2 John 1

Recently, one of my best friends told me about her experience of being on a jury. She recounted how, after four full days of the trial, lots and lots of evidence presented, and most of the jurors in agreement on what the verdict in the case should be, one of the jurors stood up and told his own story of what he thought really happened with the incident being tried. And it was based on his ideas – not on any evidence presented.

My friend said,

“We all just sat there, looking at him, stunned. Where in the world was he getting all of this? Finally, someone said,

‘But none of the story you just told was presented in evidence. None of it!’”

Boom. Don’t we see a lot of that in the world today? We’re presented with lots of “evidence,” in all facets of life – law, social nuances, etiquette and manners, but some of it we don’t agree with, so we just make up our own rules. Here’s an example:

“The speed limit through this stretch of road is only 35mph? Why? That’s way too slow and I’m in a hurry, so I’m going to go 45mph. This is ridiculous!”

Of course, when we are stopped by a policeman, who is simply enforcing the actual law, and are given a ticket, we’re livid – even though we didn’t follow the law, but made up our own.

And, unfortunately, we do that with God’s Word and even with Jesus. We change THE truth to fit OUR truth. 

In the one chapter of John’s second letter to the churches in Asia, he spends a lot of time talking about remaining in the truth. As we remember from John’s first letter, a crazy amount of false teachers have popped up in a relatively short amount of time, since Jesus’ earthly ministry. John, being one of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples, who walked with Jesus, is confident in what the truth about Jesus is – from his eyewitness account to what was written in God’s Word about Him. He strongly encourages his children in the faith to stay within the confounds of the truth about Jesus and resist even listening to what false teachers might have to say about Him – “don’t even invite them to your church services” – he says!

And we would all agree with that advice, right? The problem occurs, though, when we come across parts of the Scripture we don’t understand or, even disagree with – even verses about Jesus Himself.

Born of a virgin? The Holy Spirit fathered Jesus? How in the world does that work? That can’t be right. I think what really happened is…

And before we know it, we’ve not only altered Scripture, but even truth about Jesus. The Savior of the World. The Messiah. 

Um…Danger ahead! Turn around, get back on the path!

John was seeing members of his own home churches fall away from the truth. It upset him, it worried him, and it probably angered him. He pleads with the Believers in Asia to stay firmly planted in the truth. Check out his words in verses 8 and 9 of 2 John,

Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

And, look it’s hard sometimes to remain in the truth! We live in a world where there are distractions everywhere we turn and we struggle with our own selfish, self-serving attitudes. But our lives in Christ must be based on the truth of the Bible, the truth of Jesus Christ  – no deviations! Because in Christ is life; everything else is just a story.

2 John Discussion Questions 

1. Google or use a Bible commentary to find out more about the heresy of Docetism. What about this heresy might have been appealing to people in John’s day?

2. In some Bible versions, we see the phrase, “whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.” The word transgresses here gives the idea of “going beyond a boundary.” Think about a time in your life where you went beyond a boundary. What were the consequences? What were the motivations to go beyond the boundary? 

3. John reemphasizes the idea of loving one another, but here he states that by loving one another, we keep God’s commands. As Believers, sometimes we find it difficult to love others. But when we do choose to love others, God honors our efforts. Who in your life are you finding it hard to love at the moment? Why not pray and ask God for help in this area? Write out your prayer concerning this idea.

4. John admonishes his “children in the faith” to not have any kind of fellowship with the false teachers. However, when we study the life of Christ, we see that He spent time with Unbelievers, in an attempt to bring them into the light. This is truly a fine line to walk. What is the difference between ministering to Unbelievers and being in fellowship with Unbelievers? How can we minister to Unbelievers without being persuaded to alter the truth?