2 John 1 vs 4-13

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 4 – 6

·    Does that mean that love is the law? The answer to that is no. Love is the fulfillment of the law. It’s not the law itself. Jesus said hang all of the prophets, all of the commandments of God on these two things. That you should love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength…, and love one another as ourselves. Jesus didn’t say that those two things were the law. He said the law hangs on those two things. What am I getting at…

·    We cannot abandon truth in the name of love. And I want to make that clear. The fact is that they go hand in hand. One hangs on the other. One is the fulfillment of the other. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” The core of the matter is that if love is love then it will be grounded in truth.

·    No less loving. No less patient. No less joyful. No less peaceful. No less longsuffering. No less kind. No less gentle. And, it will in no way compromise all that is contained in the word of God. Does that make sense? Just as was seeping into the early church we see this on a flamboyant scale today, that when faced with the worldly mandate to abandon truth in our love for others, we easily acquiesce.

·     John strikes a balance here that they needed to hear and the modern church needs to hear it as well. The integrity of our Christian life can be measured by our love for one another…, AND our love for God. And this is love towards God, that we walk according to His commandments.

·    There’s no duty here. There’s no obligation here. There’s no threat of retaliation here. If God did any of those things, then my response of love wouldn’t be love at all, it would be fear rooted in pride. Losing something for myself or suffering something of myself. The Christian, born again, Spirit indwelt citizen of heaven hears the commands of God and desires to walk in them, more than that, we walk in them because of love.

·    First three verses were truth, truth, truth, truth. The repetition of this word. The second three verses are walk, walk, walk. To walk in truth is to love on another. And to walk in love is to love God. You have to have both and not in equal measure…, not 50/50. Let the minds of the mature agree, this must be 100/100. Just as Jesus revealed Himself as fully God and fully man, a revelation of the mature heavenly citizen, to be fully love and fully truth!

·    There isn’t a situation or a moment of your life where you have to decide which one to be. NO matter the challenge or the enemy or the situation or the contest. Filled by the Holy Spirit you can walk in truth and walk in love. The error is when people start to think they have to give one up. Not so. Jesus never did… Not for one moment. Go and search the scriptures. Search the heart of God and discover what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…, without interruption…, and to love others as yourself…, without interruption. This is the fulfillment of the law and the way we ought to be.

·    Check this out. One example of this. Jesus said in Matthew 10:11-13, “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” Peace? Peace remains. Never left. No matter what they’ve said or done or not said or not done, peace within you. What’s that? A fruit of the Spirit. What’s that? A result of grace and mercy. What’s that? A by product of walking in the truth and walking in the agape love of God! And a peaceful person walks in love and in truth without confusion or difficulty!

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 7 – 8

·    But they are so sweet. They are so polite. So warm in their greetings. Here’s a new thought. Enjoy all of that, but spit out the deception!! Aren’t we grown? I wonder if there is a bit of frustration in the heart of John as he writes this. How is it that someone can give us a plate of food at a restaurant with a big ole black hair right in the middle of it and we can’t discern smartly enough to remove that bad boy before diving in!

·    HA! That may not be a good example! Because I’ll still eat the food, some of y’all send the whole plate back. HA! Or maybe that is a good example!! I can and we can enjoy the company of the person and discuss with patience and love for them the error of their beliefs. THEY can do it! Why can’t we!?

·    But John is saying here how is it that we are so easily and readily challenged in our own beliefs by someone presenting theirs? Put in some work! Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling! Do your own studying. Be fully convinced in your own mind and not only will you stop being swayed by every wind of new doctrine that comes around but you also won’t be so angered! THIS IS HOW IT WORKS! Trust me! I used to get HOT when someone challenged the Word of God…, why? FEAR! Now it doesn’t phase me at all. You can challenge gravity, brother. You’re still gonna fall! HA! AND, I can love you right through the debate… no problem at all!

·    John says, look to yourselves! We are all too often looking to others. To either affirm us or agree with us. Truth needs neither of those things…, and newsflash, neither does love…

2 John Chapter 1 Verse 9

·    Very clear, very blunt statement by John and one that you find in his first letter but not with this clarity. He says definitively, if someone denies the doctrine of Christ, they don’t have God. The truth of God comes through the Son of God and without the Son of God, you simply don’t have the truth of God…

·    But they are so loving. Doesn’t mean they are of God. But they are so kind, they make me feel so valued, they have such unity, they have name tags that say they are something! Doesn’t mean they are of God. If the doctrine of Christ isn’t there, if they don’t get Jesus right, then they do not have God… The clarity in this verse is undeniable.

·    Now, what is the doctrine of Christ? Doctrine simply means “teachings.” So, the doctrine of Christ is/are the teachings of Christ. Not the teachings about Christ. What John is saying is someone who denies the teachings Christ Himself gave… You cannot have Christ and deny what He taught.

·    Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.” Jesus said in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” We can go on and on with verse after verse… You don’t even need to do any type of careful study of the teachings of Jesus to conclude very definitely that Jesus’ teaching was that He Himself was and is God sent to earth in the flesh to fulfill the law, die in the place of sinful man to save us from our sins…

·    And so, John says that if you deny that, well Paul put it this was in Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 10 - 11

·    John has had it with deceivers. And so has God, frankly. And the admonition of the scripture is to stop them at your door and do not greet them. In other words, do not wish them well as they come or as they go… That’s tough! Now, how do you balance that with the calling to evangelize? Well, for me, I’ll do that on my porch…   

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 12 – 13

·    I love that. John’s desire is to build up and protect the church AND to enjoy a strong and fortified community. Come together and have fullness of joy… Not problem after problem especially ones that have been instigated by deceivers. Let’s enter into what Jesus has done for us all fully. Walking in the truth AND powered/pampered by love!