From encouraging truth, John turned to opposing error. He joined his voice with Peter’s to warn that there are deceivers in the world. The word deceiver implies much more than teaching false doctrine. It also includes leading people into wrong living. John has already made it clear that truth and life go together. What we believe determines how we behave. Wrong doctrine and wrong living always go together.
Where did these false teachers come from originally? “For many deceivers have gone out into the world” (literal translation). They went out from the church! At one time, they professed to believe “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), but they turned from that faith and abandoned the truth and the church. “They went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 John 2:19). “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30).
It takes constant spiritual vigilance to protect a family or a local church from the insidious attacks of false teachers. One very successful pastor told me, “If I took my eyes off this work for twenty-four hours and stopped praying, it would be invaded before we knew it.” He was not emphasizing his own importance (though godly pastors are essential to spiritual churches) but the importance of diligence and vigilance.
Note that there are many deceivers! Why? Second Peter 2: gives the answer: “And many shall follow their pernicious ways.” I think it was Mark Twain who said that a lie runs around the world while truth is putting on her shoes. Fallen human nature wants to believe lies and resist God’s truth. We have already learned from 2 Peter 2 the devious methods the apostates use to seduce unwary and unstable people. No wonder they are successful!
These deceivers are also “antichrists” (see 1 John 2:18–29). The Greek prefix anti means both “instead of” and “against.” These teachers are against Christ because they deny that He is indeed God come in the flesh (see 1 John 4:1–6). They not only deny the truth about Christ, but they give their converts a “substitute Christ” who is not the Christ of the Christian faith. The first question you want to ask any teacher, preacher, or author is, “What do you think about Christ? Is He God come in the flesh?” If he hesitates, or if he denies that Jesus is God come in the flesh, then you can be sure you have a false teacher.
I was preaching at Carrubers Close Mission in Edinburgh, Scotland, and before the meeting started, a young man came up to me. Without even introducing himself, he said, “Do you believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ?” I replied emphatically that I did, and that I preached that Jesus Christ was the Son of God come in the flesh. While I did not appreciate his arrogant manner, I did appreciate his concern that the man in the pulpit was “abiding in the truth.”
To abide in the truth means to remain true to the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. The false teachers had departed from the truth and from the church fellowship and, therefore, they were dangerous. John pointed out three dangers the church and its members face because of deceivers in the world.
The danger of going back (v. 8). This is the danger of losing what has already been gained. Look to yourselves means “Beware! Take heed!” The false teachers offer something you do not have, when in reality they take away what you already have!
Satan is a thief and so are his helpers. John wanted his readers to receive “a full reward,” which is his equivalent of 2 Peter 1:11, an abundant entrance into the eternal kingdom. What a tragedy it is when God’s servants labor faithfully to build up a church, and then the work is destroyed by false teaching. No wonder Paul wrote to the Galatian assemblies, “I am afraid of [for] you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain” (Gal. 4:11).
“Do not lose the things we accomplished” is the way Kenneth Wuest translates 2 John 8. Church members need to respect the work of faithful pastors and teachers and do everything to protect it and extend it. God’s servants must one day give an account of their ministries, and they want to do it “with joy and not with grief” (Heb. 13:17). When the church goes backward, losing what it has gained, then it also will lose part of the reward at the judgment seat of Christ. It is essential that we hold fast to the truth of the Word of God!
The danger of going ahead (v. 9). The danger here is that of going beyond the limits of the Word of God and adding to it. The word translated “transgress” means “to run ahead too far, to pass beyond the assigned limits.” It is false progress! The apostates like to make us believe that they are “progressive” while the church is “in a rut.” They invite us to join them because they have something “new and exciting” to share. But their “progress” is such that they abandon the doctrine that Jesus Christ is the Son of God come in the flesh.
Fifty years ago, the American press was filled with news about “the fundamentalist-modernist controversy.” Those who were true to the faith were opposing “modernism” in the mainline denominations and seeking to bring the schools and the leadership of these denominations back to historic Christianity. The “progressive” group called themselves “modernists,” when actually there was nothing “modern” about their denials of Christian doctrine. These denials are as old as the church itself! One of their leaders, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, said in one of his sermons, “Fundamentalism is still with us but mostly in the backwaters.” If he were alive today, he would not make that statement; today the largest Sunday schools, churches, seminaries, and missionary agencies are fundamental in doctrine.
If a person does not abide in the true doctrine, then he does not have either the Father or the Son. It is impossible to honor the Father and ignore the Son (or call Him a mere man) at the same time. “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). “Progressive theology” that denies Christ is not progressive at all; it is regressive—all the way back to Genesis 3:1, “Yea, hath God said?”
In giving this warning, however, John was not condemning “progress” as such. “The Lord has yet more light to shine forth from His Word.” God gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us and to lead us into new understanding and application of the truth (John 16:12–16), and we must constantly grow (2 Peter 3:18).
But if our “learning” leads us away from the fundamental doctrines of the person and work of Jesus Christ, then we are on dangerous ground.
The danger of going with (vv. 10–13). John warned the family (and the church in their house) not to accept false teachers who visited them, wanting to fellowship with them or perhaps enjoy hospitality. Hospitality was a very important Christian ministry in that day, because there were very few inns where travelers could safely stay, especially Christians who wanted to keep away from the evil influences of the world. Christians were admonished to open their homes to visitors (Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 3:2; 5:3–10; Heb. 13:2; 1 Peter 4:8–10).
It was also true that traveling pastors and teachers needed homes to stay in (3 John 5–8). Believers who showed hospitality to these servants of God were “fellowhelpers to the truth,” but believers who assisted false teachers were only sharing in their evil works. The doctrine of Jesus Christ is a test of truth, a basis for fellowship, and a bond for mutual cooperation.
Certainly this principle applies today. Often, professed Christians appear on our TVs, wanting to sell us something. We must exercise discernment. If they do not agree with the true doctrine of Christ, not only must we not let them in, but we must not even say “good-bye,” which means “God be with you.”
Why was John so adamant about this? Because he did not want any of God’s children to: (1) give a false teacher the impression that his heretical doctrine was acceptable; (2) become infected because of association and possible friendship; and (3) give the false teacher ammunition to use at the next place he stopped. If I entertain a cultist, for example, he will only say to the neighbors, “There’s no reason why you shouldn’t let me in. After all, Pastor Wiersbe let me in and we had a wonderful talk!” My disobedience could very well lead to somebody else’s destruction.
Let me make it clear that John was not saying only born-again people should enter our houses! “Friendship evangelism” around the table is a wonderful way to win people to Christ. Christians need to be neighborly and hospitable. The apostle is admonishing us not to receive or encourage false teachers who represent antichristian groups, people who have left the church and are now trying to seduce others away from the truth. You can be sure that apostates use every opportunity they can to secure the endorsement of true Christians.
There is a tradition about the apostle John that illustrates his position concerning false doctrine. When he was living in Ephesus, one day he went to the public baths, and there he saw Cerinthus, the leader of a heretical sect. John ran from the buildings lest they should fall down as a judgment from God! Cerinthus taught that Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary, not God come in the flesh.
John’s closing words (2 John 12–13) are almost identical to the farewell in 3 John, and they require no explanation. They do, however, express the importance of Christian fellowship and the joy that it should bring to our hearts (see 1 John 1:4). It is wonderful to receive letters, but even more wonderful to receive God’s people into our homes and hearts.
J O H N3This little epistle, written to a Christian mother and her family (and perhaps the church in their house), is a perfect gem of sacred correspondence. But we must not forget the major thrust of the letter: be alert! There are many deceivers in the world!
Key theme: Having a good witness in the church Key verse: 3 John 3 3 J o h n