{"id":4968,"date":"2026-08-09T14:35:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T20:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=4968"},"modified":"2026-08-09T14:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T20:35:06","slug":"truth-and-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=4968","title":{"rendered":"Truth and Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth\u2026I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another.\u201d<\/em> 2 John v. 4,5 NLT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John\u2019s two short letters, in comparison to his other books, are postcards or notes. They are personal and focused. When you read the first few verses from the greeting to the reason he is writing this letter, we find multiple references to the words \u201clove\u201d and \u201ctruth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The letter is pastoral and personal. It is written to \u201cThe Chosen Lady and Her Children.\u201d Since John warns about those who would \u201ccome into her meetings,\u201d<\/em> she appears to be a leader of a house church, and \u201cchildren\u201d are members of her group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Characteristic of John, he states the purpose of his letter, which is to remind them to love one another. We don\u2019t know if there was contention among this group; however, it doesn\u2019t take too many people connected in a relationship to have disagreements or tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is a doctrinal issue that comes up: \u201cdeceivers who deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body.\u201d<\/em> In the first-century church, a doctrinal error had crept in. Just like today, when someone believes a doctrine, they want to prove they are right and everyone else is wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John is encouraged to know that he has met some of the group who are committed to the truth and wants them to remain faithful to the truth found in Christ. For John, abiding in the truth is what distinguishes true believers from deceivers and even those who are \u201cantichrist.\u201d Those who abide in the truth are those who are rewarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Love, for John, is \u201cdoing what Christ commanded.\u201d<\/em> This is core to the truth in Christ and is based on actions. But love is not tolerating sin and those who try to deceive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don\u2019t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.\u201d<\/em> (v.10,11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In a brief letter, John addresses these two fundamental parts of the Christian life, \u201ctruth\u201d and \u201clove.\u201d It reminds me of John\u2019s gospel when he states that Jesus came full of \u201cgrace and truth.\u201d Grace, God\u2019s unmerited favor, is an expression of His love for us. But as Paul writes in his letters, grace is not license to sin or tolerate sin and neither is love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Truth without love makes a person proud and insensitive and can become a weapon. Yet love without truth can create vulnerability, confusion, and division. The protection I believe John is communicating is to love the truth and to love others by safeguarding the unity and faith of believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth\u2026I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another.\u201d 2 John v. 4,5 NLT \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John\u2019s two short letters, in comparison to his other books, are postcards or notes. They are personal and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4969,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968\/revisions\/4969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}