The Walk of Truth, the Obedience of Love | 2 John 1-6

The Structure and Warning of Second John

Okay, let's turn to our Bibles in the letter, the second letter of John, 2nd John. As we continue working through this letter, much of which should sound familiar to us from 1st John, I want to start from the beginning in verse 1 up to verse 6.

2nd John, verse 1. So, we saw the previous Lord's Day how 2nd John is a short but very powerful letter that packs an exclusive one-two love and truth punch to us according to his commandments as verse 6 also says.

And you're probably seeing by now that 2nd John follows 1st John very closely in a number of different things, in style, in content, in common themes and contrasts like we saw, but with a more localized focus to a particular church at that time.

And we saw that 2nd John was written both to encourage and to warn a fellow sister church whom he refers to as the elect lady some distance away of the missionary efforts of the secessionist false teachers, the Antichrist, right?

Discussed in 1st John and of the dangers of welcoming them and their teaching into their homes or and their church. So, we also saw that the elect lady refers to the local church, her children are the members of that local church that he is writing to, and the children of her elect sister are the members of the local church in the place where the writer himself is writing from, right?

From verse 13. Now, before diving into verses 4 through 6, I wanted for us to reflect on this application. Notice here in verses 1 through 3 the emphasis on the elect lady, right? The elect lady. And I'm gonna read from the amplified here.

The elder to the elect chosen lady and her children whom I love in truth and not only I but also all who know and understand the truth because of the truth which lives in our hearts and will be with us forever.

Grace, mercy, and peace, inner calm, joy, and spiritual well-being will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father, Son, and truth and love. So, the chosen lady, that's what elect means, right?

Election and the Elect Lady

Chosen. The chosen lady and her chosen children who also walk in the truth, right? And remember one of the Apostle John's favorite phrases, you might recall, one of the Apostle John's favorite phrases in the Greek is pas ho piste on.

Pas ho piste on. Keep that in mind. That refers to all the believing ones, right? All the believing ones. Like 1st John 5 1 says, everyone who believes, all the believing ones, the ones believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves the one who gives new birth loves also the one who has been born of him.

Amen. So, and likewise, John 3 16, one of the most popular verses in the entire Bible, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That translation is not very accurate. It's so that all the believing ones should not perish but have eternal life. Those believing ones and only those believing ones will not perish but have eternal life.

All the pas ho piste on. The same exact phrase used in both of those verses in 1st John 5 as well. So, that's very important to keep in mind because, likewise, in 2nd John 1 through 3, we see the same phrase being used.

The elder to the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth and not only I but also all who know the truth, right? All who know the truth. Pas ho ginosko. Ginosko, knowledge. That's where we also get the word Gnosticism from which is a false teaching.

It's an Antichrist teaching which these false teachers and Antichrists were teaching themselves. It was a form of Gnosticism but the word just means knowledge in Greek. Ginosko. Pas ho ginosko. All the ones knowing the truth, right?

All the knowers of the truth. All the ones believing in the truth. So, by way of application here, does God then choose, does he choose everyone in this same way, in this special way as the way he refers to the elect lady, the chosen lady?

Does he graciously, mercifully give a true saving understanding and love to everyone? Does he give this to everyone or only to some? And to that end, let's turn over to the Gospel of Mark. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 4, where we find some more insight into this question which we've seen answered a number of times before in 1st John as well.

Election, Revelation, and the Parables

Mark chapter 4, verse 11. The Word of Christ here says, and he, Jesus, was saying to them, to you who were chosen by God, that is, has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. He's talking to his disciples.

But to those who are outside of the kingdom, everything comes in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.

Wow. That's very black and white right there. Let's turn over to the Gospel of Matthew also to see what else Jesus has to say about this matter. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 11, verse 25, where Christ will similarly say, and you'll find this passage also clarifies in Mark, a lot of people think that Jesus taught in parables in order to clarify his teaching, but this says the opposite.

He's teaching them in parables so that people won't understand. In order to understand the parable, you need to know the interpretation of the parable, which Christ gives to those whom it has been given to receive the truth.

So Matthew chapter 11, verse 25, at that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him to.

Amen. So there's many other passages that speak to the same issue of election and predestination and all of those things. The answer is very black and white, right? It's a no. No. The divine knowledge and understanding that we have is an act of God's gracious will.

God's choice and not ours, and he has chosen not to reveal this to everyone, but only to some. We merely receive it and believe it as a gift, right? Repentance is a gift. Faith is a gift. It's all a gift, like Ephesians 2 says.

All of it is a gift of God. And likewise, let's sum this up here in the Gospel of John, which very powerfully speaks to this as well. Gospel of John chapter 1, beginning in verse 11. John chapter 1. This is definitely not a popular teaching in our day, but that's because people, like we saw from 1 John in the warning against idolatry, people want to be their own God.

People want to make their own decisions. They want to have the freedom to choose whatever they want to choose, but the Bible says otherwise. The Bible says very clearly otherwise, especially in the passage like this one, in the Gospel of John chapter 1, verse 11.

He, Christ, came to what was his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born.

How? How were they born? Not of blood, not of race, not of descendency, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, any man, but of God, and God alone. You might say, of God alone. And the Son of God came, and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John the Baptist bore witness about him and cried out, saying, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for he existed before me, even though John was older. For his fullness we have all received, of his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. That's the long gospel distinction right there as well. So it's very clear, very clear, we don't want God.

And apart from God's grace, regenerating grace, like we read in today's devotional passage from Ezekiel, God has to make us new and clean us up first, before we even desire him and come to him by repentance and faith, right?

That's the scriptures plain teaching of these things. We are helpless, wretched sinners apart from the grace of God and mercy of God. Now that's exactly what in 1st John 520, the conclusion of 1st John says.

And we know, we believers know, only believers, that the Son of God has come. He has come in the flesh, right? And has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. We have eternal life through his Son. And you'll notice, we're gonna see later on in 2nd John, he's arguing against the false teachers that deny that Jesus came in the flesh, right?

The Incarnation and Christ’s Propitiatory Death

It's a denial of the incarnation, but the incarnation, beloved, is a necessary doctrine and event that leads to our salvation. Christ had to become a man in order to satisfy the full force and punishment of God's wrath that was due to us as sinners, amen?

Only through Christ's incarnation and his perfect life and sacrificial propitiatory death, wrath satisfying death, could we have been made perfectly righteous because of him and his work. So now this brings us to verses 4 through 6 now in 2nd John, about walking.

Walking in truth, love, and obedience. The law of love, right? Now that we have been justified, saved, regenerated, our walk is in the truth and in love and obedience. Like the sermon title says, the walk of truth, the obedience of love.

Now a good question to always ask ourselves, like I often say, is what does this passage teach us? What does it teach us about God, man, salvation, our relationship to God? What does it teach about law or gospel?

Is this passage primarily about law or about gospel? And let's go ahead and read those verses again in 2nd John, verse 4. 2nd John, verse 4. God's Word says, I, the elder, rejoiced greatly, greatly, exceedingly, to find some certain of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.

Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.

This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. So notice the key words and the key phrases in this passage, right? It's very clearly pointing us to law, commandments, command, love, obedience, walking, right?

All of those are tied to law, obedience, command. So it's predominantly about law in this passage. In the first three verses, it showers us with gospel promises and graces, and then it transitions over to, okay, sanctification, law, etc.

Love, walking according to his commandments, right? And in fact, this is actually one of the clearest passages in Scripture. You know, people will often dismiss these small letters, but they have very important teachings in them that are very clear for us.

Truth, Love, and Obedience as Inseparable

It clarifies things for us very much so. And it is one of the clearest passages in Scripture, which teaches us that truth, love, and obedience are what? They're all inseparable from each other, right?

They're inseparable and exclusive. They're inextricably linked and tied together. You cannot divorce them or separate them from each other. They are all part of God's holy nature and what he reveals to us about his will and his law and what love is.

So, and just as, just as, notice this too. We saw last time that he, that the elder stresses the truth five times, right? And in the first four verses, there's an emphasis on truth, on knowing truth, right?

So, one of the Apostle's most common subjects in his writings is agape, right? Agape, love. It's one of the Greek words for love, which he also stresses four times in this brief letter, four times in verses 1 through 6, right?

It's very, he makes very striking emphases with these words. Notice, notice that he says, the elder, he says in, let's read from the beginning again. The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love, agape in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, the word truth again there, for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever, or for the age, unto the age.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love, agape. I rejoice greatly, exceedingly, to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.

Now, I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but one which we had from the beginning, that we love, love, agapomen. That's second person plural, by the way. One another, one another, and this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

Amen. So, there's a lot, many clear emphases here, and I forgot to put this in my notes, but also the word commandment, right, is stated numerous times in verses 4 through 6, numerous times. So, I like how the Protestant scholar FF Bruce explains this for us.

The exhortation, or the encouraging commandment, of our God-breathed Apostle follows closely that given in general terms, that follows closely of that given in general terms in his first letter, right?

Since John was so delighted to find some members of the community keeping the great commandment, walking in it, right, his desire was that the whole community should continue to keep it, or walk in it, right, in truth and love.

And I alluded to this already, that you'll recall that verse 6, verse 6 transitions from the singular you, to the elect lady, to the plural you, you all, you all, right? He says that in verse 6, this is the love, this is the love that we walk according to his commandments, this is the commandment just as you, you, plural, all, you all have heard from the beginning, that you all should walk in it, that you all should walk in it, right?

And he previously says we, we plural, we, he's referring to we themselves and the church there, so, as well as the church that he's residing at, and by extension us as well, as believers. So, do you also remember, beloved, from 1st John, one of the Apostle John's other favorite words, one of his other favorite words that he likes to use and emphasize repeatedly, many times in 1st John, as well as in this letter, 2nd John, and that is the word, that is the word peripateo, remember that?

Peripateo: Walking as a Way of Life

Peripateo, that's the word that gets frequently translated as walk or walking, which, which also points to something more encompassing than just literally walking, but also lifestyle, your lifestyle, your manner of thinking, of saying, of doing, of living, right?

Your walk before God and before man and in private. So, how many times does the Apostle John use that word in this small letter? If you'll notice, he actually uses it three times, as well, beloved, he uses it three times.

I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking, walking in truth, right? Peripateo, just as we received the commandment, not it, now I ask you, not as though I writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we had from the beginning, that we love one another, and this is love, that we walk, that we walk, live according to his commandments.

This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you all should walk in it, right? Peripateo. Very important to note the repeated emphasis that the Apostle wants us to receive, and the same scholar, Bruce, here has a good explanation for us regarding this word.

This ethical use of the verb to walk, peripateo, in the New Testament is particularly common in the Apostle Paul's letters, but is also characteristic of these three letters of John, right? The Johannine letters, especially when we consider their brevity.

They're small, and yet they constantly emphasize this term. In addition to verses six and seven, in 2nd John, you have 1st John, chapter 2, verse 6, verse 11, 2nd John 4 and 6, 3rd John. It's even in 3rd John in verses 3 and 4.

Nothing makes me happier than to see my children walking in truth, like he says there, right? He says it twice there. And similar language occurs in the Qumran texts. This is interesting. The Qumran texts are the Dead Sea Scrolls, a famous discovery some decades ago that were said to have been maintained by the Essenes.

There were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. And they include ancient Hebrew texts of the Old Testament, including the Isaiah scroll, which is exactly the same as what we have today in our Bibles.

It's amazing discoveries, beloved. It's good to know these things. The Qumran scrolls, cave scrolls, contain significant religious literature. They consist of two types of literature. Biblical manuscripts, books found today in today's Hebrew Bible, like Isaiah, and non-biblical manuscripts, other religious writings circulating during the Second Temple era, right?

The Second Temple was in around 516 BC with King Cyrus the Great of Persia, when he allowed the Jews to rebuild the temple after it was destroyed from the Babylonian conquest. So these other texts are often related to the text now in the Hebrew Bible.

And the F .F. Bruce continues. For example, the sons of righteousness in some of these Qumran texts are said to walk in the ways of light, while the sons of wickedness walk in the ways of darkness, right?

So this is common in the Old Testament understanding as well. Walking. Like in the Psalms, we see your word is a light to my path. What do you do in a path? You walk through it, right? Jesus is the way that we walk to, in.

In the Gospel of John, there are a few passages which mark a transition from the literal sense of the verb peripateo to it denoting one's manner of life, right? Lifestyle. Jesus says, for instance, if anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him, right? John 11 9 and so on. And again, while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you, walk, no I'm sorry, walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you.

He who walks in darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light, right? So sometimes walking is taken as a synonym for believing.

Right? Seeing, believing, walking. Amen. And there's several other references in the Gospel of John as well. So as I mentioned earlier, the letter transitions from gospel promises and an emphasis on truth and on knowing the truth to an emphasis on peripateo, right?

Walking, obeying, loving, in the truth, right? In the truth, walking in the truth. And Bruce explains here for us as well, very helpfully. It is necessary for those who adhere to the apostolic teaching and fellowship, that is believers, right?

Believers, to be reminded that orthodoxy of doctrine is no substitute for righteousness of life, right? You can't substitute or replace one for the other, because on the contrary, they go hand in hand, right?

Right doctrine follows or leads to righteousness of life. Truth in the inward being, like Psalm 51 6 says, is what God desires in His people. Truth in the inward being, as opposed to believing lies or hypocrisy.

And where that is present, it will manifest itself in all the ways of life, of our life, right? Amen. And in the language of our Reformed Confessions and Catechisms, which we just read in the question for today, the Catholicism, purposing and endeavoring to walk continually with Him according to this new obedience in every way, right?

Hypocrisy, Partiality, and False Profession

And I'm sorry, that was not the question on sanctification. That was the question on repentance unto life. So, every way. And this is in sharp contrast to religious hypocrites, who say one thing, they say one thing, and yet believe or do another, right?

Who does that remind us of in Scripture? Like the Pharisees, right? And Jesus rebuked them from the Old Testament, saying, these people honor me with their lips, right? They profess to know me and honor me, but their heart, their inner man, what they truly are on the inside, is far away from me.

They don't actually believe in me. And this reminds me of some prominent men in our society, that many people have a high regard and respect for, which we need to reconsider carefully. You know, we were watching, we were watching a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr., and we were seeing that, you know, Martin Luther King was a minister.

He was a minister. He went to seminary, but a lot of people don't realize that he was a rank liberal. He denied many doctrines of the Bible, cardinal doctrines, the Incarnation, principle, much like the Antichrist teachers did in the letters of John, and in other places.

Not only that, but he was also a serial, perpetual adulterer, with at least three other women, all while he was a minister, using the Bible to justify, you know, civil rights and all these things. Supposedly claiming that he was in favor of peaceful protest, when in fact, a lot of his incitements were, and the civil rights movement were very violent, extremely violent.

But there's a lot, much propaganda in our public schools that say otherwise, and yet we cannot be deceived about these things, beloved, because Martin Luther King Jr. was a hypocrite in many ways, and we need to be careful who we give honor to.

I've seen churches that have little fans with Martin Luther King's face on it, and people are deceived by these things because of the propaganda, the false knowledge about these matters, right? We have to wake up to it.

There's even a conference held in honor of Martin Luther King, by supposed believers and Christians, by the Gospel Coalition. It was a disaster, pushing racism in the church, saying that we need to give preference and partiality to black people because of the oppressions that they faced in our nation.

That's showing partiality, and we're called not to do those things in the church, right? Many folks consider these hard things, but we have to be biblical in our way of understanding and of living, and not fall prey to the hypocrisy of liars and false teachers, because, beloved, repentance unto life, as well as its fruits, are an act of God's free grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God.

Repentance unto Life and the Fruit of Obedience

By it, sinners recognize not only the danger of their sins, but also the filthiness and repulsiveness of their sins to God, understanding that in Christ, God is merciful to those who repent, who have a change of mind, a change of conviction to believe the Gospel, where sinners suffer such deep sorrow for and hatred of their sins, so much that they turn away from all of them and turn to God, purposing to walk, amen, to walk, peripatel, continually with him according to this new obedience, in every way, not some way, not hypocritically saying one thing and doing another, but in every way, in our thoughts, words, and deeds.

Beloved, that's not to say that we are sinless or called to be sinlessly perfect, even though Jesus said, be ye perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect, amen, but we are called to mortify sin and grow in holiness, repent when we sin, and reconcile as well, like 1st John repeatedly tells us, and many other parts of Scripture.

Let's, with that said, beloved, let's turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, a very, an amazing psalm, a psalm of repentance from King David. Psalm 51, beginning in verse 1, powerful psalm from God's inspired hymn book, God-breathed hymn book.

A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, be gracious to me, this is David speaking, give us grace, mercy, and peace, right, like 2nd John says, O God, according to your loving-kindness, according to the abundance of your compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak, and pure when you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.

From my birth, I was sinful, legally and naturally sinful, in Adam, and by our sinful nature, fallen nature. Behold, you, God, delight in the innermost being, the innermost being, right, in sincerity, and with understanding, without hypocrisy, believing in God, in the truth, and in the hidden part of the soul, of the heart.

You will make me know wisdom. Amen. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me, sustain me, maintain me with a willing spirit. And then verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, a repentant heart.

O God, you will not despise. Amen. What an amazing word from God. And so, beloved, repentance results in these changes. It results in our growing conformity to walking in the truth, even though we still sin, even though David sinned grievously in adultery.

But when Nathan confronted him, he repented in sackcloth and ashes, and God restored him. That is the marks of a true, sincere believer. So by way, also, beloved, of application, just as the elder, the Apostle John, was overjoyed to find some of the elect lady's children, right, the members of the church he was writing to, he found them walking in the truth.

Encouraging Growth in Holiness and Sanctification

It should likewise bring us great, exceeding joy and delight, like the Apostle says, and encouragement to see our fellow believers, brothers and sisters, who are walking in conformity to the truth, right, walking in conformity to the truth, living in truth and love, in the obedience of love, right.

That should give us cause for great rejoicing, when we see our brothers and sisters growing in holiness, making good decisions, making good decisions for themselves and their families, right. Overcoming, when we overcome our mortal enemies, the world, the flesh, Satan, the devil himself, and his minions.

Overcoming sin, right, breaking sin in our life, the power of sin, which Christ has accomplished for us, but we must put it to death daily. Overcoming obstacles, right, obstacles, hindrances, stumbling blocks, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Like 2nd Peter 318 reveals to us. That's something that we should all constantly be encouraging us to do, to be rejoicing with each other's victories in this life.

And I'm not, you know, I'm not talking about simply material things. That's not what I'm talking about. That's not what Scripture talks about primarily. It's talking about soul prosperity, like 3rd John says, right.

Soul prosperity, when you have success, spiritual success, growing in knowledge and understanding, and putting sin to death. Because our sanctification, like we read earlier in the catechism question, our sanctification for all of us is a work of God's free grace for those whom God has chosen, and only for those whom God has chosen.

To be holy before the foundation of the world, and to whom in the process of time, the powerful operation of the Spirit applies the death and resurrection of Christ to us. Christ is our sanctification, like Corinthians says.

They are thus renewed, renewed in their whole man, not a part of us, all of us. After the image of God and Christ have the seeds of repentance unto life, and all the other saving graces put into their hearts, and these graces are so aroused, awakened, increased, and strengthened, that they progressively put sin to death, and rise unto newness of life.

Amen. The Baptist larger catechism question on sanctification. Powerful summaries of the biblical teaching, beloved, and I encourage you all to look at those questions and passages as well. So beloved, we should always, we should always, there's so much discouragement and sin and disappointment in our life, and oftentimes we can, we can allow those things to overtake us with depression.

Even many famous men of God, men like Spurgeon, had tremendous fights with depression, and God used men like that mightily. They had their problems, they had their sins, they had their imbalances, like we all do, but because of these things, we should always celebrate and rejoice in each other's growing holiness, and encourage one another to continue to mortify sin, and progress unto righteousness, obedience, love of the truth, and in the truth.

Amen. And our ultimate perfection and glorification, when our precious Lord and Savior returns, returns to judge the quick and the dead. Amen. And with that said, beloved, let's go ahead and bow our heads in a closing, sanctifying word of prayer.

Prayer for Sanctification through the Truth

Our precious, gracious Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for the power and the truth of your word, which sanctifies us, Lord. We know that as your Son has spoken to us and said, to sanctify us, Father, in the truth, because your word is truth.

That is how we are primarily sanctified, Lord, by your amazing, powerful means of grace. We ask that this message would sanctify us, that your word would continue to sanctify us, to crucify sin, to put it to death in our lives, the flesh especially, and to seek to grow more and more unto righteousness, Lord, to seek to align our walk, our thoughts, our words, our actions, to align them in conformity to the truth of your word, which is the light unto our path, Father, just as we received your commandment, Lord, to love one another, to love each other, and to love you.

We thank you, Lord, for these precious promises and truths, for both your law and your gospel, all of which sanctifies us, because they are your precious word. And in your precious Son's name, as well, we pray.

Amen. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of Thorn Crown Covenant Baptist Church, where the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, has applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical, reformed, historic, confessional, loving, discerning Christians, who evangelize, stand firm in, and earnestly contend for the Christian faith.

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And may the mercy, peace, and love of our triune God be multiplied to you.