Devotional on 2 John 1–13
Church family,
As I am wrapping up my doctoral intensive here in Philadelphia, I have continued to be in prayer for you. Westminster Theological Seminary has become a bit of a pastoral retreat for me over the last several years. It’s a place with rich history, steeped in the Old Princeton tradition of training pastors with a mind for truth and a heart of love, for the sake of God’s people. And that is the theme of our Scripture reading this week: truth and love.
In the Letter of Second John, John wrote with pen and ink to a church that was near and dear to his own heart. These people were like family to him! So much so, that he referred to them as “the elect lady and her children” (2 John 1,13; a reference to the Bride of Christ gathered locally). And he encouraged them, from a great distance, to continue in what they were doing: walking in the truth and in love (4–5).
To walk in truth and love is to enjoy the fellowship of God in all things. It is to walk with a knowledge of Christ as our High Priest “with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Heb 10:22). It is to be grounded in the confession of our hope without wavering (10:23). It is to be so stirred up by God’s love that we cannot help but love others and be devoted to the good of those in our church (10:24–25).
But there is a word of warning here in 2 John. If we are not conscientiously devoted to both truth and love, we will easily become deceived and lose that precious sight of our Great Reward, Jesus Christ (2 John 7–9). Furthermore, if we receive into our hearts and homes that which is opposed to the teaching of Christ, we will inevitably take part in the acts of wickedness ourselves (10–11).
So we must be a people committed to truth and love. Truth in our taking every thought captive to obey Christ. And love for Christ, come in the flesh, who loved us and gave himself for us.
Would you pray with me today that our church would become all the more a people who are discerning in the truth and faithful in love?
In Christ,
Rich
