For many deceivers have gone out into the world, they who do not confess Jesus Christ coming in flesh -- this is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John moves from love and obedience to a reason: danger is already loose in the world. His test is not conduct or sincerity. It is confession — what a teacher says about the Person of Jesus Christ.
The safeguard John gives is not suspicion but nearness to Christ. One writer says this refusal goes deeper than a wrong idea about Christ becoming man.
Nothing so preserves the saints from wrong and false teachings as walking in the power of the truth. The nearer we are to Christ, the more readily we detect what is not of Him... This was not so much a denial that He became flesh, though that might be included. It was the refusal to own and bow to the claims and authority of Christ as "come in the flesh."
John says these deceivers have gone out into the world. They are not strangers arriving from outside. They once stood among Christians and then left.
They had once been in the church, and they went out to pursue their unholy work of defying God's word and denying the Son... A man may enter the church of God and take his part in it for a while as a Christian. He goes out a great deal worse than when he came in, however bad he was. He now hates the truth, and those who hold to it. It becomes his active business to mislead the saints, defame the truth, and deny Christ.
The phrase is carefully chosen. To come in flesh says something no ordinary human birth could say.
To confess that Jesus Christ is come in flesh is to own that He existed before He became flesh. There would be no sense in saying of a mere human being that he is come in flesh. How else could he come? So to deny that Jesus Christ is come in flesh is to deny that He existed before. It is to deny that He is a divine Person — God.
The words hold two truths together. Error comes from taking only one of them.
"Jesus Christ come in the flesh" supposes neither His deity alone nor His humanity only, but both. To me the expression has no meaning unless it means both united in the same Person. In fact, veering to one side or the other — choosing part of the truth of Christ so as to set aside the rest — is a great source of error here and everywhere. Here it does the deadliest harm.
The denial John names was not hypothetical. It matched a teaching circulating while he wrote, which held that Christ was not really a man.
An early system of philosophy that claimed to be Christian. One of their theories was that the Lord was an Æon and not really a man. Apparently to refute this, the apostle insists that Christ has come "in flesh."
Writers also see the same denial reappearing across the centuries in wider forms. One puts its full range this way:
It includes all phases of evil doctrines concerning Christ, the Son of the Father. It denies His essential deity and His true humanity. It denies His virgin birth, His infallibility, His holy character, His physical resurrection, and His bodily presence in glory.
John does not say "a deceiver among many." He writes "the deceiver and the antichrist." One writer weighs this against every other trouble a church can face.
It is far worse than bringing in division and offence, bad as these are. It is far more serious even than the undermining of morality, ruinous as that must be. To sap or corrupt morality no doubt destroys oneself, and perhaps often others as well. But this defames and degrades Christ, the Son of the Father. This, then, is a bolder effort of Satan. So John calls one guilty of it not only "the deceiver" — every false teacher is more or less a deceiver — but in this case also "the antichrist."
John's warning does not cancel love. He sets two guards around it.
He had strongly pressed walking in love in the first Epistle. Here too he begs the lady that we love one another — not as a new commandment, but as the one we had from the beginning. Then he takes these two guards of true love: one is the truth and the other is obedience — just what Christ was when He was in the world.
- Confession — The dividing line is what a person confesses about Christ. He came in flesh. So He existed before He came, and He is God and man in one Person.
- Departure — These deceivers came out from among Christians. So the danger speaks familiar language. It does not look like an outsider.
- Denial — Refusing this confession is not one error among many. It defames the Son of the Father. That is why John calls such a person "the deceiver and the antichrist."
- Detection — Nearness to Christ is what makes false teaching easy to spot. Walking in the truth is the real safeguard.
- Defence — The warning does not cancel love. Truth and obedience guard it — the two things Christ Himself was in the world.
See to yourselves, that we may not lose what we have wrought, but may receive full wages.
John has just warned about deceivers who refuse to confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh. Now he turns his readers back on themselves, and ties their steadfastness to someone else's reward. Two questions follow: what could be lost, and who loses it?
John's answer to deceivers is care at home. Commentators tie the safety of the soul to the truth itself.
So he calls them to look carefully at home, in case they should stray. For God alone keeps the soul, and He does this by the truth and in the truth.
Another writer says what that daily care looks like.
Nothing preserves believers from wrong and false teaching like walking in the power of the truth. The nearer we are to Christ, the more readily we notice what is not of Him. The best safeguard against drifting, or being led astray, lies in the cultivation of our own spiritual condition.
The older text reads "that we lose not." One writer makes that pronoun the point of the whole sentence.
"Look to yourselves that we may not lose what we wrought, but may receive full reward," or wages (v. 8). It is not only an earnest caution but an appeal to love, thoroughly in our apostle's manner, as in 1 John 2:28. Old copyists, and modern editors and translators, missed this. They lost its point and reduced it to something ordinary. The Authorised Version follows the commonly received text. It has excellent support, and it gives a deeply touching sense. "Look to yourselves that we," not you, "may not lose," and so on.
Translations differ here. The ESV has "so that you may not lose what we have worked for." The older text Kelly follows keeps "we" in both halves of the sentence.
John's work was people. If they did not hold on, that work was lost. One writer sets it beside a builder whose materials burn.
If they did not remain in Him, the apostle had lost all his work. To that extent it would have been to his shame. You find the same thing in the second letter, verse 8. It is just what the apostle says to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:12 and following). If we build wood, hay and stubble on the foundation, the work will be burnt; there will be loss: it proves him a bad workman.
The same principle reaches everyone who teaches and serves.
Verse 8 contains a healthy word for all who labour in the word and doctrine. If the saints they minister to are turned aside from the truth, they cannot expect a full reward in the coming day. Their reward is bound up with the faithfulness and prosperity of the saints.
What is at risk here is wages, not rescue. One writer draws the line, and says why John presses the danger on people whose faith he did not doubt.
It is no question of salvation, as the reader will see at once; for that is pure and sovereign grace. The Lord Himself gives both the ability to serve and the privilege of serving. Even so, He is pleased to attach a reward to His servant's faithfulness. So John urged the elect lady and her children to look to themselves. They might fail under testing. Then it would turn out that they were only professing Christians and not real ones, that he had laboured in vain as far as they were concerned, and that he had lost his full reward. He had no doubt that their faith was real, as verses 1–4 show. He only wanted them to be fully aware of the dangers around them.
The word "full" is not decoration. One writer ties the size of the reward to the glory of Christ Himself.
"Look to yourselves," they are told. God does not want a single one of His own contaminated by the slightest link with what degrades His blessed Son. This would tend to destroy the precious work of God — work done among Christians by the devoted labour of the apostles for the person of Christ. And if believers stand firm, those who laboured for them will receive a full reward. In such a matter, a full measure is the only acceptable one, for it involves the fulness of the glory of Christ.
This reward has its day, and it reaches far beyond the first apostles.
This reward they will have from Christ in the day of His glory, in having a part with Him in His kingdom. These "wages" are not for the twelve alone, but for all who serve our Lord Jesus faithfully here below.
- Look — the guard against deceivers is care at home. God keeps the soul, and He keeps it by the truth.
- Labour — John's work was people. If those he taught turn aside, that work burns like wood, hay and stubble.
- Love — the older reading "that we lose not" makes this an appeal to their love. Their faithfulness guards his reward.
- Wages — this is reward, not salvation. Salvation is sovereign grace; the reward answers to a servant's faithfulness.
- Full — only a full measure fits, because the glory of Christ is at stake. These wages belong to all who serve Him, not to the apostles only.
Whosoever goes forward and abides not in the doctrine of the Christ has not God. He that abides in the doctrine, *he* has both the Father and the Son.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
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.