Sermon26-12 2Jn Guide

2 John theme verse 2 John 3

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this seventh Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at that in the Kingdom of God, we have to live the life of love and also minister in love. Yet, this week, through the second epistle of John, we would like to learn that love also go together with truth.

1)    The second Epistle of John, which we read together today, was written by the Apostle John, who addressed himself as an "elder" to to a chosen lady and her children in a local church in the late first century. Here, this "chosen lady" can be also interpreted as ”local congregation” too.

In any case, this letter has the following structure based on the the conventions of Greek letters of the time, I mean, in the introductory part of verses 1-3, John introduces the author and recipients with a greeting, and in the main part of verses 4-11, in response to the heretical teachings that were rising in the late first century, namely, those who denied the divinity and humanity of Christ, and in verses 4-6, he exhorted the disciples to walk in truth and love one another as God commanded. And then in verses 7-11, he admonished them not to welcome into their homes or associate with false teachers who deny the truth, that is, Christ came in the flesh. And finally in verses 12-13, he concluded with a greeting, saying he would visit them soon.

The theme of this epistle is that Christians have to obey to God’s commandments, to walk in the truth that Christ came in the flesh and also to love one another and also have to be careful not to welcome or have fellowship with false teachers, not to lose full rewards.

2)    So, through today’s text, we would like to look at what the definition of commandment, truth and love is and what the relationship between them is together. First, what is the "commandment”? Commandment refers to God's instructions to us regarding how to live. In a narrow sense, it refers to the "Ten Commandments" in Exodus 20.

Yet, in the Bible, there are many other terms also, I mean, the "statutes” as the ‘hoq’ in Hebrew, the "ordinances" as the ‘mishpat’ in Hebrew, and also the "law”, as the ‘torah’ in Hebrew. Here, the "law" or "Torah" encompasses all of the various laws established by God, and it is said that there are a total of 613 laws in the Old Testament. Regarding the “statues” and the “ordinances”, even though some scholars said that the two terms are used synonymously, yet Melvin G. Kyle, in his article "The Problem of the Pentateuch: A New Solution by Archaeological Methods," published in the "Bibliotheca Sacra (1920)” journal, says that there are differences in semantic emphasis and meaning between the two. According to him, it is said that the statutes are special rules or regulations that expand the commandments and appear primarily in the sacrificial and ceremonial laws of the Pentateuch. On the other hand, the ordinances were explained as the laws, which determine the legal rights and judge wrongs of both parties in trials in daily social life of the Israelites.

Therefore, we can understand that the statutes are more likely the ceremonial laws, while the ordinances are the civil laws, and the Ten Commandments are the moral laws. In other words, if the Ten Commandments are foundational moral laws, the statues are the more detailed rules for these commandments, and the ordinances, as civil laws, determine the penalties for failure to observe these rules.

But there is one thing we have to keep in mind regarding the commandments. I mean, in Exodus 20, when God gave the Ten Commandments, He did not give them as a means of salvation, I mean, if they keep these commandments, God promised to save them. Rather, in Exodus 20:2 of the preface to the Ten Commandments, as God said, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery," God gave the Ten Commandments as the instructions to the Israelites after He saved them first by His sheer grace, I mean, since He became already their God, so He instructed them how to live holy before God, in gratitude for this saving grace.

And also as Calvin said, these commandments have three functions, I mean, first, because we human beings cannot perfectly keep them, so that these commandments make us recognize our imperfection and seek humbly for the grace of Jesus Christ. He describes this as pedagogical role. Secondly, these commandments also function to restrain social evil. And thirdly, these commandments are the means of sanctification. I mean, in response to the salvation of God by shear grace, even though we strive to live according to God's commandments, yet we recognize our weakness, become humble before God, and rely more on the grace of Jesus Christ. As such, these commandments make us grow more into humility and gentleness to obey in God’s will. In this perspective, they serve as means of sanctification for believers.

3)    And the Apostle John speak of the commandments is

a) to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

b) and to love one another,

as he said in 1 John 3:23 that "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us commandment,"

To summarize it, faith and love. Here, faith means to believe in the truth about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, I mean, to know and believe in the sound doctrine. In addition, love mean to live a righteous life.

4)    First regarding the truth, in today’s text, the Greek word "Aletheia" (ἀλήθεια, 'Aletheia’), which is translated as "truth," appears five times. And in Hebrew, it is the "emeth" (אמת,emeth),

Regarding on the truth, Herman Bavinck said there are three truth, I mean, ontological truth, logical truth, and ethical truth. Here, the ontological truth refers to the truth of the existence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, I mean, Trinity of God is absolute, permanent, and complete One, rather than relative, temporary, and partial. And secondly the logical truth refers to the linguistic aspect of this ontological truth. I mean, His statements, commandments, and promises are true and trustworthy since the Word of true God is true too. And finally, the ethical works and life of true God can be said truthful and useful in all aspects. In that sense, it can also be called faithfulness. Therefore, from this perspective, truth can be said that God's existence, God's word, and all of God's acts is the truth.

In other words, God, revealed in His being and character, is the Only True God, and the Word of this Only True God and the Bible, is truth. Therefore, all of the commandments of God is the truth so that we should live in those commandments of God. And also as God is faithful, we also have to be faithful. And therefore, as the only proper response to this truth, we have to walk in faith in God and in His Word.

5)    Specifically in today's text, John said that the truth is that "Jesus Christ coming in the flesh."

To elaborate further, in the Bible, the Old Testament contains lots of prophetic words about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Regarding His being, Isaiah 7:14 prophesied upon his virgin birth, and that he would be given the name "Immanuel," meaning "God with us." And Isaiah 9:6 prophesied, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." And Micah 5:2 also prophesied that the ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem, and that his origin is eternal. And then regarding His ministry, Isaiah 11 and 61 describe Him as the anointed One by the Holy Spirit, I mean, the Messiah. And Isaiah 53:4-7 and Psalm 22 describe his suffering and death. And Psalms 16 and 68, Isaiah 61, and Daniel 7 prophesied about His resurrection, ascension, and second coming. In this manner, the Divinity and Humanity of Christ, His atonement and redemption work were prophesied in the Old Testament. And also we can know that these prophesies were fulfilled.

John the Apostle says this is the sound doctrine of the Bible which we have to response in faith as His first commandment, as, God said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him,” on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5. And that’s why our Lord also said in John 6:40 that "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

6)    And these commandments are well organized in the Ten Commandments. As you know well, the Ten Commandments are composed of two stone tablets.

The first stone tablet, containing the First through Fourth Commandments, contains the commandments to love God, as summarized by the Lord. This love for God ultimately means that since Yahweh is the only God, we must not make any idol before Him and His name has to be hollowed, and we all have to worship Him on the Sabbath. This includes the sound doctrine of God which we have to walk in.

The second stone tablet establishes first the order in human society through the fifth commandment, I mean, the authority of parent which we have to respect. And then in the sixth to ninth Commandments, it is commanded that we have to respect human dignity, one’s spouse, one’s property, and one’s reputation. And in the tenth commandment, it is commanded that we should not covet even in our minds. These were summarized as love for our neighbor by Our Lord.

7)    And the power to keep His commandments comes from love of God, as John 14:15 says, "If you love, keep My commandments.” In other words, faith in truth results in love, as Gal 5:6 says and we can love since God loved us first as 1 Jn 4:11 and God has poured His love through the Holy Spirit as Rom 5:5 says, as the love of Christ compels us 2 Cor5:14. That’s why the Apostle John said that he loved the chosen woman and her children, in the truth and for the truth.

And also it is said that when truth and love go together, grace, mercy, and peace will come from God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and furthermore, by abiding in the teachings of Christ, I mean, waling in truth, we can have fellowship with God and His Son who is the truth.

8)    As the Apostle John challenges us not only to know the truth but also to walk in it, urging us to love one another in the truth and for the truth, as he said in 1 John 4:20-21 that "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen, therefore those who love God have to love their brother also" so I pray that in this new year, we may all walk in truth according to the Lord's commandments and love one another, so that through that truth and love, we may be known as disciples of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that God’s commandment is to believe in Jesus Christ and to love one another. So, after reflecting our life and checking whether we walk in truth and love, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, we became to know that our proper response to the truth of God is faith in the truth in the revelation of the Bible and to walk in that. So after reflecting our life and checking whether we read and study the Bible, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.