2 John, Part 1: Walking in Truth and Love 

2 John 1:1-6 (BSB)

Today we are starting a two-part series on the book of 2 John. It is not long compared to most other books in the Bible, and it’s much shorter than its counterpart, 1 John. But the reason it is included as a separate book and not as a chapter within 1 or 3 John is because it is a stand-alone letter. Like all three of John’s letters, this is an invaluable letter, not only for the people he wrote it to, but for all of us believers today.

Let’s read the first six verses which we are looking at today, and then we will go back through it again, taking it a few verses at a time. 2 John 1:1-6 says:

1 The elder, 

To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth— 

2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

3 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.

4 I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.

5 And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 

6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.

Before we go back through this text, though, we really need to consider who this “chosen lady and her children” are because there are three different schools of thought regarding this letter. While this might seem overly academic for a sermon, it’s necessary that we consider all three, because each affects how we interpret all the things John has to say.

The first way of looking at this letter seems to be the historical way, which is that John is writing to a woman and her children, and some even believe her name to be Kyria, which is the Greek word for lady. In Thayer's Greek Lexicon for example, he says, "Cyria, a Christian woman to whom the second Ep. of John is addressed." There are also modern scholars who also believe this, but some of them say her name was “Electa" or "Eclecte." Regardless of her name, they all believe that John had recently seen some of her children and was writing to let this woman know this and to encourage her and her other children.

The second school of thought is that the “lady” is not a woman at all but rather a church and the children are members of the congregation. In the past, this idea was not widely accepted, although it seems that this idea has gained in popularity. 

Personally, I think there is a third way we ought to read this letter. I think it’s clear that John was writing to one woman, but I do not think the children are her natural children. I think they are fellow believers whom she is leading. As we go through this letter verse by verse, I think you’ll see why I’ve come to this conclusion.

Now, let’s read through it again, starting with verse 1. It says, “The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—.”

It’s generally understood that “the elder” is the Apostle John. I’m sure there are people who debate this, because there always seem to be dissenters, but given the language and style of writing, it seems obvious to me that even though he doesn’t give us his name, it is John. I also think it’s probable that he uses the term “elder” not as a title but as a descriptive of his old age.

I also think it’s worth pointing out that there is a note in the first edition of the KJV which says that this lady was “a certaine honourable matrone.” I think it’s very telling that back in 1611 the recipient of this letter was not being debated. So why do you think this is disputed today?

Is it because there are people who do not want to accept the idea that there were women who were house church leaders in the early church? So, to get around that fact, they teach that John is writing to a church whom he calls “the chosen lady”? These same people also think that in verse 13, when he says, “chosen sister,” he’s referring to yet another church.

As we study any verse or book of the Bible, we need to look at the whole of Scripture to help us interpret what we are reading. In this case, it’s important to know that nowhere else in the New Testament is a specific church referred to as a lady or sister. In John’s third epistle, he uses the word church three different times. That word is ekklesia, so why wouldn’t he have simply used that common word for this church if that was who he was writing to?

The other issue this also brings up is if the lady is a church, which by definition is a group of believers, then who are the children that John mentions? If that was the case, then he’s writing to a group of believers and another group of believers? That would be like writing a letter and saying, “Dear Community Bible Church and the people who attend Community Bible Church.” Maybe, you might say, but that makes sense because he’s writing to the leadership of the church and the people who attend. Okay, but does it make sense to call the leadership of the church a lady? Dear chosen lady and the people who attend you?

I think the most logical explanation is that the chosen lady was simply the leader of a house church. We see that in the use of pronouns John uses too, because when he addresses her, he uses singular pronouns and when addressing her and her “children,” he uses plural pronouns.

And that brings us to the other issue that needs addressing. The children that John mentions are most likely not this woman’s personal children, because if we look at all of John’s other letters, we see that he consistently refers to fellow believers as children, or as brothers and sisters. In his third epistle, which is unarguably written to a man named Gaius, there seems to be no debate about whether that man’s “children” are his physical offspring or spiritual progenies, so why would we think otherwise in this letter? I think it’s because people do not want to believe that there were women who hosted and led churches which met in their homes.

So now, let’s read verses 1-3 again, this time with the idea that the lady is leading her congregation. It says: “The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.”

After his brief introduction, John starts off by emphasizing truth and love. Multiple times he mentions these words. It sounds so much like 1 John, doesn’t it? One theme from that letter is the importance of testing the spirits to know if someone is speaking truth and loving their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

We can tell this topic is a continued focus of John’s. But that shouldn’t be surprising to us, for it was the focus of Jesus’ ministry. He’s simply echoing what Jesus said in John 8:31b-32, which is, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus also said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” And remember how Jesus summarized the commandments down to two things. He said in Mark 12:30-31, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

All throughout John’s Epistles, he is expounding on the importance of these commands. He’s emphasizing that believers must hold to the truth and love God and each other. Really, you could boil all three of his letters down to these two things: truth and love.

That is why he declares to this lady and her congregation that he loves them in truth. It is only because of the truth which abides in him and all believers that we can all have fellowship with God and with each other. And not just now, but for all eternity, as John mentions. He says the truth will abide with us forever.  

Then he adds, in verse 4, “I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.”

This verse tells us that John’s letter might be a response to a letter he received from her, in which she mentioned how her “children” are doing. Or it could be that he was physically with these “children” of hers and discovered this information for himself. Either way, it seems to be in light of this discovery of information that he is writing to her.

Now, the people in the first school of thought think this sentence is concrete proof that these children are the woman’s actual children, and they also think this verse means that only some of them were Christians. But if he was in the physical presence of some of her children, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those whose presence he was not in were not walking in the truth. Couldn’t that simply mean that he was with some of her children and was overjoyed that they were walking in the truth?

But I actually think this verse is more proof that the children John mentions are not her physical offspring. If these children were her literal children, I don’t know why John would be taking the time to write to a random woman and her kids. If he is speaking about her and her kids, then she and all her children must have had very important roles in the early church. I think it’s more likely that John met some of the people who attend her home church, and they possibly told him about some of the problems they were having with other people who attend her church, and that is why he is writing this letter. Because look at what he says next.

He says in verse 5, “And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.” John’s use of the word “urge” tells us that he is concerned. If not, it seems he would have said a word like “commend.” But he uses “urge,” which is the Greek word erótaó and it means, “To ask, to request, to entreat.” This phrasing is almost identical to what he wrote to the Christians in his first letter about. 1 John 2:7 says, “Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.”

Then, in verse 6, in typical John fashion of reiterating his point, he says, “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.”

The way that we love one another is by walking according to God’s commandments. Just as truth does not change, God’s commandments have not changed. John says, it is the commandment “we have had from the beginning” and it has not changed. It is not as if things are different now. No, we are still to obey the commandments. When we obey these commandments of God, then, by default, we will end up loving one another.

Like John in his other letter, this is something that I, too, have talked about many times before in these sermons. Also, like John, I will mention it again, for it is that important. When we follow God’s commandments and love Him with all our hearts, not placing any idols before Him, and when we love each other the way we love ourselves, then we are going to be kind to each other. We won’t harm anybody. We won’t steal, dishonor our parents, or betray our spouse. We will be true to our word and help one another. That is how we show love. And God’s instructions on how we are to live in such a way that we please Him have not changed.

Since John felt it necessary to write, obviously some people who were a part of her church were not doing this. Maybe only some of them “were walking in the truth.” This is a problem. This was going to harm the church. He’d seen that happen in the past, and it led to people leaving the faith. That’s why he writes with such urgency. 

All these words that John writes, they are all selected on purpose. He began this letter by saying, “To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.”

Because John knows the truth, and because the truth abides in him, he loves this woman and the other believers. But it’s only because he abides in the truth about Jesus Christ that he is able to love her in truth. And so, when he tells her, “you must walk in love,” he’s urging her to hold to this truth.

In other words, he’s telling her that she already knows this commandment. She knows what Jesus said, which is that to follow Him we must walk according to His commandments. She knows that the greatest commandment is that we must love one another. And so, John is reminding her: the way to follow Jesus is by keeping the commandments and walking in love. Love is obeying the commandments.  

We all know this truth too, don’t we? We’ve all heard this message before. But I think we all need some urging, just like this lady did, don’t you agree? I don’t know about you, but I think this is a letter that all churches should be reading on a weekly basis. We all need to really hear what John is saying. If we want to walk in truth and love, we must walk according to God’s commandments.

Much in this letter is a repeat of what John said in 1 John. This tells me that not only is John consistent in his message, but so is the Word of God. That’s because God’s truth endures. Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” God’s word is the truth, and the truth will last. It won’t fade away or be disproven. Truth cannot be changed. That is why Scripture also says that the Bible won’t change. The things of God last forever. As John says, God’s truth will be with us forever.

This should be a comfort to us. In a world that is chock full of misinformation, deception, and outright lies, we can be thankful that the Word of God will be with us forever. The devil has always tried to control information, for he knows that once people hear the truth, they won’t be so easy to deceive anymore. Whether it was 2000 years ago, 500 years ago, or today, I think one of the devil’s favorite tactics in his efforts to control people is to keep people from hearing the truth. He used to keep people from reading the Bible by keeping people illiterate. That way, the only Scripture a common person could hear was whatever was spoken to them by a priest. Did you know priests used to preach in Latin, but most people didn’t understand Latin and couldn’t even understand what they were saying? We have Martin Luther to thank for translating the Bible into German so that people could finally read it for themselves.

I wanted to be sure my memory wasn’t incorrect about the practice of preaching in Latin, so I did a search on the internet about Latin Mass, and on a website called catholic.com I found an article that was attempting to justify the Latin Mass and, not only did that confirm that fact, but the Catholics are not bothered by this. In fact, in their attempt to dispel myths about Latin spoken services, I found this information. They said, “For those who were literate, Bible reading without proper guidance was discouraged, out of concern they might misinterpret Scripture and go astray from Christ and his Church. But there was never a categorical ban on reading by the lay faithful, contrary to some myths.”(https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-mass-in-latin-before-reformation)

Though there wasn’t an outright “ban” on reading Scripture, they admit they wanted to keep people from reading it for themselves. I think the mindset that thinks people need help to understand God’s Word is the height of arrogance. God’s Word is alive and active. Everything in it is useful for instruction. It is how we learn about God. Any attempt to limit people’s ability to read it sounds like a strategy of the devil and is not God’s intention for His Word.

All that to say, if the devil can keep people ignorant, then he is winning. Our greatest tool against the devil is when we become equipped with God’s Word. We are told in Ephesians 6:10-17 to put on the full armor of God so we can stand against the devil’s lies. If we don’t know God’s Word, how will we combat the lies? We are instructed to wrap truth around us, like a belt. This truth does not change. As much as society, culture, fads, habits, or customs change over the years or centuries, truth does not change. Truth will be with us forever.

We don’t know what specifically was happening to cause John to write this letter. But I am so thankful he did. We can read this letter, and each of his other ones, and see ourselves in it. If we could sit down with the elder John and talk with him, after meeting with us, what kind of letter would he write?

Would he tell us to obey God’s commands? Would he urge us to love one another? Would he need to remind us to walk in truth and love?

He’s not physically here to influence us in person. But his letter is the model of how we should talk and encourage each other, because he’s reflecting the truth and love that he learned first-hand from Jesus. Let us read it as though he wrote it directly to each of us. Let us be encouraged to obey God’s Word and walk in truth and love.

Next week, we will go through the second half of this letter and see how John instructs this lady to solve the problem the church is having, but before we conclude, I want us to look again at what verse 6 says, “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.”

As you go through this week, ask yourself, “Am I obeying God’s commandments? Am I walking in love?”

Pray: Heavenly Father, as we read Your Word, we see Your clear message to walk in truth and love. Please forgive us for the times when we have failed to do this. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to walk in love the way that Jesus demonstrated for us. Help us to love one another as You have loved us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.