You live in a post-Christian world, so beware of those who deceive!
2nd John (NIV)
1 The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 29: The Marks of the True Church
The true church can be recognized
if it has the following marks:
The church engages in the pure preaching
of the gospel;
it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments
as Christ instituted them;
it practices church discipline
for correcting faults.
As for the false church,
it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances
than to the Word of God;
it does not want to subject itself
to the yoke of Christ;
it does not administer the sacraments
as Christ commanded in his Word;
it rather adds to them or subtracts from them
as it pleases;
it bases itself on men,
more than on Jesus Christ;
it persecutes those
who live holy lives according to the Word of God
and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry.
These two churches
are easy to recognize
and thus to distinguish
from each other.
Summary
What a beautiful opening to this short letter. There's so many ways John could refer to himself: the beloved disciple of Jesus, an apostle, or even the Revealer (John wrote the book of Revelation). Yet he calls himself by a title that's both simple and profound: the elder (lit: presbyteros), which refers both to his age - he's quite old by this point - and his position in the church.
The letter is written to the lady, chosen by God and to her children. But which lady, and where does she live? John's not writing to any one woman in particular, he's writing to the Lady (lit: curia) that is the Church, and to you - children of the Church. In other words, he's writing to the beloved bride of Christ, and her children.
John writes this letter because he knows the Church is in constant danger. After all, he's the one who wrote Revelation 12, which tells the amazing story of the dragon pursuing the lady and waging war against her children! So he warns her (and us) to watch out for deceivers who subtly point people away from Christ (v7). He doesn't want us to "lose what we have worked for, but that we may be rewarded fully" (v8).
John warns each of us: Don't "run ahead [of the church] and not continue in the teaching of Christ." Such people, John says, "do not have God." He goes on to command you to not take such people "into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work" (v10-11).
This short letter packs a big punch!
Dig Deeper
Chances are you grew up in a good, safe environment. Many of us can remember the days when we were young and the only instruction our parents gave us was to be back home before dark. All of the people we might encounter throughout the day were likely Christians or at least had biblically based morals. We'd probably be ok.
Now attitudes have changed, because we're all more aware of the danger lurking around the corner. Many of our neighbors operate according to a very different worldview, and even if the house down the street appears fine, it might not be a edifying environment for Christian children. So parents are now much more vigilant.
This is the attitude that John, this very old apostle who's seen so much in his life, and our Confession, which is summarizing the entire Bible, want to convey to you. You live in a pluralistic world full of all different kinds of people and churches and many of them are good and trustworthy, but some are not and can inflict eternal hurt upon you and others.
You can't remove yourself from this post-Christian environment; this is where God has placed you. So beware! And certainly "don't share in their wicked work!" But also know that God's Lady and her children have always been in danger, but yet He's always kept them, which includes you, safely in His hands.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who chose His Church and her children;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for wisdom to live in an environment in which so many people and even churches are working to deceive;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 John 4
