I. _Address and Greeting: From the well-known Elder to a well-known Lady._ The greeting, with its invocation, fills a large space. It is framed after the manner of St. Paul, and remarkably incorporates the two points of truth and love which occupy the whole Epistle. 2 John 1:1-2. THE ELDER the age... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:3. GRACE, MERCY, PEACE, SHALL BE WITH US FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND FROM JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF THE FATHER, IN TRUTH AND LOVE. This is the old invocation, with which the other apostles have made us familiar, but in its fullest form as found in the Pastoral Epistles. It had become the sacred... [ Continue Reading ]
II. _The substance of the letter follows: introduced by congratulation, it contains an earnest exhortation to practical love and warning against false teachers._ 2 John 1:4. I REJOICED GREATLY THAT I HAVE FOUND OF THY CHILDREN WALKING IN TRUTH. As St. Paul always prefaced his warnings by praising w... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:5. AND NOW this is the purport of the letter. I BESEECH THEE, SYRIA: the request has in it a tone of dignity as well as of courtesy; the mother is addressed, though some of her children who walked not in love are aimed at: the apostle urges his request, which is sheltered behind the evang... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:6. Here we have once more St. John's familiar tribute to the ethical supremacy of love, the new revelation of which by Christ ‘in the beginning' sways his thoughts with a peculiar power. The verse is remarkable for its circular argument: love is the walking in all the commandments, the stre... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:7. There is no love which is not based on truth: the love which keeps the commandments keeps the doctrinal as well as the ethical commandments. And, as love is the strength of obedience, so it is the guardian of the truth. Hence the ‘for' that follows: FOR MANY DECEIVERS ARE GONE FORTH INTO... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:8. LOOK TO YOURSELVES: a rare expression, intimating the deep earnestness of the warning. THAT YE LOSE NOT THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE WROUGHT: the apostles were God's labourers; but, with refined delicacy, this apostle represents the reward of apostolic work, not as to be received by themselv... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:9. WHOSOEVER GOETH FORWARD, AND ABIDETH NOT IN THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST, HATH NOT GOD. This seems beyond doubt the true reading, and the verse thus becomes one of the utmost importance and interest. To abide in the doctrine of Christ is to remain content with His teaching or what He teaches;... [ Continue Reading ]
2 John 1:10-11. There is no more impressive word concerning the importance of holding fast the simple truth of the Gospel than what we have just read; and its force is deepened by what follows. IF THERE COMETH as come there does and certainly will ANY UNTO YOU AND BRINGETH NOT THIS DOCTRINE: a prof... [ Continue Reading ]
III. _Conclusion._ 2 John 1:12-13. The apostle, writing on this subject, has more to say than he can write; hence this letter is not an accompaniment of the larger Epistle. He was writing on paper or Egyptian papyrus, the pressed coatings of the plant, with ink, a preparation of soot and burnt resi... [ Continue Reading ]