"In the central section of 2 John [vv. 4-11] . . . we have a brief summary of the great contrasts between truth and error, love and hatred, the Church and the world, which are dealt with at greater length in 1 John."8
John wrote this epistle to urge his readers to continue to be obedient to God by responding positively to the truth of His revelation. He also wanted them to resist the inroads of false teachers who sought to distort this truth. He dealt with the first purpose in verses 4-6.
v. 4 John began by commending the church. He had met some of its members who were walking in obedience to God's truth (i.e., walking in the light, 1 John 1:7).
v. 5 John's message for this church was not some new revelation. It was a reminder to keep on walking in obedience to God's truth by continuing to love one another (cf. 1 John 2:3-9; 3:14-18, 23; 4:7, 11, 20-21). This was important since false teachers were encouraging the readers to depart from the truth they were hearing (v. 6).
"It is not that love precedes truth or belief but that love offers the clearest test of the truthfulness of the confession and the sincerity of the obedience given to God's commands. Belief may be feigned and confession only of the lips, but love is harder to counterfeit."9
v. 6 If anyone had a question about what loving one another meant, John explained that it is essentially obeying God (cf. 1 John 5:2-3a). That is, we love each other best when we obey God's will that His Word reveals.
"Love strives to realise [sic] in detail every separate expression of the will of God."10
The antecedent of the last word in this verse is not clear in the English text or the Greek text. "It"could refer to "love"or "commandment."The latter alternative seems somewhat more likely in view of John's argument. In this case John's point was that his readers should obey God's commands as they had heard these from the beginning of the apostles' preaching (cf. 1 John 1:1). They should not obey the gospel that the false teachers were proclaiming.
All the specific "commandments"of God are really one "commandment"or obligation for the Christian (cf. 1 John 3:22-23).
Next John moved on to his second purpose. He wrote to encourage his readers to resist the false teachers who were distorting the truth and deceiving some of the believers.
"The presbyter's attention now moves from the existence of true belief inside the Johannine community, which gives him great joy (v 4), to the dangers presented to it through the espousal of false belief by deceivers who have defected into the world.' Earlier, the writer has spoken of Christian truth and love; in the remainder of 2 John the emphasis inevitably falls on the need for truth in contrast to error. But the two sections interlock. Departure from the truth results in a failure of love. Thus the dark description of heretical secession and its consequences (vv 7-11) forms the basis of John's warm appeal for love and unity (vv 4-6)."11
v. 7 This verse gives the reason for the exhortation in verse 6 and links what follows with verses 4-6. Erroneous teaching had already begun to proliferate in the early church (e.g., Gnosticism, Docetism, Cerinthianism, etc.; cf. 1 John 2:18, 22-23, 27; 4:1-3). The common error was Christological. The false teachers regarded Jesus as something other than God's Anointed One who had come in the flesh (cf. 1 John 5:1). "Coming"in the flesh means having come and continuing in flesh. This is the true view of the Incarnation. Jesus was and continues to be fully God and fully man.
"The incarnation was more than a mere incident, and more than a temporary and partial connection between the Logos and human nature. It was the permanent guarantee of the possibility of fellowship, and the chief means by which it is brought about."12
This type of false teacher is a deceiver as well as opposed to Christ. John did not mean that such a person was the end-time Antichrist. The use of the definite article in Greek, translated "the,"used with an unnamed individual as here, sometimes translates better with the English indefinite article "a"or "an."That understanding of this statement is preferable here in view of other Scriptures that indicate the end-time Antichrist has yet to appear (e.g., Dan. 11; 2 Thess. 2).
"The elder says that anybody who denies the truth is a very antichrist, just as we might speak of a supremely evil person as the very devil.'"13
v. 8 Compromise with the false teachers could lead to a loss of reward (cf. the warning passages in Hebrews).14Moreover loss for John's readers would involve loss for him as well since he had a share in their lives. This loss would only be partial, however. They would still receive some reward (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11-15).15Loss of salvation is not in view at all.
v. 9 The picture in John's mind seems to have been that of a Christian who, the false teachers said, did not have the whole truth. It is common even today for false teachers to claim that those who do not agree with them are still in an infantile intellectual condition. However, John regarded that "infantile"position as proper for the Christian. If his readers advanced beyond it, they would really step out of the truth into error. John warned his readers of the danger of apostasy, namely, forsaking truth to embrace error (cf. 1 John 2:23-24).
John's use of "abide"indicates that he spoke of a vital personal relationship with God that comes with adherence to the truth, not just dead doctrinal orthodoxy (cf. John 8:31; 14:21-23; 15:1-7).
vv. 10-11 In the culture of John's day philosophers and teachers relied on the people to whom they spoke for lodging and financial assistance (e.g., Acts 18:2-3; 21:7). John instructed his readers to refuse to help the false teachers in these ways. Beyond this they were not even to give verbal encouragement to these apostates (cf. Acts 15:23; 23:26; 1 Cor. 10:20; 1 Tim. 5:22; James 1:1; 1 Pet. 4:13).16John did not advocate the persecution of heretics here, but he strongly counselled his readers to give them no aid or encouragement in their destructive ministry. I believe he would have approved his readers' efforts to correct the false teachers in private and to lead them into a true appreciation of the person and work of Christ. In dealing with such persons ourselves we must also relate to their ministry in one way and to themselves in another. We must not approve or encourage their work but must show concern for their personal relationship with Christ.17
"Admittedly great care should be exercised before applying such a radical withholding of hospitality from anyone. For the elder it was applied only to antichristians who were committed to destroying the faith of the community. The issue involved more than disagreements in interpretation or personal misunderstandings among members of the body of Christ. It was radical and clearly defined unbelief, and it involved active and aggressive promotion of perversions of truth and practice that struck at the heart of Christianity.
"The responsibility of parents may furnish an analogy. Parents must discriminate as to whom even among their relatives they entertain in their home. Some relatives might be of such questionable character as to menace the moral, spiritual, and physical welfare of the children. Such relatives must be excluded. Parents must balance their concern for their relatives with their responsibility for their children. Notice that John does not suggest that the elect lady and her children deal with the false teachers in hatred or retaliate against them. Instead, he counsels that the false teachers be kept at a distance lest their heresy destroy the young church."18
