If any one come to you and bring not this doctrine, do not receive him into [the] house, and greet him not;
John has just warned about people who do not hold the teaching about Christ. Now he turns that warning into a rule for the home. What counts as "this teaching"? How far does the refusal go? And how can shutting a door be loving?
John does not name one specific error to watch for. Commentators say the wording is general on purpose. A false idea of Christ can change shape and slip past a narrow rule.
Notice how it is put. It does not say: he fails to bring the true humanity, or the proper Deity. The reason is that Satan might change the doctrine a little, so as to keep up appearances for simple people. So it would not do to name just one form of error. The devil would only have to avoid that form, and there would be no defence left. But here it stands firm and yet comprehensive: if a man comes to you and does not bring this doctrine (that is, the doctrine of Christ), do not receive him. It does not matter how the enemy has warped his soul and dishonoured Christ through him.
Withholding a hello can look petty. Commentators say that greeting carries a meaning, and giving it does real harm.
To do so would be encouraging and helping him; it means tampering with my own conscience, because I am allowing something to pass as Christ which is a false Christ, and the deepest dishonour to God. If I show this appearance of love where the truth is not, it is not Christ at all; it is denying Him, and saying that what is false is as good as what is true. It is helping the Antichrist and not the Christ. "He who greets him" (that is, literally salutes him on leaving) "shares in his evil deeds." It was a sign of recognition and companionship.
John writes to a private woman about her own home. That detail shapes how we read the verse.
If such a person comes, of course without the doctrine, yet claiming the ground of truth, you are not to receive him. Where? At the Lord's table? No; the apostle could not have said that to the elect lady and her children. The exhortation is quite independent of public fellowship. They are not even to receive him into their private house, nor to greet him with ordinary courtesy.
Commentators also say what "this teaching" is, and who the visitor is.
This scripture applies first of all to teachers — to all who did not bring "the doctrine of Christ," that is, the truth about His person, and perhaps about His work too. Here the apostle is clearly concerned with those who move from place to place to teach. But then, "if anyone comes to you," and takes the place of a teacher in seeking to spread his errors, treat him as the apostle directs. Faithfulness to Christ makes it the responsibility of every head of a household to hold to the truth. So he must keep out of his house what would really undermine the foundations of Christianity.
The letter goes to a woman and her children, not to church leaders.
The second letter of John settles it that being personally sound in the faith is not enough. The apostle carefully warns even a woman, the elect lady, and her children. They had a direct responsibility if they received someone who did not bring the doctrine of Christ… So the Holy Spirit lays down the principle plainly. The simplest believers who back someone who confesses a false Christ share in his evil deeds, even without taking in the evil doctrine themselves.
Refusing entry is not the same as attacking the person.
So we must test anyone who comes to the door: is it truly the doctrine of Christ he brings? If not, he is an enemy of Christ, though he himself may not realise it. We are not to show hostility. But in the fear of God we must firmly refuse any sign that could be taken as approving his evil. This would certainly mean taking no literature from him. There is to be no arguing, but refusal.
This does not cancel the command to love. John repeats that command in the same short letter, and commentators point out what guards it.
He had pressed the walk of love very strongly in the first letter. Here too he asks the lady that we love one another. It is not a new commandment, he says, but the one we have had from the beginning. Then he takes up these two guards of true love: one is the truth and the other is obedience.
- Christ — the test is not one named error but "this doctrine." It is worded broadly, so no disguise slips through.
- Door — the refusal concerns a private home, not the Lord's table. The visitor in view comes as a teacher.
- Greeting — we withhold the everyday hello, because it is a sign of recognition and companionship.
- Everyone — the letter goes to a woman and her children. Being sound yourself is not enough; the simplest believer carries the same responsibility.
- Love — truth and obedience are the two guards of real love, so we refuse with firm decision, not hostility.
for he who greets him partakes in his wicked works.
Two verses earlier, John warns about a travelling teacher who does not bring the doctrine of Christ. Verse 11 gives the reason for shutting the door: a word of courtesy can make you a partner in another man's work.
Older translations render the greeting as "God speed." One writer says that wording misleads.
Let me repeat that it is not "God speed," for this might give a false idea. It sounds as if we were wishing him well in his work. But it conveys nothing of the sort — merely a Greek "good morning," what would pass in the ordinary speech of the day among one's fellows.
The verse describes two different people, and only one of them holds the error.
This passage clearly has two people in view: one holding false doctrine about the Person of Christ, and the other a person who wishes him well. The passage does not say or imply that this second person holds the false doctrine. It says he identifies himself, by an act of fellowship, with the man who does. In doing so, God calls him "a partaker of his evil deeds." If God calls this man a partaker of evil deeds, he is surely a defiled man. He is defiled not because he has taken in the evil doctrine, but because he knowingly keeps company with a man who holds it.
The greeting works as a signal, and that signal does the damage.
To do so would be encouraging and helping him. It is to tamper with my own conscience, because I am allowing something to be Christ which is a false one, and the deepest dishonour to God. If I show this appearance of love where the truth is not, it is not Christ at all; it is denying Him, and saying that what is false is as good as what is true. It is helping the Antichrist and not the Christ. "Whoever greets him" — that is, salutes him as he leaves — "takes part in his wicked works." It was a sign of recognition and companionship.
One writer draws a comparison that runs against instinct. The greeter stands in a worse position than the teacher he greets.
He who has fellowship with such a person shares in his wicked ways. In fact, as one has said, he is morally worse. The denier of true doctrine is sincere and believes he is speaking the truth. He is deceived, and probably believes he is honouring Christ. But the one who condones his evil way by having fellowship with him knows it is wrong and does it with his eyes open.
One writer presents this refusal as love's own work, not a break from love.
True love is jealous for the truth. It will not bid the heretic God speed; it will withdraw from him and avoid the associations where he is tolerated. The one who denies the truth of Christ is a deceiver and an antichrist. To keep company with him is to play the traitor to the Lord. True love will close the door against the evil teacher. It knows that to keep Christ in, it must keep the deceiver and antichrist out. It also knows that letting evil teaching in poisons the very springs of life, so all true godliness withers and dies.
Commentators differ on the exact scope. One limits it to those who arrive as teachers.
This scripture applies first of all to teachers — to all who did not bring "the doctrine of Christ," that is, the truth about His Person, if not also about His work. Here the apostle is dealing with those who move from place to place in order to teach. But then, "if anyone comes to you," and they take the place of teachers, seeking to spread their errors, you are to treat them as the apostle directs.
Another writer takes up a common worry about unbelieving relatives and neighbours.
Some have been puzzled how far they should take this. They say, "We have unconverted relations and acquaintances who certainly do not bring the doctrine of Christ. Must we refuse them entry into our houses?" We find, however, that the Scriptures permit a Christian to eat with unbelievers if he is so minded. In 1 Corinthians 10:27 we read, "If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience." It is plain, then, that this does not refer to those who have made no profession of faith in Christ. It must apply to those who are in a Christian assembly.
- Greeting — the word is an everyday "good morning," not a blessing on his work; even that much is refused.
- Signal — the greeting is a sign of recognition, so it puts your name behind his denial of Christ.
- Sharing — you need not hold his teaching to share his deeds; knowing association is enough to defile.
- Guilt — the deceiver may believe his own error; the man who greets him acts with his eyes open, and one writer calls that the worse position.
- Love — real love guards the truth and keeps Christ in by keeping the deceiver out. It refuses the teacher of error, not the ordinary unbelieving neighbour.