The Greeting
1-3
This short letter is written in the form of the classic Greek letter. It begins with the identity of the sender, followed by the name of the receiver, and contains a blessing of grace mercy and peace. In contrast, 1 John begins with testimony to John’s first hand knowledge of Jesus and his message. It is more prologue than greeting and reflects the prologue of John’s gospel.
John does not name himself as the author, however. He refers to himself as “the elder”. This causes some to claim that the author is not the apostle, but another John who was an elder in one of the churches in Asia. However, John never names himself. He does not name himself in his gospel. He does not even include his calling as an apostle along with James, as Matthew does (Matthew 10:2). Instead he refers to “disciple whom Jesus loved”. Evidently John became humble over the three years he spent with Jesus.
John had evidently settled in Asia (modern Turkey), believed to be in Ephesus, and functioned as an elder, or the elder, in the church\es there. He, therefore, uses that title as one of authority. Peter also referred to himself as an elder in 1 Peter 5:1.
The church has historically attested to John’s authorship of the letter, so we will stick with that.
There is also difficulty in determining the recipient of the letter. John wrote to the “elect lady and her children”. The most common thought is that this is a metaphorical reference to a church, similar to the use of the word “bride”. Most of the usage of the word “you” are in the second person plural, which would fit the many members of the church.
The second view is that John wrote to a specific woman. This makes the use of the word “children” natural. But, John referred to “children” in 1 John to mean members of the churches. The end of the letter says that the “children of your elect sister” greet you, which also sounds personal rather than corporate. But, again, it could refer to a sister church and its members. Peter, for example, referred to the church in Rome as “she who is in Babylon”. (1 Peter 5:13)
Fortunately, neither view changes the meaning or theology of the letter. John wrote to warn his readers about receiving false teachers, or deceivers, who were itinerate preachers. Today he would warn against false TV preachers, and books teaching a false theology, as well as podcasts and videos.
In his greeting, John tells the readers that he loves them in truth as do all who know the truth, the believers. “Truth” here probably refers to Jesus, who called himself the truth (John 14:6), and who abides in us. (1) It also previews John’s desire to insist on the truth they have been taught. That thought reminds us that, if Jesus is the truth, we need to be diligent to believe and teach only the truth, without error or speculation. John said the truth abides in believers forever.
John emphasized truth again in his blessing. (3) Grace, mercy, and peace be with us…in truth and love. Truth and love are not separated.
He inserted a point of theological truth by referring to Jesus Christ as “the Father’s Son”.
Walking In Truth
4-6
As Paul often did in his letters, John praises before he instructs. Here he rejoiced that some of her children walked in the truth. They held to the truth of the message of the gospel they originally received. So, some of the members of the church continued in the truth despite the existence and opposition of false teachers.
The instruction comes next, and it is similar to a major instruction in the first letter: love one another. (5) This likely means there was some lack of love in the congregation. This also may have been caused by the pressure of false teaching.
Also like the first letter, John tied loving one another to obeying the commandment (singular) of the Lord. (6) John referred to the command they heard from the beginning, meaning the time they first heard and believed the gospel. This likely refers to same command referred to in 1 John 3:23: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us”.
Jesus’ commanded believers to love each other. He said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”.
We should obey this command to love each other. It should be our lifestyle. John wrote to walk in the commandments and to walk in this commandment. In the New Testament, “walk” is usually a metaphor for how we live in Christ. Even today we ask “how is your walk in Christ”, meaning how is your spiritual life, your life in Christ. Christians “walk” in obedience to Jesus’s commands. We walk in obedience to the command to love one another.
We need to walk in truth (4), obedience ((6), and love (6) because there are many deceivers who have left the church and gone out into the world to spread error. (7) They are those who deny that Jesus came in the flesh. The New Testament teaches that Jesus came in the flesh. John’s gospel was clear on this. He wrote “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. (John 1:14) He went on in his gospel to present Jesus as a flesh and blood man who lived, traveled, taught, suffered, died, and was resurrected in the flesh.
Deceiving and False Teaching
7-9
If you teach anything else, you are a deceiver because you are not teaching the truth. (7) You are also the antichrist, because you are teaching a doctrine that is against Christ, changing the truth about who he is and what he has done. Really, you are doing the work of the devil.
These ideas have consequences. If Jesus did not come and live in the flesh, his righteousness cannot be applied to you. If he did not die in the flesh, he could not pay the penalty of your sins. If he did not rise in the flesh, you are sentenced to live as a ghost for eternity.
So, we watch ourselves, to make sure we know, believe, and teach the truth. (8) If we wander from the truth, we risk losing some our reward in eternity. If we wander far enough, so that no longer actually abide in the teaching of God’s word, we are not abiding in God. This shows we are not saved, that we have chosen a version of Jesus that is an idol rather than the true one.
For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is not an eternal being, but a created being. Thus, he cannot be divine. They also teach he is the same as the arch angel Michael, a created being, though Hebrews 1 distinguishes between the Son and angels.
Another example is the teaching of the United Pentecostal Church, which says Jesus was simply the earthly name of God. They do not believe in the Trinity.
Hugh Schonfield wrote a book in the 60s called the Passover Plot, where he asserted that Jesus was basically a con man who faked his death and resurrection. He had previously written a book defending the truth. He is one who went on ahead and did not abide in the teaching of Christ. (9)
All of this is deception and antichrist. But, those who abide in Christ’s teaching have the Father and Son. It is continuing in the faith that shows you are a believer.
Do Not Receive The Deceiver
10-11
John takes this issue so seriously that if anyone comes with different teaching, you should not let him into your house or even greet him, because, if you do, you take part in his wicked work. in their culture, receiving a person to stay in your house vouched for them to the community.
For us, it means we do not let false teachers into our pulpits, we do not teach or endorse their books, and we do not adopt their ideas.
Closing
12-13
This letter is short. Evidently John had much more to say, but he hoped to say it in person, face to face, and expected to be joyful in that meeting. (12) He also passed along the greeting of the “elect sister” he knew, which was likely the local church.
But the truth he stressed was too important to wait.
It has to be important to us also.
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