Monday, April 21, 2025

"The Truth Controls Believers" ( 2 John 4)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2025 10:34 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  “The Truth Controls Believers”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                               Reference:  2 John 4

 

            Message of the verse:  I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.”

 

            From reading all of the different letters that John wrote including the gospel of John, and then the three different letters of John we can see that he had a commitment to the truth, and so this comes to no surprise that John was very glad to find some of this Christian lady’s children walking in truth.  Now surely the apostle was enthusiastic at the news of their obedience to divine revelation, which he may have heard from her sister ore her sister’s children.  (The children of your chosen sister greet you, v. 13).  That he mentions only some of her children does not necessarily mean that the others were not saved; John was referring only to those of whom he had personal knowledge.

 

            John MacArthur writes:  “The truth of God’s Word is to be lived as well as believed (cf. Matt. 7:21; 12:50; Luke 6:46-49; 11:28; John 13:17; Rom. 2:13; James 1:22; 1 John 2:3).  The phrase walking in the truth refers to moving through life controlled by the truth; it is the equivalent to walking in the light (1 John 1:7).  Walking is a frequent New Testament metaphor for the Christian life.  Believers ‘walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:4), ‘walking by faith, not by sight’ (2 Cor. 5:7), ‘walk by the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:16, 25), ‘walk in good works’ (Eph. 2:10), ‘walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which [they] have been called’ (Eph. 5:8), ‘walk in wisdom’ (Eph. 5:15), ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects’ (Col. 1:10), ‘walk in a manner worth of the God who calls [them] into His own kingdom and glory’ (1 Thess. 2:12), ‘walk in the same manner as [Jesus] walked’ (1 John 2:6), and ‘walk according to His commandments’ (2 John 6).”  I have to say that there is a lot of this kind of walking found in the New Testament, and so it is good to have this references to follow.

 

            “John’s reference to the commandment believers have received from the Father to walk in the truth is not a reference to one particular command, but reflects the general and obvious mandate of Scripture to obey.  Scripture is even called ‘the commandment of the Lord’ (Ps. 19:8; cf. the similar use of ‘commandment’ in1 Tim. 6:14).  Obedience to God’s truth is not optional.  ‘God has not revealed His truth in such a way as to leave us free at our pleasure to believe or disbelieve it, to obey or disobey it. Revelation carries with it responsibility, and the clearer the revelation, the greater the responsibility to believe and obey it’ (John R. W. Stott, The Epistles of John, They Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1964], 206).”

 

            MacArthur concludes his comments on this verse by writing “The brief letter opens with a ringing call for Christians to live consistently with the truth they believe.  The only true basis for unity in the church is the truth of God’s Word that indwells, blesses, and controls the lives of individual believers.  And it is only those Christians and churches who are firmly planted on the solid foundation of the truth who will be able to withstand the storms of persecution, temptation, and false doctrine that constantly assail them.”

 

4/21/2025 11:02 PM

 

           

 

             

 

 

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