Chapter 22
2 John 1:8-11
2 John 1:8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
John instructed that we are to walk in truth and love since a Christian’s life should always resemble something like our Lord’s. We simply cannot embrace hatred or unlawful profit nor should we lie or cheat. These are a few examples of things that are contrary to God and what Jesus taught us to avoid. Why is our behavior so important? Who we are, how we live, and what we say, all give tangible evidence to others that we are different and have a real life-changing relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. John is reminding us that there are people who have gone out in the world with the intention of deceiving. The Bible warns that many of these deceivers (false brothers) will come from within the church including its leadership (read 2 Corinthians 6:14-15; 11:26; Galatians 2:4-5; Acts 20:29-30; Matthew 7:15).
As a result of this kind of intentional deception going on, John warns us to watch out so that we may not lose our rewards. The word ‘lose’ in this verse is the Greek word, ‘apollymi’, meaning something that has been destroyed, making the reward no longer available (not something that is later found). Note also that John is not talking about our salvation, he uses the phrase, “we have worked for” (Greek word for work is ‘ergazomai’), John would have been the first person to remind us that we simply cannot do ‘work’ to gain our salvation (see John 6:37-40; Romans 5:1; 8:1, 28-39; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 1:4). He is taking about our receiving a reward for our obedience. The concept of receiving rewards for obedience to God often confuses (since we should be obeying because we love Him) and can upset some Christians. However, regardless of our feelings, the Bible does teach that believers can and do receive rewards (read 1 Corinthians 3:1-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Revelation 22:12) and John is concerned that unfaithful believers may forfeit some of these rewards that they would otherwise receive for their faithfulness. Those deceivers will attempt to disqualify us from our rewards just as Paul warned in his letter to Colossae, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, NKJV)
2 John 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
John on several occasions has called us to ‘abide’ (Greek word ‘menō’ meaning to remain or continue) in the Lord (John uses the term 27 times in just his three epistles). Here he is calling our attention to the need to remain in the teaching of Jesus and that if any believer is not abiding in His teaching, that person does not have God (see 1 John 2:23). However, if we do abide in Jesus’ teaching we have both the Father and the Son (see John 14:23).
Since the extension of hospitality can be viewed as a form of endorsement of a person’s teaching, John warns that we need to be careful how we receive other people, especially if they are false teachers or promote any doctrine contrary to the Word of God. John says we are not to joyfully greet (Greek word ‘chairō’ meaning to rejoice or be glad) such a person. As Christians, we have a responsibility to know the truth of God’s Word. Paul wrote about the need for church leaders to know the truth, to know right from wrong and to have the ability to discern correct teaching from false teaching and be able to teach themselves (read 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:9). Paul also wrote that all believers need to be watchful (read Romans 16:17; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14; Titus 3:10).
2 John 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
John, by using the conditional word ‘if’, followed by the phrase, “comes to you” in verse ten, ties this issue to the letter’s recipient, the “chosen” or “elect” lady, making this undoubtedly the central lesson of the epistle. This verse essentially says that if anyone comes to you and does not accept or denies the teaching of Jesus, do not receive them into your life to teach or influence yourself or others. John continues next with a very firm warning, “for whoever greets” (Greek phrase, “legō chairō”, referring to wish joy or in the context of this verse, accept blindly and allow erroneous teaching or even potential influence), takes part in their wicked (evil) ways. That doesn’t mean we should be rude or abruptly cut off our interaction with others, we can still be courteous, kind and loving, however we certainly cannot endorse, render support or in any way promote false teaching or sinful act (see Jude 1:25). Simply stated, we cannot be perceived in any way to be endorsing their teaching. If we know that someone or some group is wrong or is teaching contrary to God’s Word, we are to depart from them.
Irenaeus (130-202 AD), a bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (currently Lyon, France) wrote in his multi-volume work, “Against Heresies” (Book III, chapter 3), “There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.””[1] While we may not need to run out of a building because some false teacher is inside or call someone the “first-born of Satan” (also stated as an example in Irenaeus’ book, same chapter), when we encounter someone who is not a Christian, we need to recognize the importance of our witness to others when we are in the company of deceivers and false teachers. We need to stand firm in both love and the truth.
God has us in this world right now, today, a world influenced by forces against God (see John 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 5:19), however, we are not to consider this world as our home (see John 17:14-15). All Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus and since He gave each of us a command to, “go and make disciples,” (see Matthew 28:18-20) we must interact with those who do not believe in Jesus. While this is not easy in any sense, we must daily deny the attractions of this world to focus on the mission that Jesus calls us to do. Paul would remind us that this cannot be done on our own, we need to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, a transformation that only God can do for us (see Romans 12:1-2). How do we interact with others while standing firm in Jesus? To understand how we must first understand who we are.
Even though the phrase, “the priesthood of all believers,” is often attributed to Peter’s instructions given to all Christians in his first epistle (read 1 Peter 2:4-11), the concept of being both kings and priests for God is certainly not an obscure teaching of the Bible. The reason I say it this way, is that it has been my experience that many Christians have not been heard or been taught this fundamental truth. Simply put, while on earth we have a job to do! Martin Luther often taught about the universal priesthood, saying that we are all priests, prophets and ambassadors for Christ.[2] He explained that through our faith in Jesus Christ, each Christian was on equal footing and that there were no “lesser callings.” It was his intention to remove the wall between clergy (vocational ministers) and laity (all other believers), the Reformation accomplished this to a point. Unfortunately, many denominations and church groups have rebuilt those walls, often leaving evangelism and Bible teaching strictly in the hands of “trained professionals.” Paul would remind us that the purpose of the church is to, “equip the saints for the works of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). Notice that Paul is saying it is our (that includes every Christian) job, regardless of our ‘vocation’, to be ministers for God. The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin word ‘voca’, meaning “to call.” Luther and the other reformers understood that our vocations, whether sacred or secular, to be callings by God to assist in His care for people here on Earth.
So coming back to the question of how do we interact with others while still maintaining integrity in Jesus, we should always be “plugged in” to God. Unimaginable power is available to us, supernatural power, but unless we are connected to God we are wasting our time, so as Paul would put it, pray continually (read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Next, we need to recognize that God places us we are to be as His ambassadors, we are to represent Christ wherever we are. No that doesn’t mean that we get diplomatic immunity and sit back expecting to be served! As Luther once said regarding our representation of Christ on earth, “Don’t be lazy or idle, but don’t rely solely on your own work and doings. Get busy and work, and yet expect everything from God alone.” That is to say: Everything must be done in faith and trust in God.”[3]
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[1] Irenaeus of Lyons. (1885). Irenæus against Heresies. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 416). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
[2] Martin Luther (1523-4), The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude: Preached and Explained. Translated, with preface and notes, E.H. Gillett. New York, NY: Anson D.F. Randolph, (1859)
[3] Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 14: Selected Psalms III. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 14, p. 115). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.