John ends with two short letters, 2 & 3 John, addressed to ‘the CHOSEN lady and her children, 2 John(once again remember that WE ARE CHOSEN BY GOD, we’re not a mistake). The final letter, 3 John is to a man called Gaius.
David Pawson, does an excellent summing up of these two short letters in his ‘Bible Omnibus’. He compares and contrasts the letters regarding ‘love and truth’. John teaches that we need both in harmony, not just one without the other.
2 John 3 John
Danger: too much love Danger: too much truth
Attitude: too soft hearted Attitude: too hard-headed
Door open too wide Door shut too tightly
Welcome wrong people Refuse right people
Neglect truth Neglect love
Wrong belief Wrong behaviour
We need both;
Female and Male, Love and Truth in women, Truth and love in men.
The lady in 2 John was in danger of inviting in people who were not true followers of Christ(didn’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh V7). If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, DO NOT TAKE HIM INTO YOUR HOUSE OR WELCOME HIM eg cults and false religions. Anyone who welcomes them SHARES IN THEIR WICKED WORK.
The man in 3 John does the opposite; Diotrophes, who loves to be first, refuses to welcome the brothers. Genuine teachers were being kept out of the church and refused support. He put people out of the church who wanted to support the true ministries from God. No one person has all the wisdom and knowledge of God, that’s why we’re called to body ministry. The warning here is DON’T IMITATE those who are blocking true ministers of God, LACK OF LOVE and their need to be first.
John, the Elder, identifies the contribution of both people, male and female and also the need for ‘love and truth’ in the body. John continually told the Dear Children to love one another. He also fled a bath house when a man called Cerinthus, a false teacher and enemy of the truth was present, in case the bath house fell on them. We need one another and we can’t promote love at the expense of truth and vice versa.
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