandments do not love him.

When I was in college, a friend of mine called me once and asked me if I had sent her flowers. Someone had sent her flowers, but had not included a card with the name of the sender. I told her I did not send them, but someone must have had a great idea to send her flowers anonymously. An anonymous person might just want to be nice, whereas someone who identifies himself may be thinking about objectives of their own, marriage, sex, or just having the social status of being seen with an attractive woman. I should acknowledge here that I have sent flowers to women, including my wife, and I have never done so anonymously. Perhaps the person who anonymously sent flowers to my friend was just shy, but perhaps he was motivated by the sort of selfless love which comes from God.

The love John speaks about is always contained in an environment of truth. Where truth does not exist, true love also does not exist. A man may say he loves a woman when he is really only motivated by his own desires for her. But true love always focuses on its recipient, and John would argue further that true love doesn't exist outside of Christ.

John 14:6 (NKJV) "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.""

Outside of the truth of Christ, there may be many forms of love, corrupted in varying degrees by our own desires, but true love only comes from and through Christ.

Most Christians are familiar with the passage below, quoted here from the New English Translation:

John 8:31 "Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples

8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

By contrast, verses 7-11 discuss those who refuse to follow Christ, and how Christians should react to them. These verses are taken from the Amplified translation:

2 John 1:7 "For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist.

8 Look to yourselves (take care) that you may not lose (throw away or destroy) all that we and you have labored for, but that you may [persevere until you] win and receive back a perfect reward [in full].

9 Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.

10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine [is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught], do not receive him [do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him] into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement.

11 For he who wishes him success [who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed] is a partaker in his evil doings."

When John speaks of impostors, seducers, deceivers and false leaders in verse 7, he is referring specifically to those who teach men doctrines which are opposed to the teachings of Christ. It is true that everyone born into Adam's race has lived in opposition to Christ, but I don't believe John is indicating in verses 10 and 11 that we ought not to allow non-Christians into our homes. To the contrary, this verse is probably addressed to those who once professed allegiance to Christ and later advocated another teaching, or at least to those who are teaching something contrary to the gospel in the hope that others will follow their example. Because most early Christians met in house churches, John may have been especially concerned about the possibility that some of these gatherings might allow those who had departed from or rejected the faith to teach in their assemblies.

Some of those we know who are unsaved have deliberately turned their backs on God in resolute defiance. But many of the unsaved are like the prodigal son, the lost sheep or the lost coin described in Luke 15. Clearly John does not want us to reject these, since God himself is searching for them and longing for their salvation.

Verses 8 and 9 encourage us to persevere and remain faithful to Christ, so that we can both continue to enjoy God's presence in our lives and look forward to God's eternal reward.

One interesting translation of verse 9 is found in the New American Bible, which is a popular Catholic version of the New Testament.

2 John 1:9 "Anyone who is so "progressive" as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

This translation differs slightly from most versions, but it is interesting because of its use of the word progressive. In contemporary American society, people who describe themselves as progressive tend to advocate homosexuality, heterosexuality outside of marriage, abortion, the legalization of drugs, a gay clergy, prohibition of various foods, and other doctrines which are in opposition to the teachings of the Bible. Those who call themselves progressives are typically among the most hardened opponents of Christ. Not being content with what Christ taught and going ahead with something new is very common today, and it has infiltrated many churches.

2 John 1:12 "I have many things to write to you, but I prefer not to do so with paper and ink; I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect (chosen) sister wish to be remembered to you. Amen (so be it)."

I don't have much to say about these final two verses, which are from the Amplified translation. Some believe both second and third John are this length, because of the size of the parchment John wrote on during his lifetime. We have no such limitations today, and writing for us is much less time-consuming than it would have been for John.

In the gospel of John, chapters 13-17 give us the longest glimpse we have of what it is like to be with Christ, his view of the church age and his high priestly prayer. Those chapters are well worth returning to often, and this letter echoes much of that material.