By Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell (Guest Blogger)
Week 50
Scripture Readings: 2 John
Key Scripture Verse: 2 John 1:6 (NIV, Life Application Bible)
“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
John the Apostle wrote 2 John, a short letter to a dear friend. He wrote it around A.D. 90 and in it he emphasized the following themes: seeking the truth, obedience to God’s commands, being wary of false teachers, and walking in love.
John made the point that believers should follow the truth of Jesus and to be careful of human teachers and leaders who claim to teach the truth but who teach heresy. It was a problem in John’s day and it continues to be a problem even today. Many may claim to teach the gospel and the teachings of Jesus but may have altered the truth to their own advantage. To discern the truth Christians should read and study the scriptures, because that is how we can discern the truth.
John said to follow God’s commands and to “walk in love.” This is what Jesus taught when he said that there were two basic commandments to remember: to love God and to love each other.
This book emphasizes that if any teacher “does not continue in the teaching of Christ,” that person does not know him, but is an “antichrist.” Anyone who does not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah who came in the flesh, is also a deceiver and an “antichrist.” Anyone who does not “walk in love” as Jesus commanded, does not know him and does not follow him.
2 John is a short letter, a reminder of basic Christianity: know the truth, follow the truth, and live by the truth—to do so is to “walk” in the love of the Living Christ. Amen
