4. (7-9) A warning against the presence and dangers of false teachers.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
a. Many deceivers have gone out into the world: John was aware false teachers were a danger to the church in his day.
i. “The immediate problem in [2 John] is that of traveling teachers or missionaries. According to Christian ethics all who thus traveled about were to be shown hospitality by Christians in the town to which they came.” (Boice)
b. This is a deceiver: John mainly had in mind the danger in his own time, of those who thought that Jesus, being God, could have no real connection with the material world. They said that He only had an apparent connection with the material world.
i. To combat this, John made a plain declaration: we must confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This means Jesus came as a real man in His first coming, but also means He will come as a human being – although glorified humanity, and that added to His eternal deity – a real flesh and blood Jesus will come again to the earth.
c. This is a deceiver and an antichrist: Against this false idea of Jesus, John insists those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh are the deceivers and have the spirit of the antichrist.
i. John warned us against these antichrists in his first letter (1 John 2:18-23, 4:3). They are those who not only oppose Jesus, but also offer a substitute “Christ.”
ii. This spirit of antichrist will one day find its ultimate fulfillment in the Antichrist, who will lead humanity in an end-times rebellion against God.
d. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God: There is nothing noble, sincere, courageous, or admirable in a false Jesus. To deny the Biblical Jesus is always to reject the Father and the Son both. John here draws a critical line of truth, over which it is heresy to transgress.
i. In our own day, we must deal with modern denials of the Biblical Jesus with the same passion John did in his day. Today, with our “scholarly” denials of Jesus and the historical record of the Gospels, it is more important than ever to know who the true Jesus is according to the Bible and to love and serve the true Jesus.
ii. “To say no to God’s way of revealing himself is to say no to God himself, for he will not let himself be known by men except on his own terms.” (Marshall)
e. Transgresses: The word transgresses has the idea of “going beyond a boundary.” We never go “beyond” the teaching of Jesus, of who He is and what He has done for us. Anyone who thinks we have or should go beyond what the Bible plainly says about Jesus transgresses.
i. “There is a true progress in the Christian life, but it is progress based upon a deeper knowledge of the historical, biblical Christ. Progress on any other ground may be called progress, but it is a progress that leaves God behind and is, therefore, not progress at all.” (Boice)
ii. “When the teaching of the Bible needs to be supplemented by some ‘key’ to the Bible or by some new revelation, it is a sure sign that ‘advanced’ doctrine is being put forth.” (Marshall)
f. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for: To depart from the true Jesus means you put yourself in jeopardy to lose the things the apostles and other faithful saints worked for. This shows us that it isn’t enough for us to start out right, we must finish in faith to receive a full reward.
5. (10-11) Instructions for dealing with the false teachers.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
a. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine: If someone comes to us, denying the true doctrine of Jesus, and promoting a false doctrine of Jesus, John says we should give no hospitality, no aid, to the ones who promote their own false version of Jesus. To do so is to share in his evil deeds.
i. “The words mean, according to the eastern use of them, ‘Have no religious connection with him, nor act towards him so as to induce others to believe you acknowledge him as a brother.’ ” (Clarke)
ii. “Suppose the visiting teacher claimed to be a Christian missionary or even a prophet but taught what was clearly false doctrine. Hospitality would demand that he be provided for, but to do so would seem to be participation in the spread of his false teachings. Should he be received or not?” (Boice)
b. He who greets him: John means greets in a much more involved context than our own. In that culture, it meant to show hospitality and give aid. Yet, for the weak or unskilled believer, it is best if they do not even greet (in the sense of speaking to) those who promote a false Jesus (like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses).
i. These words sound severe, but John has not lost his love. We must consider these three points:
· John is not talking about all error, but only error which masquerades as true Christianity.
· John is not talking about all who hold the error which masquerades as true Christianity, but about those who teach those errors which masquerade as true Christianity.
· John is not talking about all teachers who err, but those who err in the most fundamental truths, and those who are active in spreading those fundamental errors.
ii. This does not mean that we should have nothing to do with those who are caught by the cults. As John indicates, we should make a distinction between those who teach these Christ-denying doctrines (those who bring this doctrine) and those who merely believe the doctrines without trying to spread them.
c. Do not receive him into your house nor greet him: This may also be translated do not receive him into the house. John may be referring most specifically to not allowing these heretical teachers to come into the house where Christians meet together.
i. “Perhaps, therefore, it is not private hospitality which John is forbidding so much as an official welcome into the congregation, with the opportunity this would afford to the false teacher to propagate his errors.” (Stott)
ii. “We see how such [false] teachers were treated in the apostolic Church. They held no communion with them; afforded them no support, as teachers; but did not persecute them.” (Clarke)
d. Shares in his evil deeds: We are defined by what we reject as much as by what we accept. In this, some are so open minded that they are empty headed. It is wise to keep an open mind on many things; but one would never keep an open mind about which poisons a person might try. You may say yes to all the right things; but one must also say no to what is false and evil. We need to become good at rejecting what should be rejected.
i. “They were persons who claimed to be leaders; they were advanced thinkers, they were progressive. The Gnostic teachers of the time were claiming that while the gospel of the historic Jesus might be all very well for unenlightened people, they had a profounder knowledge. Such were to receive no hospitality.” (Morgan)
ii. In the late 19th Century, the rise of theological liberalism brought forth generations of Christian pastors, leaders, and theologians who denied many of the fundamentals of Biblical Christianity. Though it was a broad and varied movement, at its root theological liberalism thought that Christianity had to re-evaluate all its doctrines in the light of modern science, philosophy, and thinking. They rejected the idea that a doctrine was true simply because the Bible taught it; it also had to be proved true by reason and experience. They believed that the Bible was not an inspired message from a real God, but the work of men who were limited by the ignorance and superstitions of their time. For them, the Bible was not either inspired or supernatural. The importance of the Bible and its message was not in its literal or historical truth, but in its changing spiritual message.
C. Conclusion.
1. (12) John anticipates a future visit.
Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.
a. I hope to come to you and speak face to face: We must generally sympathize with John’s preference for personal, face to face communication rather than the writing of letters – though we are thankful for this letter.
2. (13) Conclusion.
The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.
a. The children of your elect sister: Telling us that the elect lady (2 John 1) has an elect sister, and that they both have children does little to identify with certainty who John is writing to. Perhaps all it tells us is that if John used the term elect lady as a symbol for the church, he used it rather loosely (saying that she has a sister and children). The most likely idea is that the elect lady (a particular church) had an elect sister – other “sister” churches from which John brings a greeting.
b. The children of your elect sister: This last reference to the elect sister and her children remind us that though we must be on guard against false teachers, the true followers of Jesus are more than just our group. If we allow our desire to defend the truth to make us unloving and intolerant, Satan has won a great victory.