2 Books!
The day has come! Today we
shall read and reflect on two whole books of the Bible! LOL.
In total, we’ll cover 28 verses.
The letters of 2 John and 3 John are short, but they have several very
significant points within them.
As for authorship, date, and audience we don’t have many
answers. Church tradition asserts that
the author is John the apostle, but that position is fairly tenuous. As for audience, the first letter seems to be
addressed to a certain woman and her children.
However, just as the word “kyrios” in Greek means “lord” but with many
meanings, so the word “kyria” in the Greek means “lady” but with many
meanings. Is it a single lady? Is it a governing body that is ruling over
the church? Is it a congregation that is
leading a larger group of collected believers?
We don’t really know. The second
letter appears to be addressed to Gaius, which is a proper name. We don’t know anything about Gaius,
however. As to the date, most people
believe these letters were written in the late first century – but that is
admittedly a large window of time. The
truth is that we honestly don’t know too much about the authorship of these
letters.
Abiding in Love
John’s first point in 2 John is quick and easy. Walk in love.
In other words, let love rule your actions, thoughts, and speech. We are a people who are rooted in love. God’s love was showered upon us in the person
of Jesus Christ; we then should respond by showering God’s love into the world.
John also speaks of truth.
Living out our love is truth. The
world is self-centered and in many places self-consumed. The world is living a lie. On the other hand, love is selfless. Love puts others before the self – as seen in
Jesus Christ. This is the truth that
counters the lie of the world. Live in selfless
love and you live in truth.
False Teachers
Here we pick up another theme that was actually quite important in
1 John. False teachers abounded in the
early church. Who am I kidding? False teachers abound in the modern
church! False teaching is an ever-present
danger. Where there are humans, there is
the possibility for corruption. Even well-meaning
followers of God can stray from the path once and a while.
How do we spot a false teacher? False teachers twist the Word of God. False teachers find a way to say, “Here’s
what the Word says, but this is really what it meant to say.” {Note
the fundamental difference between this and explaining the text through
historical context. It is one thing to
put the text in context. It is another
thing to imply what the text meant to say.}
False teachers find a way to make that claim in a way that you sit back
and think that what they are saying just might actually make sense. That’s the danger of false teaching.
So what is the danger of the false teacher? The danger is very real. The danger is that we follow the teacher out
of the realm of salvation. When we stray
from the Word of God, we could actually find ourselves straying from God’s
grace. We could find ourselves preaching
a Gospel different than the one that humbly calls us in repentance to the
throne of God. We could find ourselves
proclaiming something other than our need to always turn to the blood of Christ
for salvation. The danger is very real.
Gaius
In 3 John, we have a letter written largely to support a faithful
person named Gaius. There are two things
that seem to make Gaius worthy of praise.
He is hospitable; he is discerning.
These two things go hand in hand.
In order to discern, you must know it fully. In order to discern the truth about others,
you must know them fully. In order to
know them fully, you must give of your time and yourself. In other words, in order to truly discern you
typically have to invite them into your life.
Hospitality and discernment often go hand in hand together.
Of course, as we discern we are led back to hospitality. Those whom we discern as being true we should
want to invite even more deeply into our lives.
As we discern, our relationship should grow towards those who are true. Discernment helps bring about greater
hospitality.
Two Warnings
John then adds a pair of warnings.
The first warning is to be cautious of those who oppose genuine
authority. In fact, John gives us a
glimpse of why people like to oppose genuine authority: self-centeredness. Diotrephes likes to put himself first and
thus is missing the authority of John.
Here we find a truthful warning about leadership. True leadership will bow to genuine authority
– especially the Word of God. Be careful
when you find someone who doesn’t like to bow to truth and those who speak it.
The second warning is about doing evil. This is a perpetual warning. When we live in the world there is temptation
to do evil. It’s just human nature. But when we discern where goodness is, we
should embrace it and imitate it. The more
time we spend imitating good we have naturally less time to spend embracing
evil.
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