2 John - Free Bible Commentary in easy English (2024)

How to live in the truth

An EasyEnglish BibleVersion and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of 2 John

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Ian Mackervoy

This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

1. Writer

At the start of the letter, the writer calls himself the‘*elder’. There are three ways that we can use the word ‘*elder’. It could meanthat the person was old. It could mean that the people respected him as amature man. Here it means that the writer is a leader in the church. Each localchurch had its leaders who were the ‘elders’. But the writer was an *elder overall the churches in a large area.

Much of this letter is like John’s first letter. It seems thatthe same author wrote both letters. Most people believe that the *apostle Johnwrote all three of John’s letters. He lived, and was a leader in the church, inthe city called Ephesus.

2. The lady whom God has chosen

John wrote to the lady whom God has chosen and to her children.There are two opinions as to who the ‘lady’ was.

Some people say that she was a real person. If so, maybe she wasa widow. John does not refer to her husband. She had many children. Some ofthem lived as Christians (verse 4) and some did not. Perhaps John called her‘lady’ because she was an important person in her town.

But most Bible teachers say that the ‘lady’ was in fact the localchurch. The style of John’s letter seems to show that he was writing to achurch. It was normal to speak about cities or towns as if they were female.So, the lady whom God has chosen could mean the local church. Her children werethe church members. John also writes about her sister whom God has chosen(verse 13). That would mean the church where John was. The house (verse 10)would be the place where the church met. This is because they did not have aseparate church building.

We cannot be sure whether the ‘lady’ was a person or the church.But what the letter teaches is good for us all.

3. Background

In the early days of the church, there were teachers whotravelled from place to place. As they went, they taught the people aboutJesus. It was the duty of the church members to receive these teachers intotheir homes. The church members gave the teacher whatever he needed. Theylooked after the teacher until he went to the next place. When he went, theyblessed him.

The problem was that some of the teachers taught false things.Many of them had wrong ideas about Jesus. They did not agree that Christ becamea real man. They taught that the Christ did not really die for us. They saidthat Jesus died as a man and not as Christ. They denied the truth that Jesus isChrist, the Son of God.

John said that such teachers were not real Christians. He saidthat they were against Christ. What they taught about Jesus was not true. Theytried to damage the church by what they taught.

4. Purpose

John warned the church about the false teachers. He told the churchmembers not to accept these men into their homes. The church should not allowthem to teach. If the church members greeted the false teachers, the churchmembers were helping the false teachers. The church must be careful to obey thetrue message of Jesus. They must love each other and live in the truth. Theword truth means the true message that they had received. They believed inJesus and what he has done. They must separate themselves from everyone whodenied the truth about Jesus.

Shape of the letter

v1 From the *elder to the lady whom God has chosenand to her children. I love you in the *truth. I am not the only one who lovesyou. All those who know the *truth love you. v2 We love because of the*truth, which lives in us. The *truth will be with us always. v3 God theFather and his Son, Jesus Christ will be kind to us. And they will have pity onus. The Father and the Son will cause us to be calm. The Father and the Sonbless us in *truth and love.

Verse 1 John wrote this letter from the city called Ephesus,where he lived. He was an *elder, that is a leader, in the church there. He wasa leader of the churches in that region as well. He wrote to the lady whom Godhad chosen to belong to God. She and her children knew John well. We know thisbecause John just called himself ‘the *elder’. They knew who was writing tothem.

‘The lady whom God has chosen’ was probably a church. ‘Herchildren’ were the members of that church. John loved that church and itsmembers. He told them that he loved them in the *truth. Jesus is the *truth.All who know Jesus are in the *truth. John loved them because they believed inChrist. They were to John as brothers and sisters. All who knew the *truth ofthe *gospel loved them as well. All the Christians loved them.

Verse 2 The reason for their love was that the *truth lived inthem. The *truth gives people an inner desire to love. They loved each otherbecause of the *truth that they shared.

*Truth is more than what we know. Truth lives in us and itchanges us. Truth becomes part of us and it will be in us always.

The *truth is that they knew the *Lord Jesus Christ. They trustedin him. They shared the life that the *Lord gives. He gives it to those whobelieve the *gospel. This *truth becomes part of them and it lives in them.This is the *truth. Those who accept the *Lord Jesus have *eternal life.

Verse 3 We do not deserve anything from the *Lord. But God willdo good things for us, his people. He will show how kind he is toward us. Heloves us and he will help us in all our troubles. He is ready to forgive us forour *sins. God will make our hearts calm even when we have troubles. We willhave a good relationship with God.

God the Father and his Son will bless us. There is only one God.The Father and the Son are equal persons with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ isthe Son of the Father. This shows the unity that there is between them. TheFather and the Son are two persons in the one God. The false teachers taughtthat Jesus was less than God. But John shows that Jesus is the Christ. He isGod the Son.

All God’s gifts are truthful. God gives his gifts to us becausehe loves us. To receive God’s gifts we must believe him. We know that he istrue. And we must love him.

v4 I was so happy to find some of your children whoare living in the *truth. The Father told us that we should live like this. v5Now I ask you, dear lady, that we all love each other. I am not writing to youa new command but the one that we have had from the beginning. v6 Inorder to love, we must obey God. We do what he has told us to do. That is thecommand that you have heard from the beginning. You must obey that command.

Verse 4 John may have met some of her children. Or perhapssomeone had brought news about them to him. (The ‘children’ probably meansmembers of the church.) John was glad to find that some of them were living inthe *truth. (That is, they were living their lives loyal to God’s *truth.) Butit seems that some did not live in the *truth. Maybe there was trouble in thechurch and some members had left.

To live in the *truth we must first believe in the *truth. Thetruth is that Jesus Christ had come to earth as a man. He was God then, and heis always God. But he also became a man. He died for us so we could come to Godthrough him. We must believe this and give our lives to him.

To live in the *truth we must live our lives loyal to God’s*truth. He shows us this *truth in Jesus. To live in the *truth is to obey God.We must do what he has shown to us. *Truth is like a path along which we walk.We would not wander from a good path, so we must not neglect God’s commands.

God the Father has told us to follow the *truth. We must obey thecommand that he has given to us. His command is that we must believe in Jesusas the Son of God. We must also love each other.

Verse 5 John now comes to the main subject of his letter. This ishow they should live in the *truth. He asks them to love each other. But thisis a polite command. He expects that they will obey him. He tells them thatthey must love each other. This rule is for all those who believe in Christ.

If we love God, we must love his people. If we do not love God’speople then we do not love God. Love is the test of the *truth. If we do notlove, we are not living in the *truth.

John is not giving them a new command. The command to love wasthere when they first heard the *gospel. It was also the first command of theold law. A man asked Jesus to select the most important command. Jesus repliedthat you must love the *Lord your God. And you must love your neighbour as youlove yourself (Mark 12:30-31). Jesus did give us as a new command that weshould love each other. He told us how we should love. We should love as heloved us (John 13:34).

Verse 6 To love is to obey the command of God. We must expressour love by obeying God. If we do not obey God, we do not have real *faith ortrue love. We should love him and love each other. If we love God, we will obeyhis commands. When we obey God, we show our love for him.

This is the command that these Christians had heard. They shouldlove God and they should love each other.

v7 Many false teachers have gone into the world. Theysay that Jesus Christ did not come to this world as a man. Such persons do nottell the truth. They are false Christs. v8 Watch and be careful. Do notlose that for which you worked. Instead, make sure that you receive the wholereward. v9 Nobody who adds his own ideas to the message of Christ hasGod. Instead, continue to live as Christ taught. Then you will have both theFather and the Son. v10 Someone may come to you who teaches a differentmessage. Do not invite that person into your house! Do not even greet him! v11All who greet such persons share in their evil deeds.

Verse 7 You must love each other because many false teachers arein the world. In the days of John, men told people about Jesus as they wentfrom one place to another. Among these, some were false teachers. They wereonce members of the church but they had left it. The false teachers acted as ifthey were true Christians. But they taught against the *truth.

When John wrote this letter, there were many false teachers.These men argued that Jesus was not always the Son of God. They did not thinkthat Jesus was both God and man through his whole life. So they taught thatJesus was an ordinary man. And they taught that Jesus became the Christ onlyfor a short time.

Since John’s letter, there have been many more false teachers inthe churches. Some false teachers teach that Jesus was never a real man. Theymight teach that Jesus was an angel. (That is, a servant of God from heaven.See Hebrews 1.) Some other false teachers do not teach that Jesus died for us.And other false teachers say that Jesus was merely a man. They refuse tobelieve that Jesus is God.

These are terrible ideas, because they oppose the Bible’smessage. If people believe such ideas, they cannot trust Jesus to save them fromtheir *sins. Everyone needs to know the truth about Jesus.

Verse 7 contains a simple test for all teachers in churches. Allteachers should teach that Jesus Christ came as a man. This means that:

· Jesus was a man (Philippians 2:6-8;Hebrews 2:11). So the devil could test Jesus. But Jesus did not *sin. He alwaysobeyed God (1 Peter 1:19). And Jesus is still a man, in heaven. So Jesus knowsour problems and our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). And he cares for us.

· Jesus is the Christ, whom Godappointed to save us from our *sins. But a mere man could not be the Christ. Amere man could not save us from our *sins (Romans 3:10-12). So we know thatJesus is also God the Son (Hebrews 1:3). With God the Father and the HolySpirit, Jesus created the world (John 1:1). But there are not three Gods. Thereis only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). So Jesus is completely God (Colossians 2:9).

False teachers oppose Jesus Christ and speak lies about him. Theyhave become the servants of the devil. They are enemies of Christ. John callsthem false Christs.

When the Christians really love each other, they will see who thefalse ones are. So, their love is like a guard against false Christians.

Verse 8 John warns the Christians about the risks if they accepta false message. They must protect themselves from that danger. They need totest the source of what they hear.

What the false teachers say may sound good. They teach theirmessage so well that it seems to be true. Unless we test it with care, we mightbelieve it as the *truth. If we were to believe it, we would suffer loss. Wewould lose all that for which the *apostles and teachers had worked. We wouldnot be able to grow in the *truth if we believed lies.

We must believe the *truth about the *Lord Jesus Christ and wemust love each other. There are rewards for those who remain true to Christ.John is eager that we should not lose these rewards. He wants us to have*eternal life and all the promises of God. So, we must refuse all that isfalse. We must receive all that God has for us.

Verse 9 The false teachers thought that they had new knowledge.This replaced what the *apostles taught. The false teachers said that theirmessage was new and different. And their message really was a new idea. But itwas a wrong idea. They had added their own idea to the *truth. They had changedthe *truth into what is false.

They did not continue to teach what Jesus Christ had taught. Theydid not believe the *truth about Jesus as the Christ. They denied that Jesuswas always the Son of God. And they tried to lead other people away from the*truth by what they taught. They changed the *truth. And they did not do asChrist said. They did not live in *truth and love as he wanted.

Many people, like these false teachers, do not believe whatChrist taught. They do not obey what Jesus said. So, they cannot know God. Theydo not have the life that Christ gives. They do not live with God.

We can come to God only through Jesus Christ. We must believe thetruth about him and trust in him. This is how we know the *Lord Jesus. Wecannot know the Father unless we know the Son. When we know the Son, then weknow the Father as well. This is *eternal life. The *Lord gives *eternal lifeto those who trust in him.

Verses 10-11. We should give strangers a welcome to our churchesand our homes. But we must be careful and not give a welcome to false teachers.The purpose of their visit is to teach errors. So, we should not give them achance to teach. If false teachers come to the house (or the church), we shouldnot let them in. We should not even greet them. If we greet them, we share intheir evil task. If we help them, it is against our own church and againstChrist. We should not greet them when they arrive. And we should not bless themwhen they go.

v12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want touse paper and ink. I am hoping to visit you and to talk with you in person.Then we shall spend time together and have much joy. v13 The children ofyour sister, whom God chose, greet you.

Verse 12 John had much more that he wanted to say to theseChristians. He decided that he would not write these things to them in aletter. He would rather speak about these things when he came. He was hopingthat he would be able to visit soon. It would be better to talk about thesethings when they were together.

There is joy when friends meet each other. John was eager to cometo them and to enjoy their company.

Verse 13 ‘The lady whom God has chosen’ (verse 1) probably meanta church. Her ‘sister’ was probably also a church. The members of the church,where John was, sent their greetings. John called these members ‘children’. Godchose these people because they believed in Jesus. And God has chosen everyonewho believes in the *Lord Jesus. Every Christian is special to God.

apostle ~ someone whom God sends; especially one of the 12men that Jesus chose to be his helpers.

baptism ~ a ceremony when a person washes with water as asign that he wants to obey God.

elder ~ a leader of the church.

eternal ~ without end.

faith ~ when we believe what God teaches.

gospel ~ the good news about Jesus.

Lord ~ name for God in the Bible; name that we use forJesus when we obey him; a title for Jesus, to show that he is over all.

sin ~ to sin is to do wrong, bad or evil things; not toobey God. Sins are the wrong things that we do or think.

‘truth’ ~ the truth that God has shown to Christians.

Glen W Barker ~ The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

Stephen S Smalley ~ World Biblical Commentary

J R W Stott ~ The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries

R J Drummond and Leon Morris ~ The New Bible Commentary (IVF)

Exegetical Summaries ~ SIL

W E Vine ~ Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Bibles:

NIV, RSV, NRSV, KJV, MKJV, ASV, TEV, CEV

A Marshall ~ The Interlinear Greek New Testament

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

April 2005

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