Walking in Truth
2 Jn. 4-6
Introduction
As we have seen in our last lesson, the Apostle John was writing to an elect lady who have children.
Here we can read John’s commendation for the elect ladies’ children for their walking in truth and
exhortation to love one another.
I. John’s rejoicing (2 Jn. 4a)
A. John came to know that some of the “elect lady’s” children were walking in truth
B. This was the cause of his rejoicing.
C. Nothings delights the parents than to know that their children walks with the Lord.
D. Since John is telling us that only “some” of the elect lady’s children are walking in
truth, it may indicate that her other children had gone astray and may have joined
the false teachers identified as anti Christs in the first epistle.
E. As parents it is our responsibility to see to it that our children are taught spiritual as
well as moral values.
F. Giving material, social, educational, as well and physical care will never be enough.
G. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when
he is old, he will not depart from it.
1. For me it means we should teach and train our children Christian values.
2. Whatever we have taught them, it will always be with them.
3. Though church preaching and Sunday School can play a very important role in
our children’s life, it is always the parent’s duty to teach and train them the love
for truth and the knowledge of God’s truth.
Illustration 1: What the Bible Says About Parenting
1. Parents must teach God’s truth (Deut. 4:9; 32:46).
2. Parents must lovingly discipline children because they are immature and need guidance (Prov.
22:15; 29:15).
3. Parents should not exasperate (provoke to anger) their children (Eph. 6:4).
4. Parents’ wise decisions bring blessing to their children (Deut. 30:19-20).
5. Parents who are godly teach their children to obey (Eph. 6:1; 1 Tim. 3:4).
6. Parents who faithfully train their children can be confident that their efforts are not in vain (Prov.
22:6). Our Daily Bread
II. Walking in truth (2 Jn. 4b)
A. Walking in the Scriptures often denotes how we live, how we act, or how you
conduct yourself. It indicates the behavior and spiritual character of a person, Ezek.
11:20; Rom. 8:1.
B. To walk in the truth is to be obedient to the truth God has made known.
C. We must obey, follow, and apply into our lives the commandments of God.
D. Notice that the commandments were given by the Father and our obedience to His
commandments is an expression of our love to Him.
E. Somebody had written “a good soldier never asks, he just obey”. I agree with Him.
As Christians soldiers if the Lord Jesus Christ commands us, we just obey. No
questions ask.
F. We may feel inadequate and not capable of obeying them all but 1 John 5:3 says …
his commandments are not grievous. (the word grievous means not burdensome, or
not causing suffering or sorrow).
G. No believer who loves God would ever think that God commandments are hard or
even impossible to follow.
Illustration 2: The Majesty of the Lawgiver
“It is not the importance of the thing, but the majesty of the Lawgiver, that is to be the standard of
obedience…Some, indeed, might reckon such minute and arbitrary rules as these as trifling. But the
principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the same principle which was
tried in Eden at the foot of the forbidden tree. It is really this: Is the Lord to be obeyed in all things
whatsoever He commands? Is He a holy Lawgiver? Are His creatures bound to give implicit assent to
His will?” Andrew Bonar
III. An exhortation to love one another (2 Jn. 5-6)
A. “And now I beseech thee lady”
1. The word beseech means to request: —ask, beseech, desire, intreat, pray.
2. This tells us how serious and how important is the Lord’s command for us to
love one another.
3. We must therefore obey it promptly without second thoughts, without any
delay
B. “Not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee,”
1. This is not a “new” commandment. It did not originate from the Apostle John.
2. It originated from the Lord Jesus Christ. Matt. 22:37-40, Jn. 13:34, 35.
3. The commandment “Love one another” is certainly not new in time, because
even Old Testament Jews were instructed to love their neighbor (Lev. 19:18,34)
and the strangers within their gates (Deut. 10:19).
4. With the coming of God’s Son to earth, this commandment is new in emphasis
and in example. Jesus Christ gave new emphasis to brotherly love, and He
exemplified it in His own life. It is also new in experience, for we have the Holy
Spirit of God living within, enabling us to obey. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love”
(Gal. 5:22; Rom. 5:5).
5. It is the command which his readers had known since they heard the gospel,
were converted and become Christians.
C. “That we love one another”
1. Christ had given us the commandment that we love one another
2. The words “one another” indicate reciprocity. True believers return love shown
to them by fellow Christians.
3. The model and the standard were what Jesus said “…as I have loved you, that
you also love one another. (Jn. 13:34)
4. But what does it mean to “love one another”? The answer: This is love, that we
walk in obedience to His commands. As he had also done in 1 John 5:2-3 a, John
defined Christian love in terms of obedience to God. A Christian who truly seeks
God’s best for his brothers and sisters can only do so by obeying what God has
commanded him to do. Love undirected by God’s revealed will may easily
degenerate into unwise, sentimental activity. Believers who are “walking in the
truth” (2 John 4), that is, living in response to what God has revealed, love each
other. Brotherly love is part of the truth God has revealed and commanded.
(from Bible Knowledge Commentary)
D. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.
1. When I am keeping the commandments of God, I show love for my fellow
Christians. 1 Jn 5:2
2. I can claim brotherly love all day long, but unless I am walking according to God’s
commandments my claim will not make any sense all.
Illustration 3: Love Was the Motivation
Love reaches for the hurt and takes bold steps without self-interest. It can accomplish unbelievable
things merely because it is so void of self-interest.
Some time ago, a teenager, Arthur Hinkley, lifted a 3,000-pound tractor with bare hands. He wasn’t
a weight lifter, but his friend, Lloyd Bachelder, 18, was pinned under a tractor on a farm near Rome,
Maine. Hearing Lloyd scream, Arthur somehow lifted the tractor enough for Lloyd to wriggle out.
Love was the real motivation. Calvin Miller, “Rethinking Suburban Evangelism,”
Illustration 4: Love is a costly thing.
God in His love for us (and for a lost world) “spared not His own Son” to tell the world of His love.
Love is costly, but we must tell the world at any cost. Such love is costly.
It costs parents and sons and daughters. It costs the missionary life itself. In his love for Christ the
missionary often must give up all to make the Savior known. If you will let your love for Christ, cost
you something, the great advance will be made together.
Love is a Costly Thing by Dick Hillis
IV. Conclusion:
It’s a real joy to see our children walking in truth and it’s the parent’s duty and
responsibility to teach our children spiritual as moral values. In obedience to the Lord
Jesus Christ’s command, we must love one another. Will you obey Him. Why don’t
repent from your sins now and receive Him as your personal Saviour.
