2nd John Study
2 John 1:1: There is an objective Christian faith which we must be submitted to. There is true spiritual compatibility, and hence righteous spiritual fellowship in line with the real Jesus, among those who know Jesus Christ because they are indeed submitted to the truth of His Word.
1:2: God’s Word will prevail in the end. And Christ’s Spirit, called the Spirit of truth by Jesus in the Gospels, lives inside those who are submitted to Him- the Righteous King whose Word all people are accountable to. Jesus will never forsake those who repent and obey His Gospel, and continue in that submission by heeding His voice on the narrow way to life in Him (that is, walking forward by a living faith in Him).
Jesus says in John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life (note the context He’s saying this in; look at Jesus’ previous words); and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”
1:3: Obeying Christ’s Gospel and following Him, as has just been described, is not impossible nor a requirement which is unreasonable for us. His favor is offered to, and given to, those who so walk in the light of His Word. This is the true grace of God (as 1 Peter 5:12 and Titus 2:11-14 say so plainly and directly).
1:4: That commandment was first given in principle in the Garden of Eden and continued down through time, extending into the New Covenant era. Heaven is for those, and only for those, who came into line with God and obtained His mercy on earth through the blood of Jesus Christ on earth.
Revelation 4:9-11: “And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
1:5: And love here is not referring to a general, vague, undefined thing. The next verse defines.
1:6: Many teach the very opposite though and use a vague concept of love to oppose God’s definition of love. The Apostle John is also teaching the very opposite of many who regard Jesus’ commandments as in contrast to what God has commanded from the beginning.
Psalm 119:142: “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”
1:7: “Confess” here= homologeo. Same Logos. Jesus is the Logos of God- the Word which is an expression of God’s nature. A deceiver and an antichrist is (especially) anyone who comes in Jesus Christ’s name who does not confess to His Word from the heart and walk therein; anyone who comes in His name who expresses a controversy with His Word; anyone who comes in His name that has not settled the conflict which has existed from the beginning, pitting the true God’s authority against man’s desire to be ruled by his own inclinations, anyone who has not settled that in favor of bowing before the true God from the heart and being ruled by what He commands. Jesus expressed this proper attitude in His incarnation perfectly. We must have a heart submitted to walk in His steps and demonstrate that by our deeds.
Matthew 4:1-11: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone (Satan quoted from Psalm 91- yet he misquoted the verse and also tempted Jesus to take it inappropriately). Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
1 John 2:1-6: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily (truly) is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”
1:8: That full reward is entrance into Christ’s eternal kingdom and beholding God in His glory there in a redeemed body.
Revelation 3:21: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
Hebrews 10:38: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
Matthew 24:9-13: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity (lawlessness) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
1:9: This goes back to verses five to seven.
Only he has both the Father and the Son. Those who deny that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God are included along with all whose thoughts and manner of life are at odds with the truth of his Word. John is particularly dealing with those who teach in His name and those who profess to know Him.
1:10: If you are intent on walking in the narrow way to life in Jesus Christ (walking in the truth of His Word), such are coming to you in one way or another. Be sure of that. Don’t sit under their teaching. Use discernment, and when you discern that they transgress and abide not in the doctrine of Christ, don’t sit under their teaching nor even bless them in any way which implies you are in spiritual fellowship with them or that you support their ministry. This is not saying you can’t have a deluded teacher in your home who is in critical need and they need to enter your house to get the care they need. And it’s not saying that one who is willing to reason with you (if you are the head of the home) can’t enter your home in your hopes of showing them their error and bringing them to repentance. But it is saying not to expose your family to their teaching, not to sit under their teaching, and not to suffer their teaching in your church (and to protest and not go along with it if the leaders of your church suffer such to teach in your church- and this would include heretical books that they’re having the church read also).
1:11: Partaker here is a form of the word commonly used for spiritual fellowship. He is a sharer in his activity which is contrary to the cause of the real Jesus Christ. He will thus partake of his punishment for his deceit of souls. This is no game. This is no laughing matter. This is no secondary matter (though the deceiver may claim that it is).
And with that considered, there are other things forbidden in principle here due to their implicit statements of fellowship. We should not share the sermons of those who transgress the doctrine of Christ on our websites nor by email nor should we share tracts or books with their websites or contact information on them nor should we quote them (at least without a disclaimer which makes it clear somehow that they should be regarded only like a broken clock that is right twice a day- but even that should be done cautiously and avoided if possible). These things imply you are both working for the same Master and are on the same team, and they also expose people to the death trap which is their public doctrine and/or their hypocritical life. Even if someone really says the right words and their doctrine is perfect, a hypocritical life from someone whose words are right will harm people just as much or (probably) more than someone whose public doctrine is corrupt.
1:12-13: How much more are the warnings here necessary since the corruption and the confusion in the realm of Christendom (the realm of professing Christianity) have only greatly increased since the first century)? Even many teachers and churches who sound and look very Biblical and good compared to others are still death traps due to how they are at odds with Christ’s doctrine and therefore do not faithfully lead people through the narrow gate to life in Christ, and along the narrow to life in Him, faithfully. Therefore, like 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
2 Timothy 3:1-5: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times (spiritually harsh, furious times) shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud (haughty, arrogant), blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection (that would include those who support abortion), trucebreakers (unable to enter into a covenant and keep it faithfully; this sure includes church members and church leaders who don’t want to be held to be held accountable to pre-agreed upon standards based upon Biblical principles and common sense), false accusers (literally diablos- we talked about slanderers in the 2 Peter and Jude studies- people often do this when their sin is exposed regarding the one whose words exposed them; they were reproved based upon truth, they defend themselves, though they’re guilty, through slander; they speak maliciously against the one who exposed them without solid evidence or with insufficient evidence, adding to and aggravating their sin), incontinent (without self-control), fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors (an obvious example would be those pastors who changed with the tide of the world and now say homosexuality isn’t a sin and/or say gay marriage should be legal), heady (rash; reckless), highminded (puffed up with haughtiness; blinded by their own conceit- often to the point of not being willing to acknowledge obvious Bible facts- even if they may be very knowledgeable overall- they’re the master, they’re the professor, they’re the expert who knows what they’re talking about, and anyone not in the grand category of intellectual attainment they’ve reached couldn’t tell them something important that they didn’t already know- and yes, there is one person I know well who I’m particularly describing here, but Bible colleges and seminaries produce a lot of people like this), lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
This passage from 2 Timothy sums up the main point of the Book of 2 John very well.
Aaron’s email is: [email protected]
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