2 John - Introduction

2 John - Introduction

This short letter says it comes from “the Elder” John  is believed to have functioned as an elder in the Ephesian church. The recipients are referred to as “the lady chosen by God”. The author is John the apostle, there are a number of similarities to 1 John, so it is reasonable to assume the same author.It was probably written about the same time.

At the time there were travelling preachers and teachers, both Christian and gnostic types. The natural instinct was to be hospitable, but John urges them to show some discernment. Jesus told His disciples to be “innocent as doves, but as shrewd as serpents” (Matt 10:16), we are not meant to be naive fools!

1 John 5:18-21 Born of God

5:18-21

Anyone born of God does not continue to sin. Now John is not arguing for sinless perfectionism, but anyone who still rejoices in sin and advocates sinful behaviour is not born of God. On a more positive note the one born of God is kept safe by Him, and the evil one cannot harm them.  False teachers may be pretending to offer some extra form of protection. But in Christ we have all the protection we need. We are children of God, and the world is under the control of the evil one. So we need to appreciate the truth of the situation. Moreover, the son of God “has given us understanding”. Some false teachers may claim to be oh so clever and to belittle our understanding. We should not listen to them, for Christ has given us understanding. He has enabled us to know God.

John closes his letter with a warning “keep yourselves from idols”. I think it was Calvin who said the human heart is an idol factory. We have great propensity to make idols out of anything.

1 John 5:13-17 - Confidence and the seriousness of sin

5:13-15

John reassures his readers that he is writing these things to them because they do believe in the Son of God, and so that they “may know that they have eternal life”. We need to teach our congregations, but we also need to reassure and encourage them. This also means that we can approach God with confidence in prayer, knowing that He hears us. 

5:16,17

If we see a fellow believer sin, that does not lead to death, we should not condemn them, but pray for them, pray that God will give them life. What is “sin that leads to death”? It could mean that if the person dies we should not pray for them, or it could refer to persistent wilful sin. Either way there is a recognition that sin can have terminal consequences.

1 John 5:6-8 - water and blood

5:6-8

“Who came by water and blood”, water possibly refers to baptism, or possibly it refers to natural birth, blood refers to the cross. Taking the baptism and cross it refers to the beginning of His ministry, and the cross to the end, taking the birth and cross combination, it refers to his humanity and death. I personally think the latter fits the context better. John then says that there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and they are in agreement. All three are vital, and to deny any one of them is to deny everything. The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus, he is fully human (the incarnation), and He shed His  blood on the cross for our sakes. 

1 John 5:1-5 - Loving the Father and the Son

5:1-3

Loving the Father and loving the Son are one and the same thing, they are inseparable, you cannot claim to love one and not the other. Some who do not love God claim to love Him and His children, but the only way to truly love people is to love God and carry out His commands. Loving God and obeying His commands go together and are inseparable. Jesus spoke about loving Him and obeying His teaching (John 14:23).

5:4,5

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world”. The world is opposed to God, so we face opposition, but if we are born of God we overcome the world. We overcome the world by believing that Jesus is the Son of God, not by going along with the world. Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is crucial.

1 John 4:13-21 - Love

4:13-16

The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. He assures us that we live in Him. Acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God is a crucial sign too. Jesus is the focus of all the Father’s plans, so we testify that the Father sent His Son to be the saviour of the world. “So we know and rely on the love God has for us”. What we believe matters, but it is also a relationship, a love relationship with God.

4:17,18

We will have confidence on the day of judgement because of God’s love for us. False teachers often rely on fear, but perfect love drives out fear. “Fear has to do with punishment”. The cross has paid the price for us, Jesus took on Himself the punishment that should have been ours, so we have no fear. God’s love drives out fear.

4:19-21

God’s love for us is the starting point, we love in response to His love for us. Again John points out that hating a brother or sister is incompatible with loving God. How can we say we love God who is unseen if we do not love a brother or sister who we can see?

1 John 4:7-12 - This is love

4:7-12

Love comes from God. This is one of the arguments for the Trinity, for it is because God exists as three persons that love could exist between these persons. So love if we are born of God. Conversely if we do not love then any claim to know God is spurious. The supreme demonstration of His love for us was His sending of His son, so that we “might live through Him”. The Son was sent as an atoning sacrifice. There are some ignorant people who refer to this as “cosmic child abuse”, but such people only demonstrate their own stupidity and ignorance. The Father and Son were in complete agreement. God’s love for us is the starting point, any love we have for Him followed on from that. We also ought to love one another. Love is the essential proof that God lives in us.