Key Text: “This is love that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” (2 John 6)
The Student Will:
Know: Comprehend that God commands us to walk in both truth and love.
Feel: Experience the joy that comes from walking in love and truth.
Do: Distance ourselves from falsehood and heresy.
Lesson Outline:
Know: Truth and Love
1. Truth and love form the themes in 2 John. How do these two interrelate? Discuss how this ties in with the themes in 1 John.
If we talk about truth, we are reminded of God; of Jesus, who is the truth (John 14:6); and of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit is with the believers forever (John 14:16), so truth is with them forever (2 John 2). Both truth and love ultimately point back to God and belong together in Christian faith and experience. At the same time, truth and love seem to form the main theme of 2 John. Love is further discussed in verses 5 and 6. Truth is necessary to discern deceptions and their results (vss. 7, 8) and to abide in the teaching of Christ (vss. 9, 10).[1]
2. What happens when truth is expressed without love, or vice versa?
Love is shown by keeping God’s commandments. In other words, we have this commandment, and this commandment is to love one another, and we reveal this love by keeping the commandments. John suggests that knowing and living the truth will make us loving (2 John 4–6).[2]
3. Returning to the problem of heresy, John deals with how we should relate to those who promote false teachings. Make a list of the principles and how they relate to today’s challenges.
In our passage it is obviously the apostles’ teaching about Jesus that is being challenged. Those who accept this biblical teaching and faithfully remain in it have the Father and the Son. God the Father and Jesus are placed on the same level. The rejection of the teaching about Jesus leads to a loss of the relationship with the Father.[3]
To welcome a false teacher would be perceived as encouragement of what he or she presents. Today we may have lost the sense of how problematic heresies can be. It is considered by some as judgmental or arrogant even to talk about “heresy” at all, although Scripture addresses this topic frequently. John reminds us that there is a basic difference between truth and error.[4]
“As Seventh-day Adventist Christians we ought to seek the discernment necessary to recognize both false teaching and false prophecy, and to cling to God’s truth. Let us remember that God has never ceased to communicate. His Spirit is present among us, to comfort, to correct, to teach, to strengthen. Jesus has promised to be with us—and to communicate His will for us—until the very end of the age.”[5]
Feel: Joy Rooted in Love and Truth
4. Cultivating obedience is not easy. What is love’s role as a motivator?
How interesting that something such as keeping the law, the rules, and the dos and the don’ts would be so closely linked with love. And yet, it makes perfect sense. Love isn’t just what we feel; love is what we do; it’s how we act; it’s how we relate to others. Though it is more than just obeying the Ten Commandments, true love cannot be separated from the principles found in them.[6]
If ye shall ask any thing in my name I will do it. If ye love me keep my commandments. (John 14:14, 15). “We are to accept His character, manifest His spirit, and work His works. The Savior’s promise is given on condition. "If ye love me," He says, "keep my commandments." He saves men, not in sin, but from sin; and those who love Him will show their love by obedience. All obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.”[7]
Do: Keeping a Healthy Distance
Hospitality is a Christian virtue, but there are times when we need to place a healthy distance between us and people who do not follow the truth.
Summary: John reminds the believers that love finds its expression in keeping the commandments. When confronted with error, we should distance ourselves from it so as not to mislead others.
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[1] Adult Bible Study Guide 2009: 3rd Quarter, Teachers Edition. p. 138
[2] Ibid. p. 140
[3] Ibid. p. 142
[4] Ibid. p. 144
[5] God’s Means of Communication, Sermon for Spirit of Prophecy Sabbath, EGW Estate, October 18, 2003
[6] Adult Bible Study Guide 2009: 3rd Quarter, Teachers Edition. p. 140
[7] To Know God is to Obey Him, Daily Devotional, EGW Estate: Jun 13 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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