A Study Of 2 John

2 John

Background:

This letter was probably written to a local church. The
church is often referred to as a woman (cf. the "bride" of
Christ [Eph. 5:22-33; 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7]). 1 John and 3
John refer to believers of local churches as "children", and
verse 13 says, "The children of your chosen sister greet you"
(NAS). In 3 John, where specific people are in view, the
epistle spoke to them by name ("Gaius" [1], "Diotrephes" [9],
and "Demetrius" [12]). 2 John seems to address a sister
church.

Contents:

The subject of "truth" appears five times in the first four
verses. Walking in accord with the truth appears in verses
4-6, and guarding against error in verses 10-11.

Theme: Walk in Truth (8)

1. By learning the Bible (1-3)
2. By loving your brother (4-6)
3. By testing men's doctrine (7-9)
4. By rejecting false teachers (10-11)

2 John 1

Theme: Walk in Truth

1) By learning your Bible (1-4)

In order to walk in the truth, you need to know what truth is.
Jesus said God's word is truth (Jn. 17:17). 2 Tim. 3:16-17
says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly furnished for every good work. If you're going to
walk in truth, you will need to learn your Bible.

2) By loving your brother (4-6)

Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 15). Much of the
Bible's teaching aims at showing you how to love your brother
(cf. 1 Cor. 13). When you love your brother, it gives your
spiritual leaders reason to be glad about you (v4. cf. Heb.
13:17). In order to walk in the truth, you must love your
brother.

3) By testing men's doctrine (7-9)

1 John 4 says to test the spirits, to see whether they are
from God. 2 John now continues that theme. One standard
for this, is whether or not men abide in the "doctrine of
Christ". A specific example John mentions, is that false
teachers were denying the Lord came as a man (8).

To deny the humanity of Christ would be to reject His
substitutionary payment for our sin, and therefore completely
undermine the gospel. Similarly, if one fails to admit Jesus
is God, it also renders Him unqualified to be our sinless
Savior. Knowing what the Bible teaches on the doctrine of the
person and work of Christ, is key to discerning whether a
teacher is walking in the truth, or an anti-christ.

4) By rejecting false teachers (9-11)

If a teacher does not acknowledge those doctrines about Jesus
which are necessary to know Christ as Savior, he is a
deceiver. This passage warns you to guard against false
teachers, avoid letting them into your house, or even giving
them a greeting. If you accept a false teacher, you
participate "in his evil deeds" (11), can loose the fruit the
truth works in your life (8), and miss out on part of your
reward (not affecting your salvation) with God (9b). If your
going to walk in the truth, you will need to reject false
teachers.

--
Have you heard Christ died for our sins, and God raised Him
from the dead? Did you know God saves you from hell and
gives you eternal life through faith in this finished work alone,
not your merits (Jn. 3:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-3; Eph. 2:8-10; 2 Thess.
1:8-9)? This is so man cannot boast, and God alone gets the
glory (Eph. 2:8-9).
______________________________________________
www.faithguard.org
www.twitter.com/faithguard
www.facebook.com/faithguard
______________________________________________