God's Word for You (Thursday, Jul 22, 2010)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
2 John 9-13
I will be out of town until Tuesday July 27th. Please accept these devotions on the concluding verses of 2 John until I return.
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.
In our text above, John warns his people to watch out, so they will not lose what they have worked for. We have worked very hard to stay faithful to the Scriptures. This has meant troubled times in the past, but it has also opened up new doors to fellowship with churches throughout the world.
When we are tempted to give up a teaching of the Bible for the sake of getting along, because we are drawn by some new or novel temptation, or because we think the Bible’s language is old fashioned, we need to remember that God’s Word does not change. Human nature does not change. The world is steeped in sin, and the only way out of that sin is through the blood of Jesus. But his forgiveness also does not change: Your sins are paid for—in full. And that means forever.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. (NIV)
What is “this teaching” mentioned by John? Looking carefully at the whole letter, we see that John urged these believers to be especially careful about “the teaching of (or about) Christ” (verse 9), and perhaps especially the teaching that Jesus is both true God (“the Father’s son” verse 4) and true man (“Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” verse 7). These two truths cover the whole teaching or doctrine of Jesus Christ, from the reason we needed Jesus to come in the flesh down to the glorious and certain promise of the resurrection from the dead.
These verses do not prohibit us from greeting or speaking to people of other faiths—even in our own homes. The context of the letter places us within the mission practices of the late First and early Second centuries, when missionaries received almost no financial support but were dependent on the hospitality of the people among whom they preached. “Since missionaries were dependent on the hospitality of fellow Christians, hospitality to false teachers would be equal to furthering false doctrine” (Concordia Study Bible p. 1933).
Supporting the work of someone who does not believe or teach what the Bible says is something the Bible forbids. And there may even be times when it is not easy to know whether a person, even a whole denomination, is preaching the true Word of God. But the more we practice a living fellowship with one another the easier it will become to be discerning, and to see when our fellowship is a joy to be shared, and when it is a door to be guarded.
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 chosen sister send their greetings. (NIV)
John finishes this letter by leaving it unfinished; he wants to go and talk in person. There could be many reasons for this. He could have been tired due to his age or the persecutions; he could simply have preferred to speak in person (stoma pros stoma, “mouth before mouth,” or as we would say, “face to face”). Another possibility is that this was a subtle way of informing this church that he would be visiting them soon, not because his exile was concluded (he refers to their sister church in the final verse) but simply because he would be there on his regular or irregular rounds in a short time. He was going to be there in person, and any questions they had would be cleared up as soon as he got there.
It’s very likely, even probable, that John quickly dashed off another letter on the back of this piece of parchment. Another letter in the Bible, 3rd John, is almost exactly the same length, and is addressed to the pastor of a congregation. That man, Gaius, seems to be the pastor of this congregation, and that letter is a private note to him.
We will look at 3 John at another time.
