A. Greeting.
1. (1-2) To the elect lady and her children.
THE ELDER, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.
a. The Elder: The writer of this book identifies himself as the Elder. Presumably, his first readers knew exactly who he was, and from the earliest times, Christians have understood this was the Apostle John writing.
i. “John the apostle, who was now a very old man, generally supposed to be about ninety, and therefore uses the term presbyter or elder, not as the name of an office, but as designating his advanced age. He is allowed to have been the oldest of all the apostles, and to have been the only one who died a natural death.” (Clarke)
b. To the elect lady and her children: Perhaps this was an individual Christian woman John wanted to warn and encourage by this letter. Or, the term might be a symbolic way of addressing this particular congregation.
i. “The phrase is, however, more likely to be a personification than a person – not the church at large but some local church over which the elder’s jurisdiction was recognized, her children being the church’s individual members.” (Stott)
ii. “This appears to have been some noted person, whom both her singular piety, and rank in the world, made eminent, and capable of having great influence for the support of the Christian interest.” (Poole)
iii. John probably did not name himself, the elect lady or her children by name because this was written during a time of persecution. Perhaps John didn’t want to implicate anyone by name in a written letter. If the letter was intercepted and the authorities knew who it was written to by name, it might mean death for those persons.
c. Whom I love in truth, and not only I: Whomever the elect lady was, she was loved by all who have known the truth. If we know and love the truth, we will love those who also know and love the truth – the truth which abides in us also lives in others who know the truth.
i. We see John quite focused on the idea of truth, as he was in all of his writings. He used the word truth some thirty-seven times in his New Testament writings.
ii. This shows that what binds Christians together is not social compatibility or political compatibility or class compatibility. What binds us together is a common truth. This is why truth is important to Christians.
d. Will be with us forever: The truth does not change. The truth will be true forever, and we will have the truth forever in eternity. Many people today think that the truth changes from age to age and from generation to generation, but the Bible knows that the truth will be with us forever.
2. (3) John’s salutation to his readers.
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
a. Grace, mercy, and peace: John presents a slightly expanded version of the standard greeting in New Testament letters. He didn’t just wish these for his readers; he confidently bestowed them by saying they will be with you from God the Father.
b. In truth and love: John can hardly write a verse without mentioning these two of his favorite topics. The grace, mercy, and peace God has for us are all given in truth and love. Apart from God’s truth and love, we can never really have grace, mercy, and peace.
i. “What deep, sweet rhythm of meaning there is in the first three verses of this letter! One reads them over and over again. Oh, that the grace, mercy, and peace, may be with us, from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and in love.” (Meyer)
c. The Son of the Father: “The apostle still keeps in view the miraculous conception of Christ; a thing which the Gnostics absolutely denied; a doctrine which is at the ground work of our salvation.”
B. How to walk.
1. (4) John’s joy to find they are walking in truth.
I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.
a. I rejoiced greatly: This is a pastor’s heart – to know that his people are walking in truth. While truth is not the only concern of a pastor, it is a great concern; and it is a great comfort for a pastor to see those he loves and cares for walking in truth.
i. “The children mentioned here may either be her own children, or those members of the Church which were under her care, or some of both.” (Clarke)
b. I have found some of your children walking in truth: John rejoiced because when God’s people are walking in truth, they also abide in God. The same idea is expressed in 1 John 2:24: Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. Truth is not only important for its own sake, but also our walking in truth shows we are walking with the Lord.
i. Trapp on the idea of walking in the truth: “Not taking a step or two, not breaking or leaping over the hedge to avoid a piece of foul way, but persisting in a Christian course, not starting aside to the right hand or the left.”
2. (5) The commandment to love one another.
And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
a. I plead with you, lady: John was not too proud to beg on such an important matter – not when it came to something as vital in the Christian life as the commandment that we must love one another.
b. Not as though I wrote a new commandment: John knew this was nothing new to his readers (he repeated the theme all through 1 John and his gospel). Yet because it was so essential, it had to be repeated and used as a reminder.
c. That we love one another: The integrity of our Christian life can be measured by our love for one another (as in John 13:35 and 1 John 4:20-21).
3. (6) Showing the love of God.
This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
a. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments: If we love God, we will obey His commandments. We do this not because we think His commandments are heavy burdens, but because we see that they are best for us. They are guides and gifts to us from God.
b. Walk according to His commandments: Real love will walk this way. Perhaps John warned against those who thought the only important thing in the Christian life was a vague love that had no heart for obedience.
i. “Perhaps you fail to distinguish between love and the emotion of love. They are not the same. We may love without being directly conscious of love, or being able to estimate its strength and passion. Here is the solution to many of our questionings: They love who obey.” (Meyer)