Reading Plan for 2 John – Day 3

Read 2 John Again

Love as the Foundational Command

As you read 2 John today, take note of how many times John uses the words command, commanded, and commands. John is clear that his teaching is not a new teaching. New teaching is what false teachers promote. John ties his teaching to the Old Testament law. Leviticus 19:8 says, “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Jesus’s teaching was fully in line with the Old Testament Law (John 13:34-35). The law commanded the people of God to model love for their fellow Israelite’s. Jesus told his disciples that their relationship of love with each other would make them so distinct that people would know they are Christians specifically because of their love.

This command is first and foremost to be lived out in the church as believer’s model love for each other. It is a horizontal person to person love. But it’s not love without a foundation. John reminds his readers that love is also “that we walk in obedience to his commands” (verse 5). Yes, there are the moral and ethical commands of Jesus found in the Gospels. But there is also the specific command to believers in the church, that they “walk in love” (John 13:34-35).

This word, command, in all its variations, is found several times in a compressed space. Why is John emphasizing this in the way that he is? It’s a good question to think about and one of the most likely answers is that those who have left the church did not model this command. They split the church. They distorted the gospel. They spoke against the believers in the church and against the Apostle John. They twist the truth and oppose those who attempt to correct them.

John strongly resists their efforts, in part because they are worse than non-believers. John would fully support Jesus’s teaching to “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). John is talking about enemies in the sense of those who persecute believers. These false teachers were especially harmful because with their words they claimed to be Christians, but in truth, they failed to live out even the most foundational of Jesus’s commands.

Application:

One of the most difficult things about the Christian life is loving other people in the body of Christ. As one person said “Christians are like porcupines. They are always coming together, but when they get too close they move apart because they are poking each other.”

I can’t remember the source of this quote, but it seems so true. As soon as we get to know each other, we find things that we don’t like, often sinful things. Sometimes we wonder if the people around us are Christian at all, and they might think the same about us sometimes. This is actually the reason why love is the foundation of Christian living. This side of heaven, we all will struggle with sin. Love resists sin and loves the sinner all at the same time.  1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Yes, sin is a struggle for each of us. Love says no to sin and yes to the sinner. I think the key in this having a heart of repentance. The heart of repentance often grieves at the presence of sin in our lives and loves people. The first place we practice this in the body of Christ. We practice this as we come alongside each other in the church.

One of the ways, we love each other is by walking with each other as we deal with the sin in each other’s lives. This would radically change most marriages not to mention Christian relationships.

John’s greatest critiques and concerns are about those who split the church and bring hatred, not love into the body. In this case, the individuals who split the church are of the worst kind. They distorted everything good about Jesus including his love and his command to love each other. There are some sins that should not be overlooked. Yes, love covers a multitude of sins. But it doesn’t cover up sin. It doesn’t hide it. It doesn’t promote sins secrecy. Love exposes the sins that destroy faith. Wow! Convicting!

1. Why is it often hard to love the people around us?
2. What does it look like to love other brothers and sisters in Christ? What does it look like when some of those same individuals are very hard to love?
3. How would you respond if an individual or group of individuals clearly began to live outside of the “law of love” and yet still claim to be Christian?

Consider writing down a key verse or verses from today on an index card or small piece of paper and carry it with you today. Look at it as often as you can as a reminder of what we learned today.

Possible Verse: 2 John 6