A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON 2 JOHN.

1. 2 JOHN COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1
The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom
I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who
know the truth—
1.BARNES. “The elder - See the introduction, Section 1, (2,d).
Unto the elect lady - The elect or chosen Kyria. See the introduction, Section 2. He
addresses her as one chosen of God to salvation, in the use of a term often applied to Christians
in the New Testament.
And her children - The word here rendered “children” (τέκνοις teknois) would include in
itself both sons and daughters, but since the apostle immediately uses a masculine pronoun, τοις
tois it would seem more probable that sons only were intended. At all events, the use of such a
pronoun proves that some at least of her children were sons. Of their number and character we
have no information, except that (the notes at 2Jo_1:4) a part of them were Christians.
Whom I love in the truth - See the notes, Joh_3:18. The meaning here is, that he “truly” or
“sincerely” loved them. The introduction of the article the here, which is not in the original, (ᅚν ᅊ
ληθίᇮ en alethia) somewhat obscures the sense, as if the meaning were that he loved them so far
as they embraced the truth. The meaning however is, that he was sincerely attached to them.
The word “whom” here, (οཋς hous,) embraces both the mother and her children, though the
pronoun is in the masculine gender, in accordance with the usage of the Greek language. No
mention is made of her husband, and it may thence be inferred that she was a widow. Had he
been living, though he might not have been a Christian, it is to be presumed that some allusion
would have been made to him as well as to the children, especially since there is reason to
believe that only some of her children were pious. See the notes, 2Jo_1:4.
And not I only, but also all they that have known the truth - That is, all those
Christians who had had an opportunity of knowing them, were sincerely attached to them. It
would seem, from a subsequent part of the Epistle 2Jo_1:10, that this female was of a hospitable
character, and was accustomed to entertain at her house the professed friends of religion,
especially religious teachers, and it is probable that she was the more extensively known from
this fact. The commendation of the apostle here shows that it is possible that a family shall be
extensively known as one of order, peace, and religion, so that all who know it or hear of it shall
regard it with interest, respect, and love.

2. 2. CLARKE, “The elder - John the apostle, who was now a very old man, generally
supposed to be about ninety, and therefore he uses the term ᆇ πρεσβυτερος, presbyter or elder,
not as the name of an office, but as designating his advanced age. He is allowed to have been the
oldest of all the apostles, and to have been the only one who died a natural death.
This title led some of the ancients to attribute this epistle to a person called John the
Presbyter, a member of the Church at Ephesus; and not to John the apostle. But this is a
groundless supposition.
The elect lady - Εκλεκτᇽ Κυρια· As Κυρια, kuria, may be the feminine of Κυριος, kurios, lord,
therefore it may signify lady; and so several, both ancients and moderns, have understood it. But
others have considered it the proper name of a woman, Kyria; and that this is a very ancient
opinion is evident from the Peshito Syriac, the oldest version we have, which uses it as a proper
name koureea, as does also the Arabic kooreea.
Some have thought that Eclecta was the name of this matron, from the word εκλεκτη, which
we translate elect, and which here signifies the same as excellent, eminent, honorable, or the
like. Others think that a particular Church is intended, which some suppose to be the Church at
Jerusalem, and that the elect sister, 2Jo_1:13, means the Church at Ephesus; but these are
conjectures which appear to me to have no good ground. I am satisfied that no metaphor is here
intended; that the epistle was sent to some eminent Christian matron, not far from Ephesus,
who was probably deaconess of the Church, who, it is likely, had a Church at her house, or at
whose house the apostles and traveling evangelists frequently preached, and were entertained.
This will appear more probable in the course of the notes.
Whom I love in the truth - Whom I love as the Christian religion requires us to love one
another.
And not I only - She was well known in the Churches; many had witnessed or heard of her
fidelity, and partook of her hospitality; so that she had a good report of all Christians in that
quarter.
3. GILL, “The elder unto the elect lady and her children,.... By the "elder" is meant the
writer of this epistle, the Apostle John, who so calls himself either on account of his age, he
being now near an hundred years of age, having outlived all the apostles: or on account of his
office, being a bishop or overseer, not only of the church at Ephesus, but of all the Asiatic
churches, which is the same with an elder; nor is this incompatible with his being an apostle; see
1Pe_5:1, the elect lady is the person he writes unto; by whom is designed not the church of
Christ, since such a way of speaking is unusual; and besides, he speaks of coming to see her face
to face, and of the children of her elect sister: but some particular person, some rich, as well as
gracious woman of John's acquaintance; and these words, "elect lady", are neither of them
proper names of the person: some think that the word "Kyria", rendered "lady", was the name of
the person, as "Domina" with the Romans, and answers to the Hebrew word "Martha"; for as ‫,מר‬
"Mar", signifies lord, so ‫,מרתא‬ "Martha, lady"; and then the inscription runs, "to the choice" or
"excellent Martha"; and the Syriac and Arabic versions read, "to the elect Kyria": and others
think that the word rendered elect is a proper name, and that this person's name was "Electa",
as "Electus" (d) is a man's name; and then it must read thus, "to the lady Electa"; but her sister

3. also is so called, and it can hardly be thought that two sisters should be both of a name; neither
of them are proper names, but characters and titles of respect and honour: she is called a "lady",
because she was a person of distinction and substance, which shows that God sometimes calls by
his grace some that are rich and noble; and also that titles of respect and honour, where flattery
is avoided, may be lawfully given to persons of dignity and wealth; so Nazianzen (e) calls his own
mother by the same title; and it was usual to call women by this name from fourteen years of age
(f): and this person also is said to be "elect"; either because she was a choice, famous, and
excellent person, not only for her birth, nobility, and riches, but for her virtue, grace, and good
works; or because she was chosen unto eternal life and salvation; and which the apostle might
know without a special and divine revelation, by the Gospel coming with power to her; by the
grace that was wrought in her; by the faith of God's elect, which she appeared to have, seeing it
worked by love; and which may be, and ought to be concluded in a judgment of charity, of
everyone that professes faith in Christ, and walks according to it; and this also makes it appear
that election is of particular persons, and not of nations, communities, and churches, as such;
nor is it unusual to salute single persons under this character; see Rom_16:13, this epistle is
inscribed not only to this lady, but also to "her children"; who were not infants, but grown up,
and had made a profession of the truth, and walked in it, 2Jo_1:4, and both the mother and the
children the apostle represents as the objects of his love:
whom I love in the truth; either as being in the truth and faith of the Gospel; for though all
men are to be loved as men, and to be done well to, yet they that are of the household of faith, or
are in the faith, are in and especial manner to be loved and respected; see Gal_6:10; or the sense
is, that the apostle loved this lady and her children sincerely and heartily, without dissimulation;
not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth, 1Jo_3:18,
and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; either the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the truth; not with a notional knowledge, but with the knowledge of approbation and
affection; with a fiducial and appropriating one: or the Gospel, the word of truth; not with a
speculative, but with a spiritual and experimental knowledge of it: and this is not to be
understood of every individual person then living, which had such a knowledge of the truth; for
it cannot be reasonably thought that every individual person should know this lady and her
children; but of all such persons who had any knowledge of them; for such who are born again
by the word of truth, love not only him that begot them, but all those who are begotten of him:
this shows in what sense the word "all" is sometimes taken.
4. HENRY, “Ancient epistles began, as here, with salutation and good wishes: religion
consecrates, as far as may be, old forms, and turns compliments into real expressions of life and
love. Here we have, as usually,
I. The saluter, not expressed by name, but by a chosen character: The elder. The expression,
and style, and love, intimate that the penman was the same with that of the foregoing epistle; he
is now the elder, emphatically and eminently so; possibly the oldest apostle now living, the chief
elder in the church of God. An elder in the ancient house of Israel was reverend, or to be
reverenced, much more he who is so In the gospel Israel of God. An old disciple is honourable;
and old apostle and leader of disciples is more so. He was now old in holy service and
experience, had seen and tasted much of heaven, and was much nearer than when at first he
believed.
II. The saluted - a noble Christian matron, and her children: To the elect lady and her children.
A lady, a person of eminent quality for birth, education, and estate. It is well that the gospel ha

4. got among such. It is a pity but lords and ladies should be acquainted with the Lord Christ and
his religion. They owe more to him than others do; though usually not many noble are called.
Here is a pattern for persons of quality of the same sex. The elect lady; not only a choice one, but
one chosen of God. It is lovely and beautiful to see ladies, by holy walking, demonstrate their
election of God. And her children; probably the lady was a widow; she and her children then are
the principal part of the family, and so this may be styled an economical epistle. Families may
well be written to and encouraged, and further directed in their domestic love, and order, and
duties. We see that children may well be taken notice of in Christian letters, and they should
know it too; it may avail to their encouragement and caution. Those who love and commend
them will be apt to enquire after them. This lady and her children are further notified by the
respect paid them, and that, 1. By the apostle himself: Whom I love in the truth, or in truth,
whom I sincerely and heartily love. He who was the beloved disciple had learnt the art or
exercise of love; and he especially loved those who loved him, that Lord who loved him. 2. By all
her Christian acquaintance, all the religious who knew her: And not I only, but also all those
that have known the truth. virtue and goodness in an elevated sphere shine brightly. Truth
demands acknowledgment, and those who see the evidences of pure religion should confess and
attest them; it is a good sign and great duty to love and value religion in others. The ground of
this love and respect thus paid to this lady and her children was their regard to the truth: For the
truth's sake (or true religion's sake) which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
Christian love is founded upon the appearance of vital religion. Likeness should beget affection.
Those who love truth and piety in themselves should love it in others too, or love others upon
the account of it. The apostle and the other Christians loved this lady, not so much for her
honour as her holiness; not so much for her bounty as her serious Christianity. We should not be
religious merely by fits and starts, in certain moods and moons; but religion should still dwell
within us, in our minds and hearts, in our faith and love. It is to be hoped that where religion
once truly dwells it will abide for ever. The Spirit of Christianity, we may suppose, will not be
totally extinguished: Which shall be with us for ever.
5.JAMISON, “2Jo_1:1-13. Address: Greeting: Thanksgiving for the elect lady’s faithfulness
in the truth: Enjoins love: Warns against deceivers, lest we lose our reward: Conclusion.
The elder — In a familiar letter John gives himself a less authoritative designation than
“apostle”; so 1Pe_5:1.
lady — Bengel takes the Greek as a proper name Kyria, answering to the Hebrew “Martha.”
Being a person of influence, “deceivers” (2Jo_1:7) were insinuating themselves into her family to
seduce her and her children from the faith [Tirinus], whence John felt it necessary to write a
warning to her. (But see my Introduction and see on 1Pe_5:13). A particular Church, probably

5. that at Babylon, was intended. “Church” is derived from Greek “Kuriake,” akin to Kuria, or Kyria
here; the latter word among the Romans and Athenians means the same as ecclesia, the term
appropriated to designate the Church assembly.
love in the truth — Christian love rests on the Christian truth (2Jo_1:3, end). Not merely “I
love in truth,” but “I love in THE truth.”
all — All Christians form one fellowship, rejoicing in the spiritual prosperity of one another.
“The communion of love is as wide as the communion of faith” [Alford].
5B, IVP COMMENTARY, “Unlike 1 John, 2 John has the formal characteristics of a true
letter: the sender and recipients are iden tified and a greeting typical of ancient letters is
passed on to them. And yet the identification of the author is unusual, for where one
would expect a personal name, the author refers to himself only as the Elder (ho
presbyteros). Literally the word means someone who is old, but because those who
were old were deemed to have wisdom and expe rience that qualified them to be
leaders, an "elder" was someone who was also in a position of authority (Deut 19:12;
Josh 20:4; Ruth 4:2; Ezra 10:4; Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 23; 16:4; 20:17; Jas 5:14; 1 Pet
5:1; 1 Tim 5:17; Tit 1:5). The Elder must have been well known and respected by his
readers. He expects them to recognize him without further identi fication and to follow
his instructions. As in 1 John, he speaks of them as children (vv. 4, 13), suggesting both
the intimacy and the authority he has with them. That he is writing to other
congregations suggests that his authority extends beyond one local congregation.
The congregation to which he is writing is designated metaphorically as the chosen lady
and her children;we would say "the church and its members." Regularly in the
Scriptures Israel or the church is designated as a woman or the bride of Yahweh or
Christ (Is 54:1, 13; Jer 6:21; 31:21; Lam 4:2-3; Jn 3:29; 2 Cor 11:2; Gal 4:25-26; Eph
5:22; Rev 18--19). Chosen recalls Jesus' statement in John 15:16, "You did not choose
me, but I chose you." The church is not a voluntary organization but the fellowship of
those called together by Christ. For such a fellowship, family imagery is all the more
appropriate, for it suggests the bonds of intimacy and love that bind the family together.
Family imagery also underscores that it was not by the children's initiative that this
family came into existence.
In his greeting to the congregation the Elder repeats two important themes: truth (vv. 1-
4) and love (vv. 1, 3, 5-6). Truth includes matters of both faith and practice, and thus
designates what Christians are to believe (v. 7; 1 Jn 4:2; 5:6) and how they are to live
(vv. 5-6). Truth is the reality to which Christians are committed, and they are known by
their commitment to it.

6. But that reality is not simply a static and objective entity or set of beliefs. We tend to
think of truth as a number of abstract propositions that we are to comprehend and
believe. But for the Elder, truth is a vital force that can be personified as living in us and
being with us. Because it comes from the living God, truth is a dynamic power that
abides with believers, enabling them to know what is true. And because truth comes
from God, it exists forever and remains with the faithful, just as God exists eternally and
remains in relationship with the faithful. If we could capture John's view of truth as a
force that, because it is the work of God's own Spirit, shapes and empowers us, we
might be less prone to think of truth as something that depends upon us to preserve it.
In reality, we depend upon the truth to guard us--and not vice versa--because we
depend upon God. Only as the truth abides in us do we abide in the truth. But we are
somewhat too quick to reverse that relationship, and put human beings in the place
where God's activity and power belong.
The actual greeting is similar to the somewhat standardized greetings and blessings
found in other New Testament epistles (such as Rom 1:7; Gal 6:16; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim
1:2; Jude 2). This is the only use of mercyin the Johannine writings. Six other instances
of peace appear, all in the Gospel of John (14:27; 16:33; 20:19, 21, 26). Peace is the
assurance that Christians have in knowing that, whatever the world may bring, they are
kept secure in God's love and truth by God's own power (Jn 14:27; 16:33).
Surprisingly, graceappears elsewhere only in the Gospel of John, and then only in the
opening prologue (Jn 1:14, 16-17). Grace summar izes the revelation and salvation that
we have received in the Incarnate Word. So while the opening greeting of 2 John may
well echo a standard form of greeting, we should understand its content in light of the
Chris tian conception of grace, mercy and peace, supremely manifested in God's work
in Jesus Christ. Those who live in Christ can be confident that grace, mercy and
peace will be and are theirs. Thus the greeting is really a promise: grace, mercy and
peace . . . will [always] be with us.
6. PULPIT, “FROM very early times some have held the opinion that the Second Epistle is addressed
to a community, which is spoken of allegorically as "the elect lady," her "elect sister" being a sister
community; but at no time does there seem to have been any doubt that the Third Epistle is addressed to
an individual. It certainly would be an extravagant hypothesis that Gains symbolizes a Church.
3Jn_1:1
To Gaius the beloved ( Γαΐ́ῳ τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ). This is additional reason for thinking that κυρία in the Second
Epistle is not a proper name; if it were we should probably have the same formula as we have

7. here, Κυρίᾳ τῇ ἐκλεκτῇ . The name Gaius occurs elsewhere in the New Testament four times
(Act_19:29; Act_20:4; Rom_16:23; 1Co_1:14); as it was as common in the Roman Empire as John
Smith is among ourselves, it would be rash to infer that the Gaius addressed here is the same as any of
those mentioned elsewhere. In all probability there are at least four persons of this name in the New
Testament. In the opening of this Epistle also we have to remark the characteristic repetition of the word
"truth," which occurs four times in the first four verses. Deeds, in which Gaius and Demetrius were rich,
not words, of which Diotrephes was so prodigal, are what win the approbation and love of the apostle.
The thing which he hates is unreality; the object of his special adoration is "the truth;" "to walk in the truth"
is nothing less than to follow in the footsteps of the Lord.
7. DR. GRANT RICHIESON, “THE ELDER,
There are two main usages of the word “elder” in the New Testament: 1) a
person old in age (Acts 2:17) and 2) someone who holds the office or rank of
leadership in the local church (Acts 20:17, 18; Ti 1:5,7). The “elder” here is the
apostle John who holds rank in the cause of Christ.
Ac 20:17 “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the
church 28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God
which He purchased with His own blood.”
1 Pe 5:1 “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and
a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will
be revealed ”
Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the
things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—
6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not
accused of dissipation or insubordination. 7 For a bishop [a bishop is an elder]
must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered,
not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover
of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the
faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine,
both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”
To the elect lady and her children,
Some interpreters believe that the phrase “elect lady and her children” refers
metaphorically to the local church in Ephesus and its constituents. However, it
is more natural or normal to take this phrase literally as a woman and her
children. John does not name this woman.
The “elect lady” is a lady chosen of God. This “elect lady” was probably a

8. widow with children. God chooses women to do His work.
Apparently the “elect lady” exercised love at the expense of truth. She showed
hospitality to itinerate false teachers. These people denied Jesus as the
sovereign Son of God. Genuine hospitality does not advance error. Love
should never violate truth; instead, genuine love upholds truth. There is a
close relationship between truth and love in the Scriptures.
PRINCIPLE: True biblical love is always bound by truth.
APPLICATION: There is a close relationship between truth and love in the
Word of God. Truth is the motivation and context of genuine Christian love.
True love is bound by truth. Pop psychology says that we love people
regardless of what they believe. It contends that we are to put aside what we
believe. Divergence and pluralism are the new standard of orientation to
people. The principles of the Word never surrender truth for love. Faithfulness
to truth overshadows and governs true biblical love.
2 Co 13:7 “Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear
approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem
disqualified. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.”
Ga 2:11 “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James,
he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the
rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas
was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If
you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do
you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?’”
Everything we specifically know about God is through the truth of Scripture.
Jn 8:31 “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My
word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 “And you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.’”
2 Ti 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does
not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

9. Jas 1:18 “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we
might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
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2 John 1 whom I love in truth,
“Love” here is not romantic love. “Whom” is in the plural, making reference to
both the “elect lady” and her “children.” John loves these people “in truth.”
Jn 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
The “I” is emphatic in the Greek. It may be that the heretics did not love the
church at Ephesus but merely preyed on them.
“Truth” and “love” are the two major subjects of 2 John. Christian love is more
than mere sentiment. It revolves around the structure of truth. John loves the
“elect lady” and her children in the sphere of truth.
John loves people within the framework of the “truth.” He reiterates the word
“truth” five times in the first four verses. “Truth” refers to the fundamentals of
the Christian faith, so truth is the essential prerequisite for fellowship.
Ti 3:15 “All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all. Amen.”
and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth
Many others knowledgeable of the truth and operating in the sphere of truth
also love the “elect lady” and her children. We love the truth because we
came to know Truth Himself.
1 Ti 2:4 “ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth.”
PRINCIPLE: True Christian love revolves around the structure of truth.
APPLICATION: Christians do not love each other because they are
temporarily compatible or naturally drawn to each other, but because of the
truth they share with each other. Unbelievers can come to know the truth of
Christianity in a casual sense, but not in a true and genuine sense.

10. Biblical love is always conditioned by truth. This love is more than mere
sentiment. It does not lean on the attractiveness of its object. It rests on the
Truth Himself, Jesus the Lord. Christian love rests on Christian truth. We
cannot compromise truth and genuine love biblically. Biblical truth and love
closely interrelate. They are inseparable traveling companions. Genuine love
cannot exist apart from Bible truth. They can never be divorced.
8. BI, “Truth the bond of love
How much is implied very often by the phrase or style with which a letter is begun or ended!
How different is the formal “Sir” from “My dear Sir”; and, again, how much does this differ from
the intimacy which addresses by a Christian name! Those different styles mean a great deal; and
as it is now, so it was in the Apostolic age. St. John calls himself by way of endearment “the
Presbyter,” when writing to a family with which he has been long on terms of intimacy. Nothing
is more welcome to persons of simple character who are in high office than an opportunity of
laying its formalities aside; they like to address others and to be themselves addressed in their
personal capacity, or by a title in which there is more affection than form. And he introduces
himself to them by a description around which so much affection had gathered, and which
seemed to have acquired a new appropriateness in his advanced age. To whom does he write?
“The Presbyter to the elect lady and her children.” It may be that the word translated “lady” is
really a proper name, “Kyria.” She was an elderly person, probably a widow, living with her
grown-up children. When St. John says that she was loved by “all them that knew the truth,” he
makes it plain that her name was at least well known in the Asiatic Churches, and that she was a
person of real and high excellence. What Dorcas was to St. Peter; what Lydia of Philippi, and
Phoebe of Cenchrea, and Priscilla, and many others were to St. Paul, such was this Christian
lady to St. John.
I. The atmosphere of this friendship was sincerity. “Whom I love,” not in the truth (there is no
article in the original), but “in truth.” Not “truly”: St. John would have used an adverb to say
that. What he means is that truth—truth of thought, truth of feeling, truth of speech and
intercourse—was the very air in which his affection for this Christian lady had grown up and
maintained itself. And the word which he uses to describe this affection points to the same
conclusion. It stands for that kind of affection which is based on a reasoned perception of
excellence in its object; and thus it is the word which is invariably used to describe the love that
man ought to have for God. But such a love as this between man and man grows up and is
fostered in an atmosphere of truthfulness. It is grounded not on feeling or passion, but on a
reciprocal conviction of simplicity of purpose; and, being true in its origin, it is true at every
stage of its development. That the sense of a common integrity of purpose, a common anxiety to
be true, and to recognise truth, is an atmosphere especially favourable to the growth of personal
friendships, is observable at this moment in England among students of the natural sciences.
The common investigation, prosecuted day by day, into natural facts and laws; the assurance of
a common nobility of purpose, of a common liability to failure, of a common anxiety to pursue
and proclaim fact—creates a feeling of brotherhood which traverses other differences, and is an
enrichment of human life. St. John loved this lady and her children “in truth”; and therefore he
did not hesitate, when occasion made it a duty, to put a strain on their affection. Those who love
in truth, like St. John, can, when it is necessary to do so, carry out St. Paul’s precept about
speaking the truth in love. St. John, as a great master of faith and charity, could be at once
tender and uncompromising. It was necessary in these days at Ephesus. There were dangers to

11. which the apostle could not close his eyes. His love was not a vague sentiment, unregulated by
any principle; it was a love of all men, but it was pre-eminently a love of each man’s immortal
soul. Therefore in proportion to its sincerity and intensity it was outspoken. It would be well if
there was more of love in truth, as distinct from love by impulse, among us; among those of us,
for instance, who are already bound to each other by ties of natural affection. Sincerity does not
chill natural love; but it raises a mere passion to the rank of a moral power. How much trouble
might parents not save their children in after years by a little plain speaking, dictated, not by the
desire to assert authority, but by simple affection! Too often parents love their children, not in
truth, but with a purely selfish love. They will not risk a passing misunderstanding, even for the
sake of the child’s best interests hereafter.
II. What was the motive-power of St. John’s love? St. John replies, “For the Truth’s sake, which
dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.” He adds that all who knew the truth share in this
affection. By the truth St. John here means a something the very existence of which appears
improbable or impossible to some minds in our own day. He means a body of ascertained facts
about God, about the soul, about the means of reaching God, and being blessed by Him, about
the eternal future, about the true rule of man’s conduct, and the true secret of his happiness and
well-being. Other knowledge which human beings possess is no doubt true; such, for instance,
as that which enables us to make the most of the visible world in which God has placed us. But
St. John calls this higher knowledge the truth; as being incomparably more important; as
interesting man, not merely in his capacity of a creature of time, but in his capacity of a being
destined for eternity. And this truth, as St. John conceived it, was not merely a set of
propositions resting upon evidence. It was that: but it was more. It centred in a Person whom St.
John had seen, heard, touched, handled; who had died in agony, and had risen in triumph from
death, and had left the world with an assurance that He would return to judge it. To share this
faith was to share a bond of common affection. To have the same ideal of conduct before the
soul; the same view of the meaning of life; the same hopes and fears about that which will follow
it; above all, the same devotion to a Person—the Incomparable Person of Jesus Christ—was to
have a vast fund of common sympathy. To us it might have seemed that, with the Church
expanding around him, St. John’s mind would have been wholly occupied with the larger
interests of administration; and that he would have had no leisure to attend to the wants of
individuals. And if St. John had been only a statesman, endeavouring to carry out a great policy,
or only a philosopher intent upon diffusing his ideas, he would have contented himself, to use
the modern phrase, with “acting upon the masses.” But as an apostle of Christ he had a very
different work to do: he had to save souls. And souls are to be saved, not gregariously, but one by
one. They who are brought out of darkness and error into a knowledge and love of God and His
Blessed Son, generally are brought by the loving interest and care of some servant of Christ. No
philosophy can thus create and combine. The philosophers of all ages, even if good friends
among themselves, can only set up a fancied aristocracy of intellect for themselves, and are very
jealous about admitting the people into the Olympus of their sympathies. No political scheme
can do this: history is there to answer. But love, with sincerity for its sphere, and with Jesus
Christ for its object, can do it. Love did it of old, love does it now. And, among the counteracting
and restorative influences which carry the Church of Christ unharmed through the animated
and sometimes passionate discussion of public questions, private friendships, formed and
strengthened in the atmosphere of a fearless sincerity, and knit and banded together by a
common share in the faith of ages, are, humanly speaking, among the strongest. One and all, we
may at some time realise to the letter the language of St. John to this Christian mother. (Canon
Liddon.)
The elect lady

12. I. What the apostle says as descriptive of her character.
1. John does not mean to represent her as faultless. He views her not as infallible and
impeccable, not beyond the need of cautions and admonitions, which tie therefore
administers.
2. Neither does he furnish us with a full delineation of her character, but gives us a few
intimations which will enable us to estimate her worth.
(1) The foundation of all her excellencies washer personal and evangelical godliness.
(2) Her regard to the truth is expressed by her “walking in it.” Walking implies life,
action, and progress; and she exemplified the influence of the principle by walking in the
knowledge of the truth; in the practice of the truth; in the profession of the truth; and in
the service of the truth; or, as the apostle expresses it, in being a “fellow-helper to the
truth.”
(3) She seems to have been a woman of some rank and distinction.
(4) Again, we see that this excellent lady was in wedded life. Nothing, however, is said of
her husband. This may be accounted for in two ways. First, he may not have been a
Christian: and if so, and if when she married him she was herself a Christian, she
disregarded the requisition to marry “only in the Lord“; and she had no reason to
complain of any trials resulting from it. But she may have been herself converted after
the union; while he remained in the same state as before. Or, secondly, her husband
might have been dead: and, considering the representation given here of the state of her
family, this appears to be much more probable than that he was a heathen or an infidel.
Now, if this was true, she had been called to sustain the most painful of all bereavements,
and was a widow; and a “widow indeed,” for she was a maternal widow. Her “children,”
like herself, were “found walking in truth.”
(5) Finally, this “elect lady” had not only holy offspring, but pious connections and
relatives. “The children of thine elect sister greet thee.” If you say this was no part of her
character, yet it was, surely, no inconsiderable part of her happiness. And who can tell
how far it was in answer to her prayers, and the result of her example, endeavours, and
influence?
II. What the apostle does as expressive of his regard.
1. He writes her an epistle. How vain would many feel, if they could show a letter addressed
to themselves from an extraordinary scholar, or genius, or statesman, or warrior—a
Chatham, or a Wellington. What was it then to receive a letter thus indited and directed—
“The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth.”
2. He honours her not only with a letter, but with a visit.
(1) We ought to be thankful for ink and paper. They identify information; they
perpetuate intelligence; they annihilate distance; they enable us to talk without being
heard. Still, however nimble the pen of a ready writer may be, it cannot utter a
thousandth part of the overflowings of the tongue.
(2) We know not the place of the residence of this lady; and therefore we know not how
far John had to travel: nor can we tell the mode of his conveyance; for he could hardly, at
his age, travel on foot. He speaks of his intended journey with pleasure; yet he could not
be insensible of the difficulties, dangers, and uncertainties of travelling; especially in
those days, and under a weight of years. He, therefore, expresses himself concerning it
dependently and piously; and says, “I trust to come unto you”; acknowledging the
providence of God, and confiding for the issue in Him.

13. (3) But see the advantage which John desires and expects from the journey itself—“That
our joy may be full.” They were to be blessings to each other; not only the apostle to the
disciple, but the disciple to the apostle. There is no such thing as independence: all are
needful, all are useful. We are not only “one body in Christ,” but “every one also
members one of another.”
3. The power of the social principle; and the value, not only of friendship, but of actual
intercourse.
(1) How pleasing is it to meet “face to face,” and commune, after long separation and
absence; especially if, during that separation, we have experienced trying circumstances
and perilous events.
(2) How pleasing to meet “face to face,” and commune, in the apartments and
confinements of trouble.
(3) How pleasing to meet “face to face,” in the exercises of social devotion in the
sanctuary.
(4) What will it be to meet “face to face” in heaven? Then our joy will be full. (W. Jay.)
The salutation
Present-day pressure has driven the good old style of epistolary writing out of the market. The
Church of Christ has well-nigh forgotten the power of the pen. We intrust all teaching to the
tongue and the press. Parents, ministers, and Sunday-school teachers may keep in touch with
the hearts of their children and scholars by an occasional letter, brimful of holy thoughts and
aspirations.
I. The person who salutes. “The elder.” Many of the best expositors have naturally inferred that
the apostle used the term elder because it had become an appellative among the people owing to
his old age. John was the only survivor of the wonderful Apostolic band.
II. The persons saluted. “The elect lady and her children.”
1. We know that she was a Christian. Elect in Christ Jesus is the full meaning, for the
election of grace must not be separated from the means which bring it about. Salvation is not
favouritism, but agreement. It is the effect that points to the cause, as the river reminds one
of the source. This view of election is in harmony with human liberty and responsibility.
2. We know that she was a mother. With the cares of the household and anxiety about their
children, mothers are often depressed. The truly pious mother is more anxious about the
salvation of her children than about any other matter.
3. We know that she was a mother surrounded by her family.
III. The ground of mutual union. “Whom I love in truth.” Everything tends to show that the
“elect lady” was possessed of many embellishments such as society delights to recognise, and the
worth of which the Apostle John would be the last to undervalue, and yet love for the truth is the
only ground of affection which he acknowledges. Christian love can only be excited by character
built upon Divine truth.
IV. The devout invocation. “Grace, mercy, peace, shall be with us,” etc.
V. The source of all blessing. “From God the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father.”

14. VI. The final condition. “In truth and love.” (T. Davies, M. A.)
Honour of women in the old world
We are sometimes told by Christian apologists that women have acquired an honour since the
preaching of the gospel, which was almost denied them in the old world; and that because the
feminine type of character is commended to us by the example of Him who was emphatically the
sufferer. I believe both assertions have a foundation of truth in them; but that they are not true,
and therefore would not have been adopted or commended by the apostle. It is not true that
women were not honoured in the old world. I might allude to the Jewish feeling about mothers.
In that character the highest and Divinest promises rested upon them. But they do not only
appear as mothers. Deborah is a judge and a prophetess of the people. Miriam leads the songs
which celebrate the deliverance of the nation from Pharaoh. Greek history, again, pays high
honour to women. The Trojan war, the subject of its earliest legends, of its noblest song, is
undertaken in vindication of female honour and the sacredness of the marriage bond. In the
Homeric poems, the freewoman is treated with reverence; even the captive taken in war is not
without honour. The Roman State, which almost rests on the authority of fathers, was anything
but neglectful of the mother and the wife. The traditional origin of the Republic is the
retribution for the wrong done to Lucretia. One of the earliest stories, that of Coriolanus,
illustrates the honour which even the proudest, most wilful son paid to her who had borne and
nursed him. Some of the noblest recollections of the perishing commonwealth are connected
with the name of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and Portia, the wife of Brutus. It is
dishonest to over look these facts; and being dishonest, it is unchristian. We do not honour
Christ by disparaging that which took place before He dwelt on earth. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
Whom I love in the truth.
Christian friendship
“Whom I love in the truth.” It was not an ordinary kind of friendship. It did not rest on kindred,
nor on neighbourhood, nor on business, nor on country, nor on common tastes and pursuits,
nor even on services rendered and gratitude for these returned; it was a friendship shared by “all
who knew the truth,” it was “for the truth’s sake which dwelleth in us and shall be with us for
ever.” The Truth meant much for John and for such as he reckoned friends. It was a certain body
of doctrine, no doubt, held by him and them very dogmatically indeed; but it was not abstract
doctrine, it was doctrine subsisting in the personal, historical, living Christ. It is plain that
friends who hold a common relation to the truth thus understood will be friends after a quite
distinct and very lofty fashion. They have a birth and kinship not of this world (1Pe_1:22-23).
They live by virtue of a principle the world cannot understand, even “the truth which dwelleth in
us.” And they are practically influenced in their daily conduct by the hope of sharing the “many
mansions of the Father’s house.”
1. Those who love one another “in the truth” will love in truth; sincerity marks all friendship
worthy to be called Christian.
2. This friendship is always fruitful. Ten thousand little things done or not done, and which
the friend who benefits by them may not always know, are the habitual outcome of
friendship for the truth’s sake. And there is one fruit which from its nature is least of all seen
or talked about, which yet is both the commonest and the best that friendship can yield—
prayer for one another.

15. 3. Christian friendship may sometimes be severe. A friend, in proportion to the purity and
spiritual intensity of his love, will discern faults and weaknesses and dangers which, for
friendship’s sake, he must not wink at.
4. This friendship hallows and strengthens all the other ties that bind us to one another.
5. It is another distinguishing excellence of Christian friendship that it bears strain best.
This love yields mutual gentleness and forbearance and tender-heartedness.
6. Christian friendship has the widest reach. It boasts of its comprehensiveness here—“And
not I only, but also all they that have known the truth.”
7. The crowning distinction of this friendship is that it is not dissolved by death itself. (A. M.
Symington, D.D.)
The permanent love of friendship
Some love for pleasure. Isaac loved Esau because venison was his delight. An adulterer loves an
harlot for the satisfying of his filthy lust. Some love for profit: they love their friends as they do
their cows, horses, and grounds—for the benefit they reap by them. Some love for beauty: so
Shechem loved Dinah. Some love for honour and promotion, in hope to be preferred by such a
great man. All these stand upon a tickle ground; pleasure vanisheth, and that quickly too, then
love vanisheth together with it. When Amnon had gotten his pleasure of Tamar he hated her
more than before he loved her. Riches betake themselves to their wings, as Solomon speaketh,
and fly away, then love flies away too. If a rich man become a poor man we set not much by him.
Honour is mutable: the nail that is now aloft is in the dirt, as it fell out with Haman, then he is
little regarded of any of his followers. Beauty fades away like a flower, then love fades away too;
love for the truth’s sake, for Christ’s sake, for the gospel’s sake, and that will be a permanent
love. (W. Jones, D. D.)
Christ the inspiration of Christian love
The enthusiasm of humanity may be caught from the example and inspiration of Jesus Christ.
The mill-wheel wilt cease to revolve when the waters of the rushing stream are cut off; the
moving train will stop when the glowing heat cools within the hidden chamber, and charity in
this world will degenerate into a professional schedule without inspiration and without power
unless we keep Jesus as our example. (J. Mitchell.)
8. RBC MINISTRIES, 1-6, “The story is told of a king who had a silver bell placed
in a high tower of his palace early in his reign. He announced that he would
ring the bell whenever he was happy so that his subjects would know of his
joy.
The people listened for the sound of that silver bell, but it remained silent.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and months into years. But
no sound of the bell rang out to indicate that the king was happy.

16. The king grew old and gray, and eventually he lay on his deathbed in the
palace. As some of his weeping subjects gathered around him, he discovered
that he had really been loved by his people all through the years. At last the
king was happy. Just before he died, he reached up and pulled the rope that
rang the silver bell.
Think of it--a lifetime of unhappiness because he didn't know that he was
warmly loved and accepted by his loyal subjects.
Like that monarch, many lonely souls live out their days without the joy of
knowing they are loved and appreciated by others. Do you know people who
need an encouraging word? If so, tell them how much they mean to you. It
may be just what's needed to bring joy into their lives. --R W DeHaan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Someone gave me a cheering word
Of which I was in need,
And faith was bolstered once again
By just that tiny deed. --Sheldon
The human spirit rings with hope at the sound of an encouraging word.
2
because of the truth, which lives in us and will be
with us forever:
1.BARNES. “For the truth’s sake - They love this family because they love the truth, and
see it so cordially embraced and so happily exemplified. Those who love the gospel itself will
rejoice in all the effects which it produces in society, on individuals, families, neighborhoods,
and their hearts will be drawn with warm affection to the places where its influence is most fully
seen.

17. Which dwelleth in us - In us who are Christians; that is, the truths of the gospel which we
have embraced. Truth may be said to have taken up a permanent abode in the hearts of all who
love religion.
And shall be with us for ever - Its abode with us is not for a night or a day; not for a
month or a year; not for the few years that make up mortal life; it is not a passing stranger that
finds a lodging like the weary traveler for a night, and in the morning is gone to be seen no
more; it has come to us to make our hearts its permanent home, and it is to be with us in all
worlds, and while ceaseless ages shall roll away.
2. CLARKE, “For the truth’s sake - On account of the Gospel.
Which dwelleth in us - By the grace which it has proclaimed.
And shall be with us - For God will preserve not only the Christian religion but its truth, all
its essential doctrines for ever. And they that abide in the truth shall go whither that truth leads,
i.e. to glory. The Armenian has a strange reading here: “For the truth’s sake which dwelleth in
us, because it is also with you; and ye shall be with us for ever.” But this is supported by no other
version, nor by any MS.
3. GILL, “For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us,.... Not for her high birth, nobility, or
riches; but either for Christ's sake, who is the truth, and who dwells in the hearts of believers by
faith, and who is the same that dwells in one as in another; and on his account it is that saints
love one another, because they belong to him, he is formed in them, and his image is stamped
upon them; and every like loves its like: or for the Gospel's sake, which has a place, and dwells in
every saint, and is the same for matter and substance in one as in another; and unity of mind
and judgment produces unity of affection: or for the sake of the truth of grace, the inward
principle of grace, which dwells in every regenerate person; a communication of the experience
of which knits the saints one to another:
and shall be with us for ever; where Christ enters and takes up his abode, from thence he
never finally and totally departs, though he may sometimes hide his face with respect to
communion, or withdraw his gracious presence; and where the Gospel has once took place in
the heart, and is become the ingrafted word, it can never be rooted out, or be removed; and
where the truth of grace is, it will remain; it is an incorruptible seed, a well of living water,
springing up into eternal life.
4. PULPIT, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects (not "above all things"—St. John would surely never
have said that) thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. The apostle wishes that
his earthly career may be as bright as his spiritual career is; may he have a sound body for his sound
mind, and may his fortunes be sound also. The Greek for "prosper" εὐοδοῦσθαι means exactly to "have a
good career."
4B. PULPIT, “Ideal prosperity.

18. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper," etc. The Authorized Version of this verse
seems to carry the meaning that St. John valued physical health and secular prosperity above everything
else. The original does not convey such a meaning. Revised Version, "Beloved, I pray that in all things
thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
I. THE APOSTLE PRAYS THAT HIS FRIEND GAIUS MAY HAVE TEMPORAL PROSPERITY AND PH
YSICAL HEALTH. From the expression of this desire in so brief a letter, we may infer that St. John
regarded these things as of great importance.
1. Secular prosperity is desirable. Non-success in business is to be deprecated. For our own sake, for the
sake of our families, and for the sake of our usefulness, prosperity in temporal things is desirable. Wealth
is a wonderful power; and in the hands of a wise man it is a great boon both to himself and to others.
2. Physical health is desirable. Health of body, for many obvious reasons, is one of God's best gifts to
man. It is important also for other reasons which are not obvious to all. The state of the body exercises a
great influence upon the mind and soul. It is the organ and agent of both; and, if it be unhealthy, our
impressions of the outward will be untrue, and our influence upon the outward will be limited and feeble.
Our spiritual feelings and expressions are considerably toned and coloured by our physical condition.
II. THE APOSTLE INDICATES THE REMARKABLE SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY OF HIS FRIEND CAIUS
. This is clear from his making his spiritual prosperity the measure of the desired bodily health and
temporal prosperity. The next verse also contributes evidence of this prosperity of soul. It was seen in his
growing acquaintance with the truth and his growing conformity to the truth. "Brethren bare witness
unto thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth." Perhaps Gaius himself needed this assurance of his spiritual
prosperity. "The words of the apostle seem to imply," says Dr. Binney," that the health of Gains was
somewhat enfeebled. This might affect his feelings, and render the actual prosperity of his soul, while
visible to others, unperceived by himself; his excellence was obvious to all who knew him, though bodily
infirmity or mental depression concealed the truth from his own consciousness. On this account he was
addressed by John in the words of encouragement—words delicately but strongly conveying the apostle's
confidence in his spiritual state, and assuring him, at the same time, of his constantly sharing in his
supplications and prayers." This spiritual prosperity is more important than material progress and
success.
III. THE APOSTLE MAKES THE PROSPERITY OF HIS SOUL THE MEASURE OF THE PHYSICAL HE
ALTH AND SECULAR PROSPERITY DESIRED FOR GAIUS. This is profoundly significant. Unless our
spiritual prosperity be at least commensurate with our temporal prosperity, the latter ceases to be a

19. blessing. All the worldly wealth which a man possesses which is more than proportionate to the wealth of
his soul, he will do well to get rid of at once, or by Divine grace bring the wealth of his soul into proportion
with it. Without this correspondence we cannot use wealth aright, riches will injure us, the material will
crush the spiritual in us. When outward riches are more than proportionate to his godliness and grace,
they are a curse to their possessor. But when there is a proportion between the two, wealth is a blessing
worthy an apostle's prayer. What astounding revolutions would take place if this prayer were universally
realized! What transformations in health! Many now hale and strong would become weak and sickly.
Many now diseased and feeble would become sound and vigorous. What transformations
in circumstances! Many pampered sons and daughters of riches and luxury would come to poverty and
want. Many of the indigent would pass from the abode of penury to the palace of ease and plenty. "A
terrible wish this," says Binney, "if it were offered for and were to take effect upon many a professor: it
would blast them in body and ruin them in circumstances; it would render them, like the Church that
thought itself rich and increased in goods, ' poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked.'" Shah I offer this
prayer for you? If this prayer were realized, the physical would bear the true proportion to the spiritual,
and the temporal to the eternal. Learn how far secular wealth is desirable.—W.J.
5.JAMISON, “For the truth’s sake — joined with “I love,” 2Jo_1:1. “They who love in the
truth, also love on account of the truth.”
dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever — in consonance with Christ’s promise.
6.R GRANT RICHIESON, “2 John 1:2 because of the truth
Love comes from the truth of God’s Word. Biblical love goes far beyond
sentiment and human sympathy. Knowledge of the person and work of Christ
cannot do anything else but affect the way we think of others.
which abides in us
The Word of God lives in and dwells in the believer.
Dt 6:6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”
Dt 11:18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in
your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes.”

20. Jn 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you
desire, and it shall be done for you.”
1Jn 2:14 “I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is
from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are
strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the
wicked one.”
PRINCIPLE: God always predicates biblical love on truth.
APPLICATION: Truth demands response. We cannot help but love others if
we genuinely understand the love of God for us in Christ. Like begets like.
Love begets love. God is love and those who love Him love others. Truth
makes love possible. Truth binds Christians together in a special bond.
*********************************************************
2 John 2 “ because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us
forever: ”
and will be with us forever
John now makes an assertion of promise. Truth will be with us forever in
consort with Christ’s promise. The Bible will never go out of existence. No one
can escape its truth.
Mt 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means
pass away.”
1Pe 1:22 “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure
heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible,
through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because
‘All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The
grass withers, And its flower falls away,25 But the word of the Lord endures
forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.’”
PRINCIPLE: The eternal Word of God can never be accommodated to current
situations.

21. APPLICATION: Popular thinking of our day says that it does not matter what
we believe as long as we love others. Difference of opinion does not matter.
The primary value is the agreement to differ. This is not biblical. We must
never accommodate truth to the situation because truth is more valuable than
the situation.
Ps 138:2 “I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For
Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above
all Your name.”
Jn 10:35 “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the
Scripture cannot be broken) ”
God’s primary instrument for speaking to us is His Word. The Bible will
safeguard us against fanaticism and heresy. God furthers His purpose in our
lives through His Word. Maximum application of God’s Word to experience
brings us to the point of maturity. God’s Word will change our attitude toward
people and our outlook on life. We will love more and care more.
Ac 20:32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His
grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all
those who are sanctified.”
1Th 2:13 “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when
you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not
as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively
works in you who believe.”
2Ti 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does
not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
We can determine the measure of our spiritual growth by our attitude toward
the Bible. We will grow in admiration of the meticulous accuracy of the Bible
as a book without discrepancy, error or mistakes. God makes no mistakes in
His Word. All agnostics, atheists and detractors of the Bible will be long gone
before the Bible goes out of existence. The Bible will march on into eternity. It
is the one book that tells how everything will turn out.
1Co 2:13 “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom
teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual.”

22. 2Ti 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the
man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
3
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and
from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in
truth and love.
1.BARNES. “Grace be unto you ... - See the notes at Rom_1:7. This salutation does not
differ from those commonly employed by the sacred writers, except in the emphasis which is
placed on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the Son of the Father.” This is much in the style
of John, in all of whose writings he dwells much on the fact that the Lord Jesus is the Son of
God, and on the importance of recognizing that fact in order to the possession of true religion.
Compare 1Jo_2:22-23; 1Jo_4:15; 1Jo_5:1-2, 1Jo_5:10-12, 1Jo_5:20.
In truth and love - This phrase is not to be connected with the expression “the Son of the
Father,” as if it meant that he was his Son “in truth and love,” but is rather to be connected with
the “grace, mercy, and peace” referred to, as a prayer that they might be manifested to this
family in promoting truth and love.
2. CLARKE, “Grace be with you - This is addressed to her, her household, and probably
that part of the Church which was more immediately under her care.
The Son of the Father - The apostle still keeps in view the miraculous conception of Christ;
a thing which the Gnostics absolutely denied; a doctrine which is at the ground work of our
salvation.
3. GILL, “Grace be with you, mercy and peace,.... This form of salutation, or wish and
prayer for the blessings mentioned,

23. from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, is the same used by other
apostles; see 1Ti_1:2 and See Gill on Rom_1:7. Only it is added here with respect to Christ, that
he is
the Son of the Father in truth and love; which is mentioned by the apostle to confirm the
deity of Christ, which is plainly implied in wishing for the above things equally from him, as
from the Father; and to oppose and confront some heretics of those times, who denied the true
and proper sonship of Christ; and therefore he calls him, "the Son of the Father", the only
begotten of the Father; and that "in truth", or truly and properly, and not in a figurative and
metaphorical sense, as magistrates are called the sons of God, and children of the most High, by
reason of their office; but so is not Christ, he is God's own Son, in a true, proper, and natural
sense: and he is so "in love"; he is his well beloved Son, his dear Son, the Son of his love; as he
cannot otherwise be; since he is not only the image of him, but of the same nature, and has the
same perfections with him.
4. HENRY, “What the apostle craves from these divine persons. (1.) Grace - divine favour and
good-will, the spring of all good things: it is grace indeed that any spiritual blessing should be
conferred on sinful mortals. (2.) Mercy - free pardon and forgiveness; those who are already rich
in grace have need of continual forgiveness. (3.) Peace - tranquility of spirit and serenity of
conscience, in an assured reconciliation with God, together with all safe and sanctified outward
prosperity. And these are desired in truth and love, either by sincere and ardent affection in the
saluter (in faith and love he prays them from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ), or as
productive of continued truth and love in the saluted; these blessings will continually preserve
true faith and love in the elect lady and her children; and may they do so!
5.JAMISON, “Grace be with you — One of the oldest manuscripts and several versions
have “us” for you. The Greek is literally, “Grace shall be with us,” that is, with both you and me.
A prayer, however, is implied besides a confident affirmation.
grace ... mercy ... peace — “Grace” covers the sins of men; “mercy,” their miseries. Grace
must first do away with man’s guilt before his misery can be relieved by mercy. Therefore grace
stands before mercy. Peace is the result of both, and therefore stands third in order. Casting all
our care on the Lord, with thanksgiving, maintains this peace.
the Lord — The oldest manuscripts and most of the oldest versions omit “the Lord.” John
never elsewhere uses this title in his Epistles, but “the Son of God.”
in truth and love — The element or sphere in which alone grace, mercy, and peace, have
place. He mentions truth in 2Jo_1:4; love, in 2Jo_1:5. Paul uses FAITH and love; for faith and
truth are close akin.
6. DR GRANT RICHISON, “2 John 3 “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God
the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”

24. Verse three is the salutation to 2 John. A salutation is not a prayer but a confident declaration.
God continues His word of assurance in verse 2 with this verse. Where truth and love prevail,
grace, mercy and peace predominate.
Grace,
“Grace” is all that God is free to do for us because of Christ. Grace places emphasis on the work
of God and not on our work. God extends His grace to us without merit on our part.
PRINCIPLE: God’s grace is all the resources He is able to give the believer freely.
APPLICATION: We never outgrow our need for God’s grace, mercy and peace. We cannot
operate our Christian lives effectively without these graces. We could no more do that than we
could exist without food and water.
God’s grace enables believers to give grace to others. It is not normally our nature to give. We
are naturally born selfish. Jesus was grace personified. Grace is something given, not earned. We
cannot curry brownie points with God. God donates His grace on a gratis basis.
Jn 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…. 16 And of His fullness we have all
received, and grace for grace.”
Ro 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a
measure of faith.”
1Co 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain;
but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
2 Co 12:9 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect
in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.”
Ja 4:6 “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to
the humble.’”
1Pe 5:10 “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
God corners the market on grace. He allows for no middlemen, no wholesaler or retailer. He
gives it directly and without strings. He allows no black market on grace.
He 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.”

25. God gives His sustaining grace to enable us to maintain our spiritual equilibrium. When
something upsets us, we display our old nature. We display this nature when we do not draw on
God’s grace but rely on our own resources. We discover that we are not nearly as spiritual as we
thought we were.
*********************************************************
2 John 1:3 mercy,
Grace precedes mercy. “Mercy” is God’s compassion toward us. God freely pardons violation of
His character. Mercy assumes need on the part of the subject.
La 3:22 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
PRINCIPLE: Mercy freely flows out of God’s grace.
APPLICATION: Mercy is akin to grace but it is not identical to grace. Mercy flows from God’s
grace. The reason God can be merciful toward us is because of the finished work of Christ on the
cross.
Sometimes parents cannot do anything for their children. All they can do is “pity” them--show
compassion to them. There are times when we cannot nurse them or put a bandage on them.
2Sa 24:14 “And David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the
Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.’”
Ps 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”
Ps 85:10 “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.”
Ps 103:8 “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”
Ro 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
2 Co 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort…”
Ep 2:4 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…”
We need God’s mercy every day. We must come to the throne of grace to confess sins daily.
*********************************************************

26. 2 John 3 and peace
“Peace” is the internal tranquilitythat God gives to those who fellowship with Him. Peace brings
harmony to the soul. There is no mercy until first God extends His grace. There is no peace until
first God extends His mercy. Peace always follows grace and mercy.
will be with you
It is the believer’s birthrightto daily live in God’s grace, mercy and peace. These three spiritual
commodities are available to us at any moment in which we choose to draw upon them.
PRINCIPLE: Peace flows from God’s grace and mercy.
APPLICATION: Every Christian has peace with God (Ro 5:1). Jesus resolved that issue once
and for all. He settled that issue at the cross. However, not every Christian has the peace “of
God” (Ph 4:6, 7).
Non-Christians try to find peace by drowning their heartaches in booze or drugs. They hate their
lives. They can’t wait until they can drown their sorrows. That is sublimation and escapism.
They will never find peace in sublimation. Neither will Christians find peace in sublimation.
They must come to grips with their problems and turn them over to the Lord.
What is eating you? Who is giving you grief? What is your problem? Do you know that God
is tapping His foot waiting for you come to Him? Peace comes to us when we trust in Him.
Is 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed onYou, Because he trusts in
You.”
Jn 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jn 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Ro 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peacein believing, that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
1Th 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole
spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
God is the God of peace.
Ro 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
Ro 16:20 “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

27. Php 4:9 “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the
b>God of peace will be with you.”
He 13:20 “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in
every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Peace comes when we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us.
Ga 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness…”
Col 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one
body; and be thankful.”
*********************************************************
2 John 3 from God the Father
John assures his readers of the source of their grace, mercy and peace. Note the two occurrences
of the word “from.” We do not get the three spiritual commodities of grace, mercy and peace
from the natural world. They do not originate down here. The Father is one of two fountainheads
of grace, mercy and peace.
The New Testament regularly uses the formula “God the Father.” There is no confusion on this
issue. God is the Creator of everyone but the Father of few.
Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Jn 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.”
and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
The two givers (the Father and the Son) are equal givers – “from” (immediate personal source).
the Son of the Father,
This unique statement is the only occurrence of the phrase “the Son of the Father” in the New
Testament. John designates this title here to put stress on the Incarnation of Christ. The Father
and Son are coeternal and coequal. There never was nor ever will be anyone like God the Son.
PRINCIPLE: God is the only source of grace, mercy and peace.
APPLICATION: We do not get grace, mercy and peace in college or university. Professors there
know nothing about these things. The tools they chose for arriving at truth will not allow them to

28. discover these wonderful spiritual commodities. The only source of these spiritual commodities
is found in God.
*********************************************************
2 John 3 “in truth and love
We experience grace, mercy and peace in the sphere of truth and love. Truth and love are the
conditions for grace, mercy and peace. The Christian walk rests on truth and is demonstrated in
love.
Truth makes love discerning so love never undermines truth. Love moderates truth so that truth
does not show itself in harshness. Fellowship always revolves around both truth and love. Truth
is the sphere of principle and love is the sphere of attitude and action. Truth makes genuine love
viable.
PRINCIPLE: God always conditions love by truth.
APPLICATION: We can emphasize love at the expense of truth and we can emphasize truth at
the expense of love. Love must always be predicated on truth. Giving material aid without the
context of truth is not a Christian act. Propagation of error in the name of love is not truth! That
is simply sentimentality.
In an attempt to unite religions into an ecumenical movement, some religionists try to reduce the
things they believe to almost zero. They cannot tolerate truth. The Bible repudiates such ideas.
Ep 4:15 “…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—
Christ…”
Jesus is truth personified. He is the love of God wrapped up as one incredible gift of God.
Jn 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.’”
Ep 4:20 “But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been
taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus…”
Jesus is also the personification of love.
2 Co 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
1Ti 1:5 “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good
conscience, and from sincere faith…”
2Ti 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

29. 7. BI, “Grace, mercy, and peace
Grace in Scripture comprehends all the senses that it bears, separately and apart, in our
common dialects. When you say of a royal person, “How gracious he is”; when you say of a
beautiful woman, “What grace there is in her”; when you speak of a man not having the grace to
return a benefit that has been done to him; you indicate some aspect of that grace which the
Source of all good bestows upon men; which becomes in them a comeliness answering to His
from whom it is derived; which awakens the reaction that we call gratitude or thanksgiving. And
this grace being manifested towards creatures who have need of daily forgiveness is inseparable
from mercy, which, like it, proceeds from the nature of the being who shows it, and becomes an
element in the nature of the being to whom it is showed—the merciful obtaining mercy. And this
grace or mercy flowing forth towards creatures who have been alienated from their Creator, who
have been at war with Him—and, being at war with Him, have been, necessarily, at war with
each other and themselves—becomes peace or atonement. But that the grace, because it is royal,
free, and undeserved, may not be supposed to be capricious; that the mercy may not be taken as
dependent on the mercy which it calls forth; that the peace may not be judged by the results
which it produces here, where oftentimes the proclamation of it is the signal of fresh fighting;
they are declared to come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in
truth and love; these being the essential Godhead; these dwelling absolutely in the Father;
shining forth to all in the life of the Son; while the Spirit in whom they are eternally united
imparts them to the family in heaven and earth. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
Grace first
Our poverty wants grace, our guilt wants mercy, our misery wants peace. Let us ever keep the
apostle’s order. Do not let us put peace, our feeling of peace, first. The emotionalists’ is a topsy
turvy theology. Apostles do not say “peace and grace,” but “grace and peace.” (Bp. Wm.
Alexander.)
The common salutation
In this short letter John does not grudge space for a salutation. It is the common salutation or
benediction that might be pronounced on any Christian, whether having little more than a
decent profession, or distinguished, as this lady was, by works truly good. What familiarity has
made words of course to us were not words of course or empty form to John, although he must
have repeated and heard them oftener than any of us. That is one thought: we should linger over
the words till they get a firm grip on our hearts, till we feel their Divine meaning. And another
thought is this: each individual needs the whole of this benediction. Do we not often lose
ourselves in the mass? Grace, mercy, peace: the blessings stand in their due order, the first
leading to the second, and the second securing the third. There is a fourth word, indeed, which
includes all the three, the greatest word in any language—love. John reaches to it at the end of
his sentence. But it could not have been used instead of grace and mercy. For grace expresses
the Divine favour viewed as undeserved. It is the fountain of every good and perfect gift coming
down from the Father of lights to us who have no claim on Him, who have nothing of our own to
call forth love. Mercy, again, is more than simple grace; it is sovereign love pitying and
pardoning sinners, those who positively deserve ill from God. Then peace comes in its place and

30. order. If that peace with God, a clear and substantial reality in a crucified and interceding
Mediator, then all other peace. The Elder is careful to make prominent the source from whence
the supreme blessing comes. It is from God indeed, but from God in His new covenant relation
to man—“from God the Father.” God was now for them not less the Creator, the Lawgiver, the
Judge, but He was, in Christ, also and above all the Father. “And from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Here there is no distracting perplexity, there is only fulness and rest, when the heart, rather than
the head, is engaged about grace, mercy, and peace. In John’s mind the holy mystery of the
Trinity was, while none the less sublime, more a fact than a mystery, for he had beheld the Lord
Jesus Christ manifesting the glory of the Father, full of grace and truth, and bearing away the sin
of the world. This benediction is distinguished by the words being added, “In truth and love.” (A.
M. Symington, D. D.)
Grace, mercy, and peace
“Grace, mercy, and peace” stand related to each other in a very interesting manner. The apostle
starts, as it were, from the fountain-head, and slowly traces the course of the blessing down to its
lodgment in the heart of man. Grace, referring solely to the Divine attitude and thought; mercy,
the manifestation of grace in act, referring to the workings of that great Godhead in its relation
to humanity; and peace, which is the issue in the soul of the fluttering down upon it of the mercy
which is the activity of the grace. “Grace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the Father.” These two, blended and yet separate, to either of whom a Christian man
has a distinct relation, these two are the sources, equally, of the whole of the grace. The
Scriptural idea of grace is love that stoops and that pardons and that communicates. The first
thing, then, that strikes me in it, is how it exults in that great thought that there is no reason
whatsoever for God’s love except God’s will. The very foundation and notion of the word “grace”
is a free, undeserved, unsolicited, self-prompted, and altogether gratuitous bestowment, a love
that is its own reason. God’s love is like an artesian well; whensoever you strike up comes, self-
impelled, gushing into light because there is such a central store of it beneath everything, the
bright and flashing waters. Grace is love that is not drawn out, but that bursts out, self-
originated, undeserved. And then let me remind you that there lies in this great word the
preaching that God’s love, though it be not turned away by, is made tender by our sin. Grace is
love extended to a person that might reasonably expect, because he deserves, something very
different. Then, if we turn for a moment from that deep fountain to the stream, we get other
blessed thoughts. The love, the grace, breaks into mercy. As grace is love which forgives, so
mercy is love which pities and helps. God’s grace softens itself into mercy, and all His dealings
with us men must be on the footing that we are not only sinful, but that we are weak and
wretched, and so fit subjects for a compassion which is the strangest paradox of a perfect and
Divine heart. The mercy of God is the outcome of His grace. And as is the fountain and the
stream, so is the great lake into which it spreads itself when it is received into a human heart.
Peace comes, the all-sufficient summing up of everything that God can give, and that men can
need, from His loving-kindness and from their needs. The world is too wide to be narrowed to
any single aspect of the various discords and disharmonies which trouble men. Peace with God;
peace in this anarchic kingdom within me, where conscience and will, hopes and fears, duty and
passion, sorrows and joys, cares and confidence, are ever fighting one another; where we are
torn asunder by conflicting aims and rival claims, and wherever any part of our nature asserting
itself against another leads to intestine warfare and troubles the poor soul. All that is
harmonised and quieted down, and made concordant and co-operative to one great end, when
the grace and the mercy have flowed silently into our spirits and harmonised aims and desires.
There is peace that comes from submission; tranquillity of spirit, which is the crown and reward
of obedience; repose, which is the very smile upon the face of faith, and all these things are given

31. unto us along with the grace and mercy of our God. And as the man that possesses this is at
peace with God and at peace with himself, so he may bear in his heart that singular blessing of a
perfect tranquillity and quiet amidst the distractions of duty, of sorrows, of losses, and of cares.
And now one word as to what this great text tells us are the conditions for a Christian man, of
preserving, vivid and full, these great gifts, “Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you,” or, as the
Revised Version more accurately reads, “shall be with us in truth and love.” Truth and love are,
as it were, the space within which the river flows, if I may so say, the banks of the stream. Or, to
get away from the metaphor, these are set forth as being the conditions abiding in which, for our
parts, we shall receive this benediction—“In truth and in love.” To “abide in the truth” is to keep
our selves conscientiously and habitually under the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
of the Christ who is Himself the Truth. They who, keeping in Him, realising His presence,
believing His word, founding their thinking about the unseen, about their relations to God,
about sin and forgiveness, about righteousness and duty, and about a thousand other things,
upon Christ and the revelation that He makes, these are those who shall receive “Grace, mercy,
and peace.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
8. PULPIT, “For I rejoiced greatly. We must not lose sight of the "for," which is full of meaning. The
elder has just expressed a wish that the external well-being of Gains may equal the well-being of his soul;
and he is quite sure of the latter, for brethren keep coming and bearing witness to the fact. The good
report of Gains is still greater joy to the apostle than the evil report of Diotrephes is a sorrow to him. The
language in condemnation of Diotrephes, severe as it is, is not so strong as this in thankful delight
respecting Gaius: Greater joy have I none than (to hear of) these things. "Greater" is made doubly
emphatic, first by position at the beginning of the sentence, and secondly by the double
comparative µειζοτέραν .
9. MACLAREN, “Alexander Maclaren
‘Grace be with you. mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.’ — 2 John 1:3.
WE have here a very unusual form of the Apostolic salutation. ‘Grace, mercy,
and peace’ are put together in this fashion only in Paul’s two Epistles to
Timothy, and in this the present instance; and all reference to the Holy Spirit
as an agent in the benediction is, as there, omitted. The three main words,
‘Grace, mercy, and peace,’ stand related to each other in a very interesting
manner. If you will think for a moment you will see, I presume, that the Apostle
starts, as it were, from the fountain-head, and slowly traces the course of the
blessing down to its lodgment in the heart of man. There is the fountain, and
the stream, and, if I may so say; the great still lake in the soul, into which its
waters flow, and which the flowing waters make. There is the sun, and the
beam, and the brightness grows deep in the heart of man. Grace, referring

32. solely to the Divine attitude and thought: mercy, the manifestation of grace in
act, referring to the workings of that great Godhead in its relation to humanity:
and peace, which is the issue in the soul of the fluttering down upon it of the
mercy which is the activity of the grace. So these three come down, as it
were, a great, solemn, marble staircase from the heights of the Divine mind,
one step at a time, down to the level of earth; and the blessings which are
shed along the earth. Such is the order. All begins with grace; and the end
and purpose of grace, when it flashes into deed, and becomes mercy, is to fill
my soul with quiet repose, and shed across all the turbulent sea of human
love a great calm, a beam of sunshine that gilds, and miraculously stills while
it gilds, the waves.
If that be, then, the account of the relation of these three to one another, let
me just dwell for a moment upon their respective characteristics, that we may
get more fully the large significance and wide scope of this blessing. Let us
begin at what may be regarded either as the highest point from which all the
stream descends, or as the foundation upon which all the structure rests
‘Grace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father.’ These two, blended and yet separate, to either of whom a Christian
man has a distinct relation, these two are the sources, equally, of the whole of
the grace
The Scriptural idea of grace is love that stoops, and that pardons, and that
communicates. I say nothing about that last characteristic, but I would like to
dwell for a moment or two upon the other phases of this great word, a key-
word to the understanding of so much of Scripture.
The first thing then that strikes me in it is how it exults in that great thought
that there is no reason whatsoever for God’s love except God’s will. The very
foundation and notion of the word ‘grace’ is a free, undeserved, unsolicited,
self-prompted, and altogether gratuitous bestowment, a love that is its own
reason, as indeed the whole of the Divine acts are, just as we say of Him that
He draws His being from Himself, so the whole motive for His action and the
whole reason for His heart of tenderness to us lies in Himself. We have no
power. We love one another because we apprehend something deserving of
love, or fancy that we do. We love one another because there is something in
the object on which our love falls; which, either by kindred or by character, or
by visible form, draws it out. We are influenced so, and love a thing because
the thing or the person is perceived by us as being worthy, for some reason or
other, of the love. God loves because He cannot help it; God loves because
He is God. Our love is drawn out — I was going to say pumped out — by an
application of external causes.

33. God’s love is like an artesian well, whensoever you strike, up comes, self-
impelled, gushing into light because there is such a central store of it beneath
everything, the bright and flashing waters. Grace is love that is not drawn out,
but that bursts out, self-originated, undeserved. ‘Not for your sakes, be it
known unto you, O house of Israel, but for Mine own name’s sake, do I this.’
The grace of God is above that, comes spontaneously, driven by its own
fulness, and welling up unasked, unprompted, undeserved, and therefore
never to be turned away by our evil, never to be wearied by our indifference,
never to be brushed aside by our negligence, never to be provoked by our
transgression, the fixed, eternal, unalterable centre of the Divine nature. His
love is grace.
And then, in like manner, let me remind you that there lies in this great word,
which in itself is a gospel, the preaching that God’s love, though it he not
turned away by, is made tender by our sin. Grace is love extended to a person
that might reasonably expect, because he deserves, something very different;
and when there is laid, as the foundation of everything, the grace of our
Father and of the Son of the Father; it is but packing into one word that great
truth which we all of us, saints and sinners, need — a sign that God’s love is
love that deals with our transgressions and shortcomings, flows forth perfectly
conscious of them, and manifests itself in taking them away, both in their guilt,
punishment, and peril. ‘The grace of our Father’ is a love to which sin-
convinced consciences may certainly appeal; a love to which all sin-
tyrannised souls may turn for emancipation and deliverance. Then, if we turn
for a moment from that deep fountain, ‘Love’s ever-springing well,’ as one of
our old hymns has it, to the stream, we get other blessed thoughts. The love,
the grace, breaks into mercy. The fountain gathers itself into a river, the
infinite, Divine love concentrates itself in act, and that act is described by this
one word, mercy. As grace is love which forgives, so mercy is love which
pities and helps. Mercy regards men, its object, as full of sorrows and
miseries, and so robes itself in garb of compassion, and takes wine and oil
into its hands to pour into the wound, and lays often a healing hand, very
carefully and very gently, upon the creature, lest, like a clumsy surgeon, it
should pain instead of heal, and hurt where it desires to console. God’s grace
softens itself into mercy, and all His dealings with us men must be on the
footing that we are not only sinful, but that we are weak and wretched, and so
fit subjects for a compassion which is the strangest paradox of a perfect and
divine heart.
The mercy of God is the outcome of His grace. And as is the fountain and the
stream, so is the great lake into which it spreads itself when it is received into

34. a human heart. Peace comes, the all-sufficient sum-mint up of everything that
God can give, and that men can need, from HIS loving-kindness, and from
their needs. The world is too wide to be narrowed to any single aspect of the
various discords and disharmonies which trouble men. Peace with God,
peace in this anarchic kingdom within me, where conscience and will, hopes
and fears, duty and passion, sorrows and joys, cares and confidence, are ever
fighting one another; where we are torn asunder by conflicting aims and rival
claims, and wherever any part of our nature asserting itself against another
leads to intestine warfare, and troubles the poor soul. All that is harmonised
and quieted down, and made concordant and co-operative to one great end,
when the grace and the mercy have flowed silently into our spirits and
harmonised aims and desires.
There is peace that comes from submission; tranquillity of spirit, which is the
crown and reward of obedience; repose, which is the very smile upon the face
of faith, and all these things are given unto us along with the grac and mercy
of our God. And as the man that possesses this is at peace with God, and at
peace with himself, so he may bear in his heart that singular blessing of a
perfect tranquillity and quiet amidst the distractions of duty, of sorrows, of
losses, and of cares. ‘In everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God; and the peace of God
which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.’ And he who is thus at friendship with God, and in harmony with
himself, and at rest from sorrows and cares, will surely find no enemies
amongst men with whom he must needs be at war, but will be a son of peace,
and walk the world, meeting in them all a friend and a brother. So all discords
maybe quieted; even though still we have to fight the good fight of faith, we
may do, like Gideon of old, build an altar to ‘Jehovah-shalom,’ the God of
peace.
And now one word, as to what this great text tells us are the conditions for a
Christian man, of preserving, vivid and full, these great gifts, ‘Grace, mercy,
and peace be unto you,’ or, as the Revised Version more accurately
reads, ‘shall be with us in truth and love.’ Truth and love are, as it were, the
space within which the river flows, if I may so say, the banks of the stream.
Or, to get away from the metaphor, these are set forth as being the conditions
abiding in which, for our parts, we shall receive this benediction— ‘In truth and
in love.’
I have no time to enlarge upon the great thoughts that these two words, thus
looked at, suggest; let me put it into a sentence. To ‘abide in the truth’ is to

35. keep ourselves conscientiously and habitually under the influence of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, and of the Christ who is Himself the Truth. They who,
keeping in Him, realising His presence, believing His word, founding their
thinking about the unseen, about their relations to God, about sin and
forgiveness, about righteousness and duty, and about a thousand other
things, upon Christ and the revelation that He makes, these are those who
shall receive ‘Grace, mercy, and peace.’ Keep yourselves in Christ, and Christ
coming to you, brings in His hands, and is, the grace and the mercy and the
peace of which my text speaks. And in love, if we want these blessings, we
must keep ourselves consciously in the possession of, and in the grateful
response of our hearts to, the great love, the incarnate Love, which is given in
Jesus Christ.
Here is, so to speak, the line of direction which these great mercies take. The
man who stands in their path, they will come to him and fill his heart; the man
that steps aside, they will run past him and not touch him. You keep
yourselves in the love of God, by communion, by the exercise of mind and
heart and faith upon Him; and then be sure — for my text is not only a wish,
but a confident affirmation — be sure that the fountain of all blessing itself,
and the stream of petty benedictions which flow from it, will open themselves
out in your hearts into a quiet, deep sea, on whose calm surface no tempests
shall ever rave, and on whose unruffled bosom God Himself will manifest and
mirror His face.
10. PULPIT, Spiritual prosperity.
"For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee," etc. In these and
some subsequent verses we have some aspects and evidences of the spiritual prosperity of Gaius.
I. ASPECTS OF SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY. "Brethren came and bare witness unto thy truth, even as
thou walkest in truth."
1. Truth appropriated in mind and heart. Our interpretation of the words, "thy truth," would be superficial
and inadequate if we simply said that they express the sincerity of Gaius. The expression involves this,
that he was true in religion and in life; but it means that his religious beliefs were correct—that he held the
truth concerning the Person and work of Jesus Christ. On these subjects pernicious errors had arisen in
the Church. Some denied the Godhead of our Saviour; others denied the reality of his manhood. "The first
stumbled at his pre-existence and incarnation, because he suffered indignity and anguish; the other,
admitting his Divine nature, thought it beneath him actually to suffer, and therefore denied that his body or
his sufferings were anything else but illusory appearances" (Binney). Against each of these errors St.
John wrote. And by the expression, "the truth," he generally means the apostolic doctrine concerning the
Person and work of Jesus Christ. "This truth Gaius held; held it as his life; it was 'in him,' as filling his
intellect and affections; in his understanding as a source of light, in his heart as the object of love." The
apostle, as we have learned from his former Epistles, attached the utmost importance to correct religious