EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/26/2025 7:52 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
“PT-5 Introduction to 2 John 5-13”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 John 5-13
Message of the verses: “5 Now I ask you,
lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one
which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 And this is
love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just
as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. 7 For many
deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that
you may receive a full reward. 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in
the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching,
he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not
bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give
him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his
evil deeds. 12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do
so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so
that your joy may be made full. 13 The children of your chosen sister greet
you.”
I am going to continue to quote from John
MacArthur’s introduction to these verses in 2 John, and then I may make some of
my own comments after I am done quoting from MacArthur’s commentary. This will be the last SD on the introduction
to these verses in 2 John.
“God
does not save by sovereign grace through general revelation; rather, unaided by
God, the sinner is rendered by that revelation under judgment and without
excuse. All men have ample evidence for
God’s existence, ‘because that which is known about God is evident within them;
for God made it evident to them. For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse’ (Rom. 1:19-20). That knowledge, however, does not lead them
to God. On the contrary, it only leaves
them without excuse when He judges them, because ‘the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the
truth in unrighteousness’ (v. 18). General
revelation is not sufficient for salvation, but is enough for damnation. Human reason alone will never lead sinners to
a saving knowledge of God because they suppress the knowledge of Him that is
available in general revelation (cf. Rom. 3:19-28). Apart from God’s special revelation in His
Son and in the Scriptures, people remain ungodly, defiant, depraved sinners,
hopelessly lost in the darkness of idolatrous false religion (Rom.
1:22-32). And far from accepting them,
God in reality has utterly abandoned them (vv. 24-32).
“The
apostle John knew that there is no substitute for teaching the ‘truth is in
Jesus’ (Eph. 4:21) and stressed the importance of it in this brief
epistle. John had called his readers to
live in the truth of Christ that unites, indwells, blesses, and controls them.” MacArthur then suggest to go over what was
taught in the first four verses of 2 John, and you can do that by looking for
my Spiritual Diaries on those first four verses. “He was about to exhort them to remain loyal
to, guard, and learn the truth. But
before he did so, the apostle paused to add an important caveat: truth and love
are inseparably linked. Love is an
integral part of obedience to the truth, being repeatedly commanded in
Scripture (cf. the discussion below); therefore, those who do not love do not
practice the truth. And those who uphold
the truth do so in love (Eph. 4:15).”
Well
we have come to the end of this long introduction to these remaining verses in
2 John, and Lord willing will begin tomorrow evenings SD by beginning to look
at “Love In The Truth” which covers verses 5-6.
4/26/2025 8:10 PM
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