Truth in Love: A Study of 2 John (Part 4)

We must love in truth because deception abounds.  This is the message John was wanting to deposit to this local church, and one which through the ages remains essential to the people of God.  This balance is something that evangelicalism struggles to strike.  Some value truth, but do so with cold hearts (think of the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2).  Others love, with a loosey-goosey grip on the central truths of the gospel.  Once one is lost, so is the other.

John had just finished warning the church to watch out for false teaching, and continues in this vain. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  Obviously new teachings had entered into these churches.  Christianity has never been about adapting to the new or to fads.  He calls them back to Christ's teaching.  Teaching that has authority.  To reject these teachings was to reject God himself.

These teaches may have started out as orthodox, but one of things we see in the ministry of the apostles, if we look, is that many of their best and brightest wandered. Demas left Paul, in love with the world (2 Timothy 4:10).  These men left John for a fad- and by doing so had forsaken Christ himself.  So many in our culture have chosen popularity over the gospel- may we not do the same. John is clear with this heavy warning.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

To our 21st century eyes, this makes us sit up straight in our seat.  "Wait, we're not supposed to welcome them in?"  A few things need to be said in way of background.  First, the church or churches John is writing to most likely met in houses.  So, to welcome someone into your house was not saying not to have them over for dinner, but to welcome to them into the body as a brother.  IT assumed them to be a true Christian. Second, the first century gathering was not a place to reach unbelievers but a place to equip believers.  In the first century, death would await the Christians who gathered, so these Christian worship gatherings were not a place to invite their Pagans neighbors who would have had them arrested and/or killed.

So, to invite someone into your house was to welcome them fully as a trusted member of the body.  But, those who do not abide the teaching of Christ should not be given that welcome.  They are not brothers, they are enemies of the teaching of Christ, and could possibly sell these First Century Christians into the hands of the Romans.  Also, to fully embrace them as a brother or sister would mean to fully embrace their false teachings about Jesus which is dangerous for them, but false teaching is also to the congregation.  As Paul writes, sound doctrine saves both the believer and their hearers (1 Timothy 4:16).  It was for the sake of love and the sake of the truth that they did not welcome false teachers into the body.

John loved these people, as is clear as he closes his letter to them.  He has so much he would like to say, but he can't.  His joy would not be complete until they see each other face to face.  As the last two verses read,

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sister greet you.

Love and truth bind us together and create joy-filled community.  Of all John could have said in his epistle, their are certain things he just desired to say to their face!  Nothing can replace the local church in John's heart.  Even if he could have live-streamed the gathering, it would not be a proper replacement for being bodily present in the gathering!  His love for the truth was a desire for their joy.  Deception abounds which seeks to kill our joy, but the local church exists that we our hearts may be on fire with love for God, and our minds might be captivated with the wonderful truth of Himself.  The local church is not an option for the Christian, it was not seen as an option for John, but it existed that we may love and treasure God more- for our joy and His glory.

Truth in Love: A Study of 2 John (Part 3)

John is writing this letter to spur the church on toward loving others in truth.  He takes a sharp turn in verse 7 to tell us why this is such a necessity for believers.  “For many deceivers have gone out into the world…”  We are to love in truth because deception abounds.  We need to notice that John’s warning is not a new warning.  The Spirit has been issuing this warning from the very beginning.  In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth without sin.  He created man and woman in His image to live and propagate His glory in all the earth.  God gave one command- do not eat from the tree of the in the center of the garden.  Many find this to be a silly command, but if we think from Adam and Eve’s perspective, disobedience in actually the stupid action.  Adam and Eve could have everything in all of God’s creation except the fruit from one tree.  He even issued that there were consequences for their actions, if they eat of it, they will die.  If you had a nut allergy, why would you give up a steak for a cashew?  Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent and fell to choose cashews over stake.

Why is this significant?  Because just as the deceiver tempted the lady in the Garden, so the deceiver tempts the “elect lady” (the church) to choose cashews over stake.  The devil’s promises are always cashews compared to the four course meal of God’s promises.  The story remains the same for the church today.  What is one of the deceiver’s primary deceptions?  It isn’t found in eating a fruit, but in  forsaking the identity of Jesus Christ.

“…those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”  One of the primary deceptions of the devil is doctrinal, specifically Christological.  The person of God is always under the direct attack by the serpent.  His question to Eve, “Did God really say…?” echoes today, saying, “Did Jesus really say…?”  First, this shows the supremacy of Jesus.  Why would Satan go after something that wasn’t supreme?  Second, this shows us the necessity of doctrine.  We must feed our people on the meat of the Word- because that is the food Satan wants to swap out for salty snacks!  Notice what is being denied in this letter by John- the humanity of Jesus.  Not just His past humanity, but the Greek denotes the action continuing to take place.  Jesus Christ has come and lingers in the flesh.  Satan takes joy in taking split hairs if splitting hairs involved splitting salvation from man, and God’s glory from Himself.  Jesus Christ is human, and His humanity is central to the gospel, because if Christ is not fully human, He cannot be our perfect substitute.  Christ must also remain human to be able to sympathize with us as a high priest (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:16-18).  By splitting this hair, our salvation is lost.

We need Bible teachers who will split the hairs and deeply love the tiniest truths about the person of Christ because the deepest truths of Christ are what Satan and his false teachers hate the most.  We are commanded then to “Watch ourselves” against such “deceivers and antichrists.”  The former describes the false teacher’s relationship to us, the second their relationship to God (opposed to Christ).  To be opposed to the teaching of Christ is to oppose himself, and this we must stand on truth.  Truth matters.  Love must also not be forgotten for love is what drives us to watch ourselves.

The central point of 2 John begins to form- we must love in truth because deception abounds.  There is much on the line in John’s command.  We must watch the doctrine of ourselves and those around us because our reward is on the line.  “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.”  The glories of our reward in Christ are on the line, and thus if we love people we will speak to them in their deception.  Eternity is on the line, and thus we must love those around us who are caught in deception and with the truth point them to eternal reward.  The reward which our Savior defines as the joy of the Master- the eternal joy God has had within Himself for all eternity.  How can we not open our mouths and in love speak the truth when deception is holding back these treasures and offering false promises?  False promises which, I remind you, lead to eternal destruction and not eternal life (Jude 5-8, 23).  Let us love people because deception abounds- and eternity is on the line.

We will conclude our study through 2 John in the next post.

Truth in Love: A Study in 2 John (Week 1)

Not sure how I feel about this,
but it will work for this short series. =)

Size matters.  When we are buying clothes, we want clothes of a certain size.  When we are buying food, we want a certain size.  In fact, in the case of the latter, bigger is often better.  I fear we as Christians take this ideal to our Bibles.  The bigger books are not more important.  The bigger books do not contain “deeper truth.”  We often put the shorter books of the Bible on the back shelf for the days we oversleep and need to get our “quiet time” in.  But, if we slow down in these books, and allow the Spirit speak, we will discover God can say much with very little. 

I discovered this recently as I was studying the book of 2 John.  Over the next few posts we will be diving into this wonderful letter from the apostle John.  Today we will introduce it by looking at the author, the audience, and the affection of the letter.

John begins by referring to himself as “the elder.”  A term which obviously would denote age, along with it authority, respect, and wisdom.  John is known to not use his name in his writings (the only time he does is once in the book of Revelation), which I denote as a sign of humility.  In 1 John he remains unnamed, 3 John he is “the Elder” and in the gospel he is “the one whom Jesus loved.”  John seems to desire to exercise his authority, while getting his identity out of the way.

Another important thing to note in his opening is his audience.  “…to the elect lady and her children.”  Commentators are divided on who exactly this lady is.  John MacArthur and Matthew Henry both comment that John is writing to a godly matron (perhaps one who hosts a church in her home) desiring to encourage her in the face of false teachers.  Others argue that John is using the language of a “lady” and “her children” to denote a local church.  Four reasons I take the latter view:

1) John uses the image of the church in feminine terms in his writings (Revelation 21:2).  Also, throughout his first letter John refers to believers as “children.”
2)  It is very odd for John to command a woman and children to “love one another.”  This seems to fit better with the idea of a church.
3) Commentators note that John is using the second person plural throughout his letter.  Thus he is writing to many people who were able to understand his words (and thus “children” could not have been primarily in view).
4) The last verses of 2 John seem to denote children of an “Elect sister” language which fits a church better.  Notice, the children greet the lady, not the sister. 

All this seems to point to the fact that John has the local church in view.

Looking at the author, then the audience, we can jump into the rest of his greeting which is focused on his affection.  He writes of his “love” for the church “in truth” and this love is not simply his, but “also all who know the truth.”  Truth and love are at the heart of John’s message in this letter.  In fact, John is communicating that Christian love is always defined by truth.  One does not exist without the other.  Even when John states the reason for his love, it is “because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.”  Christian love is not based on social class, or race, or economic level.  Christian love is based on eternal unchanging truth.   We’ll close by looking further at why this is.

First, our relationship to God is based on love and truth.  Look in verse 3.  “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.”  

The little words are important here.  First we must notice that grace, mercy, and peace come from God (both the Father and the Son).  These promises only come by the Father and through Christ.  Without them none of these blessings are yours.  Second, we notice that they “will be with us.”  Future tense.  God’s unmerited favor, his unconditional forgiveness, and his incomparable peace are not simply realities for this moment, but reach forward into every step we take.  Not a moment for the Christian is without access to grace, mercy, and peace.  Thirdly, we must notice the means by which we access these gifts.  “In truth and love.”  The means of truth and love are how we access God’s infinite well of grace, mercy, and peace.  Truth and love are continuous means of accessing the gospel treasures of grace, mercy, and peace.  Truth and love bind us to God, but they also bind us together.

Notice, in closing, verse 1 again.  If the “lady” is the church, and the “children” are the congregation, than certainly all Christians share the same identity together. We are all children together.  Each of us have received grace, mercy, and peace through the Christ, so that we as fellow children can extend grace, mercy, and peace to each other.  We love each other in truth- yes perfectly- but we do so grounded in our identity as children.  This means Christian community should expect imperfection.  It should be the hallmark of Christian community- we haven’t got it all together yet.  Also, notice the sort of commitment this should give us to the local church.  We are children together of God and of “the elect lady” the church.  Sure, mistakes will be made, people may mistake “care” for many other things, but truth stands and unites and love emboldens us to go forward both in our relationship with God, and our relationship together.

Continue with me the next three Mondays as we continue through this amazing letter from John.

A Message From D.L. Moody to the Lost:

“I have no doubt that those who would not pray when the ark was being built, prayed when the Flood came; but their prayer was not answered. I have no doubt that when Lot went out of Sodom, Sodom cried to God; but it was too late, and God’s judgment swept them from the earth. My friend, it is not too late now, but it may be at twelve o’clock tonight. I cannot find any place in the Bible where it says you may call tomorrow. I am not justified in saying that. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’”

Good Friday

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering, 

yet we considered him punished by God, 

stricken by him, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, 

he was crushed for our iniquities; 

the punishment that brought us peace was on him, 

and by his wounds we are healed. 

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 

each of us has turned to our own way; 

and the LORD has laid on him 

the iniquity of us all. ~Isaiah 53:4-6 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." ~John 3:16

Today's Verse for April 4th, 2012:

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
~John 15:13

Above is a short message from Tony Miano, if you get time, check it out!

Today's Post For April 3 2012

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
~ 1 John 4:10

Live Loved.

Adventures In Apologetics: What Does It Mean To "Honor Your Parents"?

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." ~Exodus 20:12

As a Christian, I understand that the Ten Commandments are a mirror meant to show our desperate sinfulness and need for a Savior, and as a teenager, I understand the the meaning of everyone of them....except this one!?

What exactly does it mean to "honor" our parents, and what do Jesus mean when He says that we must "hate our parents" to follow Him?

Well, the think the answer too all question of Scripture questions should start in Scripture itself.  What does the Word really say?

Happy Valentines Day!

Image from:
http://www.fernerb.com/images/GodsValentinePicture_HeartWithJohn3-16.jpg

 Check out this post from one year ago today about Valentines Day!

It feels so long ago and I've grown so much since I wrote it...

If someone were to ask me, “What was one word to sum up the last couple weeks of my life?” I would emphasize one word; SNOW! Yes, snow, we’ve been spending the last several weeks of school on edge as to whether or not they will close and today, we were sent out in the freshly dusted world an hour early.

With all this going it’s hard to remember the scariest day of the year for guys everywhere…Valentine’s Day. “Oh, what am I going to get her?” “Please, don’t say anything stupid.” “Aw, she’ll love me even if I don’t get her anything.” Guys don’t forget love is shown through works! Our love can only be shown through what we do and how we live our lives. This is similar with God and how our relationship stands with Him.......

Flexing Our Mercy Muscles: When Loving Others Begins To Cause A Strain (Part 1)

Mercy-- "kindness and forgiveness, especially when given to a person who doesn't deserve it"

We all know those people.  It almost doesn't matter what they do, but they seem to find someway to irrate every person in the room.  It makes you wonder if they didn't have sort of spirtual gift for it.

Every person, as one time or another, has met someone who has caused them to wonder, "How can I love this person?"


Sometimes it's the lady at the cash register who decides that, because they hate there job, they will share there bad attitude with everyone who is fortunite (or unfortunite) enough to visit there check out that day.


Or it is the old guy driving slow in the fast lane. 


Or maybe it's the workers in the restraunt who have returned your food wrong three times.


We all know people who have hurt us.


Who have broken our hearts.


And who we haven't been able to forgive.


These are not only times that test our patience but cause too flex our mercy muscles.


We are easy to forget the patience and mercy God has shown to us when we are faced with trying situations.  (myself included)


We talk about this in multiple parts.  Today we will look alittle at what Paul says about mercy.

In Remembrance...

"This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!'"  ~Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963

"Cause if you don't respect her when she says no,
you certainly don't love her.
So start studying her heart, and stop studying her booty,
Or maybe invert the same amount of time in her, that you do Call of Duty..."