In what must be a record for our church, we not only completed a whole chapter in the Bible study in one week, but a whole book! Admittedly that book was 2 John, which is one of the shortest letters in the New Testament, but even so, there was a real sense of achievement in the group tonight!
2 John contains many of the themes expounded at much greater length in 1 John: truth, abiding in Christ, acknowledging the humanity and deity of Jesus, belief in God the Father and in Jesus His Son, obedience to God’s commandments and the supreme importance of love. It too was written to counter heretical teaching (those who seek to deceive and are antichrists), to the extent that John warns the Christians not to show hospitality to those who teach false doctrine. He is at pains to remind us of the grace, mercy and peace which are found in God the Father and Jesus Christ and to show us that truth and love are not mutually incompatible, but necessarily go together. ‘Abiding in the truth is essential to maintaining brotherly love,‘ Dr Thomas Constable says, and certainly John warns us against those who would run ahead of God, claiming superior spiritual insight that goes beyond historical, biblical truths. John Stott, commenting on these verses, writes “Christian faith is rooted in the historical events of the incarnation and the atonement, the revelation and redemption that were finished in Christ. To advance beyond Christ is not progress, but apostasy.” (The Epistles of John, P 211-212) We must seek to communicate truth in as relevant a way as possible to today’s society, but we must never compromise the truth – scandalous though the cross continues to be – in order to be more ‘relevant’ or to assume that we have ‘progressed’ beyond truth.
Heretics love to claim special insight, an insider knowledge which renders faith and obedience redundant. Marshall says “When the teaching of the Bible needs to be supplemented by some ‘key’ to the Bible or by some new revelation, it is a sure sign that ‘advanced’ doctrine is being put forth.” We need to walk with God, continuing in His teaching, not lagging behind or running ahead if we are to live as God decrees.
John’s tone throughout the letter is one of affection and concern for the church. He asks them to follow God’s commands, rather than commanding them (see also 1 Thess 4:1, 1 Thess 5:12), even though his authority as ‘the elder’ was unquestioned. Christian leadership will always follow the principles of humility and service rather than dictatorship or authoritarian diktat. God calls us to relationship, with Him and with each other, and the concern John feels is rooted in that relationship. He longs to see them face to face (literally, ‘mouth to mouth’) so that their joy may be complete. Face-to-face communication allows misunderstandings to be resolved quickly, tone of voice to be understood immediately and relationships to be deepened. How we long for that face-to-face meeting with our Saviour! (1 Cor 13:12)