Journey Through 2 John

We have been journeying through Scripture, and we come now to the one New Testament letter that was written to a woman and her children. It is the little book of 2 John. 2 John 1 says, “The elder,” that is John, “unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;.”

John is writing to a woman. We do not know exactly who she is. John refers to her as the elect lady, so we know she is a believer. We know she belongs to the Lord, and her children are those whom she is guiding to God. She is teaching and bringing them along in the faith. I love that! The gospel of Jesus Christ is for males and females, and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be engaged in by both men and women. 2 John is a wonderful reminder of that.

Listen: Journeying through 2 John

Theme of 2 John

The theme of the book is walking in the truth. “Truth” is referred to repeatedly: five times in the first four verses. However, John is not only talking about the truth as a body of truth, or something to be believed. Rather, he is showing the way the truth is to be lived out. He uses this phrase: “walking in truth.” 2 John 4 says, “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.” He repeats it again in 2 John 6: “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”

Why use something as simple as the term walking, as it is connected to the truth? Walk is a word of progress. When you walk, you move forward. John is saying that truth is not something that you arrive at. Rather, truth is something that we are to constantly. We are growing in our understanding of it and in our application of it.

We are to Walk in Truth Every Day

Walking in truth is something we must do all through life. There is no end to it. This matter of truth is not reserved for Sunday. After church, we may say, “We heard the truth preached today!” That is wonderful. Now walk in that truth. Do it consistently and continually.

John is rejoicing that this family was walking in the truth, and he is exhorting them to continue. 2 John 4 is in the past tense. They have been walking in the truth. However, 2 John 6 instructs them to keep doing it. Keep walking in the truth. The truth is the Word of God.

Walking in the Truth of Christ

Let me just speak as a father for a moment. John says, “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth…”. There is no joy quite like the joy of seeing your children follow Jesus Christ. That is not only true in your family, but it is also true in the family of God. To see new believers come and then obey Christ, and to see old believers take the next step. Are you doing that? Are you walking in truth?

Years ago, my pastor said, “I can tell you where you are stuck. You are stuck at the last place you refused to obey God.” Let me say it this way: You are stuck. You have stopped in your spiritual growth at the last place you refused to take the next step. Are you willing to walk in the truth, to take the next step in your Christian life? That is what the entire little book of 2 John is about.

Outline of 2 John

• 2 John 1-4 – the truth and our relationship to God
• 2 John 5-6 – the truth and our relationship to the church
• 2 John 7-9 –  the truth and our relationship to ourselves
• 2 John 10-11 – the truth and our relationship to deceivers in this world

The truth is going to affect every relationship you have in life. What relationship in your life today do you need to take the next step in? What relationship in your life do you need to walk in the truth today?

The truth is not just a thing. The truth is a person. Remember, Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). This book is about the doctrine of Christ. This book is about Who the Lord Jesus is. Jesus Christ ought to make a difference in the way you live.

Walk in Truth and Love

I want to point something interesting out to you. In this book on truth, there is also an emphasis on love. Notice in 2 John 4, he says, “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.” We have the commandment, and we have the truth. Wonderful. But notice in the same passage, he then talks about love. 2 John 5 says, “And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.” Truth and love always go together in God. (To access the Bible App plan ‘The Love of God‘, click HERE)

Some people claim to know the truth. In fact, they are very proud of it. They will tell you all the truth that they know. Yet, they do not speak with love, with charity, or with kindness. That is evidence that it is not of God. God’s way is in the words of Ephesians, “…speaking the truth in love…” (Ephesians 4:15). Christ was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The Lord Jesus was the embodiment of both truth and love.

Sometimes we get accused of being unloving. The most loving thing you can do is walk in the truth. The most loving thing you can do is share the truth with other people. It is because we love Christ and love the souls of men that we hold to revealed truth. This love is not some mushy, emotional sentimentality or shallow thing. No. It is deeply rooted in the truth of who Christ is. Because we love Him, and because we love the souls of men for whom Christ died, we must continue in the truth.

We must hold to the truth, walk in the truth, and speak the truth in love.

A Challenge to Walk in Truth

Are you adhering to the truth today? Are you walking in the truth at this moment? Is there any area of your life where you need to take the next step in the truth? If you are fully obeying God, that is wonderful. If so, are you sharing the truth with other people and doing it in a spirit of love?

So many people get turned off to the truth, not because of the truth, but because of the one who delivered it. The one who is ugly and unkind. As you read through 2 John, I think it is beautiful that the apostle of love is the one emphasizing truth. He is saying, it is not just what you say, it is how you say it. It is the way you live your life.

[Click HERE for a free Bible reading plan, Walking with Jesus – Thirty Days Through the Gospel Records]

Look to Yourselves

There is an amazing verse found in 2 John 8. It is the admonition there that we will end our journey through 2 John. The verse instructs us to simply look to yourselves. 2 John 8 says, “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”

Would you examine your own heart today? Would you look to yourselves, see yourselves through God’s eyes, and say with the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

You may be a preacher like John, or you may be a lady like this elect lady. You may be a young person like her children. Whoever you are, and wherever you are, would you look to yourselves today? Say to the Lord, “Lord, I want to walk in truth. I want to demonstrate it and speak about it in love in such a way that not only will I move forward on this journey, but I will bring others on the journey with me.”

That is the message of 2 John.

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About Scott Pauley

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Related Message: Truth for Life