General Epistles · New Testament
2 John
c. AD 90
- Section
- General Epistles · New Testament
- Events span
- c. AD 90
- Written
- c. AD 90, from Ephesus (near modern-day Selçuk, Turkey)
- Author
- John the Apostle
In a brief letter to “the elect lady and her children,” John urges believers to walk in the truth and love one another, while warning them not to welcome deceivers who deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
Historical setting: Late in the first century, the Second Temple already destroyed; the church guarding against traveling deceivers.
Key themes
- Truth and love
- Walking in obedience
- Guarding against deceivers
- Christ come in the flesh
- Discernment
The letter's message
- John rejoices that the lady's children are walking in the truth
- He repeats the command to love one another, which they have had from the beginning
- He warns against deceivers who deny Jesus came in the flesh: do not welcome them
Key lessons
- Truth and love are partners, not rivals; John ties them together, so that walking in love means walking in God’s commands and holding to the truth. 2 John 1–6
- Love does not mean welcoming everything; discernment matters, and believers must not lend support to teachers who deny that Jesus came in the flesh. 2 John 7–11
“And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”
Critical scholarship view
Where mainstream critical scholarship dates or attributes this book differently from the traditional view above.
- Written
- c. AD 90–110
- Author
- The Johannine elder / anonymous