So far in our study of the Epistle of Second John we have learned that there is a vast difference between our definition and use of the word “love” and that found and employed in the world apart from Christ. More to the point, we believe that in order to understand “love,” one must also have “truth.” And this, as we have seen, is evident in 2 John 1:1-2 where the aged Apostle John assures his readers that he loves them “in truth,” and that “the truth” with which he dearly loves them is that truth which “abides” in them and stands “forever.”

Of course, this leads us to consider something else: what is “the truth”?

Like our use and definition of “love,” believers in Christ also speak of “truth” in much different terms than those outside of faith in Christ. When we talk about “truth,” we have in mind something revealed, unchanging, eternal, and objective (as opposed to being subjective, or different for different people). And, fundamentally, “the truth” which has been revealed and that we believe and proclaim has everything to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. This “truth” concerns who He was and why He came. It’s all about Jesus!

When John wrote his three letters in the late first century, this “truth” was under assault. You can see this in 2 John 1:7 where he warns his readers about the “deceivers” out there “in the world” who do not affirm nor “confess” that our Lord Jesus has “come in the flesh.” In other words, they get Jesus all wrong, and thus, do not possess “the truth.”

This coming Sunday as we go deeper into 2 John, we will probe this “truth” further. In preparation for our message, take some time to reflect upon John 1:1-18 and 1 John 4:1-6.