2 John 1-3

2 John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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2 John 1 ESV
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
2 John 1-3
  John’s second and third brief letters, while altogether different to the epistle of eternal life with which we have been occupied so long, are, nevertheless, of great importance, inasmuch as they bring before us guiding principles that have often been overlooked, but are needful indeed if the people of God would walk together so as to please our absent Lord.
John primarily deals, as we have seen, with truth concerning the family of God, even as Peter has to do chiefly with the government of God, and Paul with the Church of God. But in these last letters, written many years after both Paul and Peter had sealed their testimony with their blood, we get instruction regarding Church fellowship that we cannot afford to ignore, if fellowship is to be real.
In Second John a Christian lady is warned regarding false teachers, and thus we learn what our individual attitude toward all anti-Christian propagandists should be so long as the Church is in the place of testimony.1
1 Ironside, H. A. (1931). Addresses on the Epistles of John (pp. 225–226). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.

I. THE APOSTLE’S SALUTATION: GRACE, MERCY, AND PEACE (Vv. 1–3)

V. 1 In 2 John, the apostle introduces himself as the elder. This may refer to age or official position in the church. As to age, John was the last of the apostles who had companied with the Lord Jesus. As to official position, he surely was a bishop or overseer. Thus, we need not choose our explanation; both are correct.
The expression “To the elect lady” is not so easy to explain. Three views are commonly held. (1) Some believe that the elect lady is the church, elsewhere referred to as the Bride of Christ, or a particular local church. (2) Others think that the Letter was addressed to “the elect Kyria”—her name being Kyria. This name could be the Greek equivalent to the Aramaic name Martha (both mean “lady”). (3) Others feel that John is writing to an unnamed Christian lady, who with all other believers is among the elect of God—chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
We prefer the last view, and feel it is especially significant that this warning against anti-christian teachers should be found in a Letter addressed to a woman. Sin first entered the world through Eve’s being deceived by Satan. “The woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (). Paul speaks of false teachers who make a special appeal to women; they get into the house and capture “gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,” who will listen to anyone and yet are “never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (, ). Even today the false cults visit homes during the daytime, when the man of the house is usually at work. Children need to be warned against false teachers also.
John states that he loves this elect lady and her children … in truth. Those who are saved find themselves in a wonderful fellowship, loving others whom they never would have loved, were it not for their common love for the truth of God. It is God’s truth that binds hearts together—the hearts of all those who have known the truth.
V. 2 Because of the truth has two possible explanations. It may refer to the motive for loving all the saints, or it may give John’s reason for writing this Letter. Both are valid meanings. The truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. Here the truth may refer to: (1) the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, “I am … the truth” (); (2) the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit is truth” (; see , ); or (3) the Bible. “Your word is truth” (). Should we not pause to marvel at our being sustained by these Three, and their being with us forever!
V. 3 John’s greeting is “grace, mercy, and peace will be with you.” Grace is undeserved favor to those who deserve the opposite. Mercy is pity shown to those who are guilty and wretched. Peace is the harmonious relationship that results from God’s grace and mercy. All three of these blessings are from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father is the Source and the Son is the Channel. In addition, they are in truth and love, and never at the expense of either of these virtues.1
1 MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2330). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
  The Second Epistle is addressed by the Elder unto the elect lady and her children. The word elder has the same meaning as it has in . Some take it that the elect lady means an assembly, and her children the members of the assembly. But that is a very strained application.
The word “Kyria” (lady) excludes this meaning, besides other reasons which we do not follow here. She was a Christion woman of note, generally known and beloved, having children, whom the Apostle had found walking in the Truth. She had also a sister with children, who seems to have been in the same place where the Apostle was, probably in Ephesus. This is indicated by the last verse of the Epistle, “The children of thy elect sister greet thee.” 1
1 Gaebelein, A. C. (2009). The annotated Bible, volume 9: James to Revelation (pp. 165–166). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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