For many deceivers have gone
out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the
deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we
have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too
far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one
who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. [NASB, 2 Jn.
7-9]
The writings of second and
third John are perfect examples of first-century letters. There is an opening,
a body, and a close. They were both very likely written in the early 90s from
somewhere in Asia Minor, probably Ephesus. Second John may have been written to
the elect lady the Church as a result of a delegation of leaders that had been
sent by John to the Church. There seems to be a link between John’s concerns in
1 John and his concerns in 2 John. We think it is highly possible that
2 John is a follow up to the problem of the secessionists mentioned in 1 John
2:19. This group was led by false teachers to leave the Christian community
over what appears to be a heretical Christology. It seems likely that John sent
a delegation over to the Church to check on her and to provide support and
encouragement over the issue. It seems that second John could very well have
been John’s response to the report he received as a result of the delegation’s
findings.
Building off what he had just
previously said regarding love and walking in the divine commandment, John
further alienates the secessionists of 1 John 2:19. He says, “For many
deceivers have gone out into the world.” The impostors seem to be a clear
reference back to those of 1 John 2:19 where he said that they went out from us
because they were never really of us. The clause has a causal relationship with
what precedes. In other words, the previous clause coupled with this one may
read something like “walk in love in view of the fact that many impostors have
gone out into the world.” John also helps us understand what his concept of
love is: it is keeping the commandment. This helps us resist the all-too-common
tendency to anachronistically read modern notions of love into the text. Who
are these impostors? How do we identify them as impostors?
If we read the next clause we
realize that John is using characterization in order to specify who he means:
those who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. In other
words, the sect that has abandoned the Church held to a view of the person of
Christ that was out of accord with apostolic teaching. It is believed by many
that pagan philosophy had been mixed with apostolic teaching to produce a
different kind of Jesus. Some of these influences can be traced back to the
ancient teachings of Plato and others. It seems possible that an unbiblical
dualism had infested certain areas of the Church and this influence led to
beliefs about the humanity of Christ that were clearly beyond the teachings of
the apostles. In addition to identifying the individuals, John does not
hesitate to alienate this group by referring to them as: this is the deceiver
and the antichrist. First the warning is issued. Second, the group related to
the warning is identified. Finally, the group is marked with the most serious
of marks: impostor and antichrist. Hence, we know that any teacher denying the
full humanity of Christ is an impostor and an antichrist and outside the
Christian community, within the sphere of the world, the sphere of Satan.
John then issues the warning
to the rest of the group to keep watch over themselves. The Greek is in the
imperative signaling a stern command. This is an idiom that points up to
self-vigilance. The idea is that the community must be in a state of readiness,
like a soldier who knows that an ambush is eminent. Such spiritual and mental
sharpness requires a great deal of effort and energy. The Christian life is not
like laying in a field of daisies waiting for God to bless you with you best
life now. Nor is it about social and political activism where we can tally the
number of homeless we helped or the elections we won. It is far more profound
that any of these things. There is a darkness, an evil, that seeks to destroy
the truth of God and the souls of men. It is as merciless as anything any
Hollywood movie could ever imagine. This evil seeks to consume the souls of
humanity and to destroy all that God calls good. In short, it seeks to destroy
the gospel, the apostolic teachings and tradition of the Christian faith. John
is concerned that the Church not lose what she has accomplished so far, but
that she receive a full reward. In order to do this, she must reject not only
the teachings of these impostors and antichrists, but she must reject them as
well. This requires serious discipline and an undying loyalty to the cross, the
gospel, and the teachings of Christ.
John then informs the Church
that anyone who does too far and does not abide in the teachings of Christ,
which the apostles have, goes too far and does not abide in God. “Does not
abide in God” is an idiomatic expression designed to indict the secessionists.
John is spending more time on this than usual because he wants to emphasize his
point. Think about the degree of emphasis John is placing on this point. He has
already called them impostors and antichrists. He has already said they went
out from us. But that is not enough. This emphasis can only mean that John
remains concerned with the threat to the Church even after the delegation’s
visit. He now says with clarity that these people do not abide in God. For you
modern readers that think belief and confessions are irrelevant and outdated,
you should give special attention to this pericope of Scripture. It surely
matters what you believe and confess about Jesus Christ.
Finally, John says that the
one who remains in the teaching of Christ, that one has both the Father and the
Son. This is surely intended to encourage the Church. The one remaining in the
teaching of Christ keeps the commandment of God and engages in truly loving his
neighbor. Sometimes modern Christians get this backwards. They think feeding
the poor is loving their neighbor which is then defined as keeping the
commandment which is then defined as being a Christian. Such thinking is turned
upside down on its head by Scripture. Loving God always begins with keeping
God’s commandment, not getting involved in social causes.
We learn several things from
2 John. We learn that it matters what we think and confess about Jesus Christ.
We learn that there are impostors in the Church who are still walking in
darkness even though they may be the most likable personality in Sunday school.
We learn that false teachings and beliefs about Jesus Christ can be serious and
even have eternal consequences. We learn that what someone confesses and
believes about Jesus Christ can tell us something about the genuineness of
their faith. We learn that submission to the teachings of the apostles is not
an option for professing Christians. We learn that apostolic teaching bears the
authority of Christ. We also learn that every Christian is to watch out and be
on guard for false teachings and false teachers. This is a recurring theme in
the NT. It is prominent throughout the teachings and commandments of nearly
every book.
As a Christian, we do not
have the option of tolerating false teachings in our churches nor in our
homes for that matter. John wants them cut off not only from the Church, but from the community
completely. He instructs the remaining Christians in the Church not even to
have dinner with them or have them in their homes. He says that anyone who goes
to far, that is, beyond the boundaries of apostolic teaching should be the
object of rejecting and shunning should he fail to correct his thinking and
submit to the authority of apostolic teachings.
This section in 2 John rarely
receives serious attention in the modern Church. We are far too busy trying to
grow the kingdom of God on our own to realize that we have a pasture that is
crawling with wolves who are devouring the sheep right under our noses and we
are too spiritually dim or too focused on our own agenda to even notice.
Retain the standard of sound
words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ
Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has
been entrusted to you. [2 Ti
1:13–14.]
