A Forum Bible Study On 2 & 3 John

[Pastor Scott Markle]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 2:24 PM, Pastor Scott Markle said:

Furthermore, as we consider the salutation of 2 John in verses 1-3, we are also brought to a number of interpretational questions:

1.  What does it mean to "love in the truth"?

2.  In this context, what does it mean to describe individuals as those who have "known the truth"?  Is this a reference only unto believers in the gospel, or is this a reference unto something more?

3.  In what way does "love" occur "for the truth's sake"?

4.  In what manner does the "truth" dwell "in us" and abide "with us for ever"?

5.  Does the prepositional phrase, "in truth and love," at the end of verse 3 modify the phrase, "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace;" or does it modify the phrase, "the Son of the Father"?  Are we to understand this as -- "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace in truth and love"?  Or are we to understand this as -- "the Son of the Father in truth and love"?

6.  If it is to be understood as -- "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace in truth and love," then what does it mean for grace, mercy, and peace to be administered unto us from God the Father and God the Son "in truth and love"?  Does this refer to the manner in which they administer grace, mercy, and peace?  Or does this refer to the realm in which they administer grace, mercy, and peace?

7.  If it is to be understood as -- "the Son of the Father in truth and love," then what does it mean that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father "in truth and love"?

1.  What does it mean to "love in the truth"?

The preposition “in” which begins the phrase “in the truth” carries three primary categories of meaning.  It can mean “in the location of,” or “in the spirit of,” or “in the context of.”  Now, the idea of location is not a characteristic of the context in 2 John 1:1-3.  Therefore, we would understand that the phrase, “whom I love in the truth,” in verse 1 either means “in the spirit of truthfulness” or “in the context of the truth.”

If the phrase, “whom I love in the truth,” means “in the spirit of truthfulness,” then the apostle John was thereby indicating that he loved “the elect lady” and her children with sincerity, that is – in the spirit of a sincere disposition with his whole heart, “without dissimulation” (see Romans 12:9), “with a pure heart fervently” (see 1 Peter 1:22).  Indeed, this would be the usage and meaning of the phrase “in truth” within the warning and instruction of 1 John 3:18 – “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed [in action] and in truth.”

However, throughout the remaining context of 2 John, the word “truth” is not used concerning a spirit of sincerity, but is used concerning the sound doctrine of God’s Word.  Even so, I would contend that the word “truth” in verse 1 is intended to carry this same meaning of usage.  As such, in the phrase, “whom I love in the truth,” the apostle John was thereby indicating that he loved “the elect lady” and her children “in the context of the truth,” that is – in the context of the sound doctrine from God’s Word. 

Yet how does an individual love in the context of the truth, in the context of the sound doctrine from God’s Word?  There is a two-fold direction in the answer.  First, we can love in the context of the truth by loving in accord with definition and standard that God’s Word sets for godly love.  Selfish, ungodly love is love in falsehood because it is contrary to the sound doctrine of God’s Word concerning true, Biblical love.  However, Spirit-filled, godly love is love in the truth because it is in union with the sound doctrine of God’s Word concerning true, Biblical love.  Second, we can love in the context of the truth by pursuing a loving fellowship with those who walk after the sound doctrine of God’s Word.  It is loving another and pursuing a loving fellowship with another specifically because that other individual has received the truth of the gospel and is thereby a fellow brother or sister in God’s eternal family. (See 1 Peter 1:22)  Furthermore, it is loving another and pursuing a loving fellowship with another specifically because that other individual receives, obeys, and patterns his or her life after the truth of God’s Word. (See 1 John 4:6-7)