2 John 1:1-13
Author: Unlike most NT letters, 1, 2 & 3 John do not tell
us who its author is. The early church fathers: Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria,
Tertullian and Origen all recognized the writer as the apostle John. The description of the heretics as
antichrists, liars and children of the devil is consistent with Jesus’
characterization of John as a son of thunder.
Date: The letter is difficult to date with
precision, but likely somewhere between a.d. 85 and 95, after the writing of
the Gospel, which may have been written c. 85.
Recipients: Addressed to believers. But the
letter itself does not indicate who they were or where they lived. The fact
that it mentions no one by name suggests it was a circular letter sent to Christians
in a number of places.
Gnosticism: One of the most dangerous heresies
of the first two centuries of the church was Gnosticism. Its central teaching
was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. The
human body, which is matter, is therefore evil. It is to be contrasted with
God, who is completely spirit, and therefore good.
Salvation
is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by special
knowledge (the Greek word for “knowledge” is gnosis, hence Gnosticism). Christ’s true humanity was denied in two
ways: (1) Some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called
Docetism, from the Greek dokeo (“to seem”), and (2) others said that the divine
Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died, a view
called Cerinthianism, after its spokesman, Cerinthus. This is the heresy John
is fighting against.
Since
the body was considered evil, it was to be treated harshly. At the other end, this dualism (matter vs
spirit) also led to sin. The reasoning was that, since matter—and not the
breaking of God’s law - was considered evil, breaking his law had no moral
consequence.
Occasion and Purpose: John’s readers were confronted with
an early form of Gnostic teaching; the throwing off all moral restraints. So, John wrote these letters with two basic
purposes in mind: (1) to expose false teachers and (2) to give believers
assurance of salvation. In keeping with his intention to combat Gnostic
teachers, John specifically struck at their total lack of morality; and by
giving eyewitness testimony to the incarnation, he sought to confirm his readers’
belief in the incarnate Christ.
2
John 1:7-14 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. (Have left the
church) Any such person is the deceiver and the
antichrist. (one who leads people away form Christ) 8 Watch out that you do not
lose what you have worked for, (Eternal Salvation through the incarnate Christ) but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead (loses sight of
what you already know, ie. LDS) and
does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever
continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring
this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his
wicked work. 12 I have much to write
to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you
and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your chosen sister send
their greetings.
2
John 1:1 The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not I only, but
also all who know the truth—
2 because of the truth, which lives in us and
will be with us forever: 3 Grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son,
will be with us in truth
and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of
your children walking in the truth,
just as the Father commanded us. 5
And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from
the beginning. I ask that we love
one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in
obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is
that you walk in love.
John
13:34-35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I
have loved you, so
you must love one
another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John
8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
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