2 John 1:1-3

E.

Translation and Comments

1.

Salutation. 2 John 1:1-3

(2 John 1:1) The old one to an elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all the ones having come to know the truth, (2 John 1:2) on account of the truth which is remaining in us, and which with us shall be into eternity. (2 John 1:3) Grace shall be with us, mercy and peace from God as Father, and according to Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Old one translates presbuteros. The term is often used elsewhere in the New Testament to designate the elders of the church. Here John uses it merely to call attention to his age and experience.

The key word here is alethia, truth. John loves the elect lady in truth. So also do those who have come to know the truth. The reason for their love is the truth which is remaining in us, and which will be with us into eternity.

II John, as I John, contains a warning against the danger of gnosticism inherent in associating with gnostics. The warning is issued in love. It is because of his personal love for the church, which is shared by all those who have come to know the truth, that he must warn her of the error that stalks her path. For a discussion of the word agape (love) see above on 1 John 2:15-17.

This is not the love of sentiment, nor of selfish gain. John loves the church because for some sixty years and more he has deliberately chosen to give himself to Christ. No one can love Christ and not love the church. (See 1 John 3:14-ff) So in a real sense John had given himself to the church as well.

Sentimental love, or selfish ambition might prevent such a warning. It is much more popular to be tolerant of error than to try to correct it. Sentiment might dictate a less stern stand against falsehood.
A French proverb says, There are times when to be only kind is to be not even kind. John demonstrates, in his firmness motivated by love, that the sort of kindness which in our day answers to tolerance is not a manifestation of real Christian love in the presence of error.
This warning of love against error grows out of John's firm persuasion that there is such a thing as objective truth, and that that truth has been revealed in Jesus as the eternal Word become flesh. All else is false. It is within the sphere of this reality that John proclaims his love. His love is shared by all those who have come to know and who still hold fast to the truth revealed by God in Christ.
Such dogmatic convictions concerning truth and falsehood are, in our day, to say the least unpopular. It is very typical of the sophistry of today's pseudo-intellectual to say nothing is black or white. Everything, we are told, is to be found in the gray area between black and white. Truth is relative; nothing is absolute.
No one would willingly return to the prejudicial pronouncements of anathama against all those who disagree with some sectarian doctrine, which were so typical of past ages. However, there is a real need to remind ourselves that unless there were real black and real white there could be no gray. Unless there be objective truth and falsehood there can be no in-between.
The idea that there is an in-between gray area between the truth of Christ and the error of gnosticism would indeed be repugnant to John. The idea that compromise between revealed truth and human philosophy represents the true Christian position in the twentieth century ought to be a repugnant to us.
The truth concerning the nature of sin, the fundamental necessity of love and the deity of Christ Jesus is transcendent reality. Such reality is from everlasting to everlasting. Man's pragmatic understanding of himself may shift from one base to another as psychology and its related fields of learning become more and more sophisticated. Man's knowledge of his environment swings from one theory to another as science probes deeper into the microcosm and the macrocosm of the universe.
The fundamental nature of the transcendent God does not change. The identity of His Son does not change. The soul made in His image does not change. The key role of love in both divine and human relationships does not change. The nature of sin and guilt do not change.
These truths are eternal! remaining in us and with us into eternity.
Within the scope of revealed reality, the grace of God is poured out in mercy and its effect is peace.
Perhaps a word should be said about grace. The word charis (grace) means: (1) objectively, that which causes favorable regard and (2) subjectively, unearned and unmerited favor, universally and freely given. The grace of God is that within God which causes those who know Him to cry out hallowed be Thy Name! Grace in this sense is seen in the claim, God is light, and again in the claim, God is love.

As the grace of God expresses itself toward us it takes the form of mercy. God is absolute perfection. There is no darkness in Him at all. (1 John 1:5) The very best man can hope to accomplish is a relative goodness which falls far short of the glory of God. Thus the problem of sin is universal. (Cf. Romans 3:23) The supreme message of divine revelation is the grace of God expressed in mercy and love to lost humanity.

Sin, in its deepest sense, is not merely the breaking of God's commandments, it is the breaking of His heart. It is a crime against love more than law.
A crime against law can be paid for by the exacting of the penalty of law. Not so a crime against love. The only thing that can ever atone for a crime against love is that the one offended take the initiative and forgive. This requires that mercy supersede justice.

So it is that God, whose heart has been broken by man's sin, has in mercy taken the initiative in man's redemption. (Cf. Romans 9:15-ff) God's grace provided salvation while we were dead in trespasses and sins. (Cf. Ephesians 2:1-10) Justice was tempered by the mercy of Calvary.

This divine, unmerited favor, poured out on those who will receive it, finds its intended end in peace. This is not peace as the world knows peace. It is contentment which comes from bringing our lives into the light of God's truth and allowing Him to order them according to it. (Cf. Philippians 4:11) It is the peace which comes from the ever-present awareness that the Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:4-7) It rests in the assurance that No water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies!

Far from being the opiate of the people to lull Christians into the grasp of those who would enslave and exploit, Christian peace is the calm assurance which allows the Christian to overcome in any earthly circumstance because he has learned from Christ that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:31-39)

Mercy, which issues from the grace of God finds its end in the peace that passeth all understanding. It not only originates in God as Father, but is according to Jesus Christ the Son of the Father. Justice and mercy are reconciled in the cross.
It is small wonder that a world which has for a generation tried to disprove the deity of Jesus by undermining the inspiration of the divine record of the incarnation and which now has decided that God is dead, finds itself in the shadow of universal vaporization by nuclear war, its mental institutions overflowing, and its society in turmoil.