Day #358
Scripture Reading: II John …
There is no love like that of those who are united
to Christ and to each other. It is something that is difficult to
describe. Some have wrongly understood that we are commanded to love
everyone the same, but while God calls us to "love our enemies," it
is certainly a different love than the love we share with our brothers and
sisters in Christ. We "show" love to our enemies and we are
concerned for them because we know that unless they repent and believe they
will one day face the just judgment of God in an eternity of anguish, being
separated from God forever … but it's not like the love we have for one another.
Why? Because we don't share the love of God or the fellowship of
the Spirit.
John's second and third letters are brief
"notes" to individuals, yet within them lies a message for all who
know and love Jesus. You can hear the loneliness of John as he has
survived the persecution of the "60's" (A.D.) and the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. Many, if not all of his brothers, the
apostles, have been martyred … and yet, the true Church, the remnant, those who
believed in Jesus Christ against all odds, has survived. "This is
the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (I John 5:4).
John must have felt alone, but he knew he wasn't alone. So he
writes "to the chosen lady and her children" (vs. 1). We
don't know who this was, but it is clear that she was a believer. John
greets her with the words, "whom I love in the truth - and not I only,
but also all who know the truth - because of the truth, which lives in us and
will be with us forever" (verses 1-2).
When John uses the words, "the truth,"
he is referring to at least two things: first, the Gospel, the truth
of God's Word, and second, Jesus, Who is Himself "the Way, the Truth
and the Life" (John 14:6). This is where our oneness with our
brothers and sisters in Christ is found: in Jesus and in the truth of His
Word. JESUS changes everything!
The TRUTH changes everything. That's why Jesus said to the Jews who
believed in Him, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free" (John 8:32).
Jesus is using a "play on words" because
there is a double meaning to "knowing the truth." Some
people have heard about Jesus and may even say they believe in Jesus, but they
don't KNOW Him, because they have not truly accepted the truth that He IS the
eternal Son of God, that He IS Lord, that He IS worthy of worship, that He IS
the only Mediator and Savior of those who KNOW Him, who believe His Words (the
truth) and who trust Him ... who find their hope and peace and joy nowhere else
but in Jesus. John continues and says, "Grace, mercy and peace
from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in
truth and love" (verse 3). If you were facing persecution and
possibly death for your testimony to the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, the Savior, how important would these words be to you?!
The rest of this brief letter reveals the
connection between truth and love. John says, "It has given me
great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the
Father commanded us" (verse 4). He goes on to talk about
the command to "love one another" (verse 5). Truth and
love always go together. The love Jesus commands us to have for one
another cannot exist without truth ... cannot exist without Jesus. Too
many who claim to be followers of Jesus gather in “churches” that are more like
social clubs - a place to get together, to get small doses of encouragement or
inspiration, to play religion and to do a few good deeds to make people feel
good. The name of Jesus is used as a motivation, but the cross of Jesus
is noticeably absent. Sin is seldom, if ever, confronted; repentance is a
word that has been placed on the shelf as old-fashioned and faith is simply a
mental assent to a set of beliefs with which even those who don't know Jesus
could probably agree.
Many seem to start out well, but like those in
Jesus' parable of the sower (Matthew 13), the trials of life, riches,
prosperity and trials distract them and pull them away from true love and
devotion for and to Jesus, THE Truth. While many are deceived, others simply
fall away because they fail to "continue in the teaching of
Christ" and so show that they do "not have God" (verse
9). John says, "Whoever continues in the teaching has both the
Father and the Son" (verse 9).
The mark of a true believer is seen in Paul's words
to his young friend, Timothy: "As for you, continue in what you
have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you
learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus" (II
Timothy 3:14-15). That is as good a
description of a true believer as you will find: one who continues in the
Word. Those who have no hunger for God's Word, who don't feed on its
truth, and who are not growing spiritually are vulnerable to false teachers and
do not mature.
Truth and love always go together for those who
know Jesus Christ and who live to love Him and each other. John warns
those who read his letter that "if anyone comes to you and does not
bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him" (verse
10). The truth of Jesus Christ unites those who are truly part of His
body with each other, and separates us from those who do not accept the truth
of His Word and so who do not truly know Jesus. Live together with your
fellow believers, "face to face, so that (y)our joy may be
complete" (verse 12). Share His love and His truth with one
another as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
"My Father in heaven, I thank You for the
Truth that unites Your family in Christ. Give me grace to continue in the
truth by reading, studying and meditating on Your Word as it points to Jesus
from beginning to end. Open my mind by Your Spirit, who lives within me,
that I may understand what I read and share THE Truth with those around me, so
they, too, may discover the freedom and the joy that only Christ can give.
Let Your love for us overflow to love for You and each other, in Jesus'
name, Amen"
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