2 John 1:1

Every careful reader of Scripture should find it remarkable that we have an apostolic letter openly addressed to a lady and her children. In the Third Epistle John names the man he writes to. But in the Second Epistle before us he speaks of the lady simply as such, without any mention of her name. In this we may see a delicate fitness. The letter no doubt met her need, yet it spared her needless pain and publicity. Yet the letter itself is inspired and of the greatest value, for God's people then and at all times.

The Second Epistle of John is addressed to "the elect lady" (Greek eklekte kyria). There has been much speculation over this greeting. Was it the simple greeting of a Christian widow, or of a lady with an unbelieving husband, or was it simply her name? Or was it, as various researchers have assumed — probably incorrectly — the greeting of a local church?

"The elder," says the apostle. So he steps down from the first place in the church of God, a place he had every right to fill. But love naturally takes the more excellent way, and here the Holy Spirit inspired it for the special need.

He does not slight her position, but what both of them valued was the title of divine grace, not what she owed to providence. She was elect of God, one chosen in Christ by and for God Himself. God had chosen her out of all her natural connections, and the apostle delights to see that God brought her, even on earth, into new and divine ones.

The truth formed the love John had for this godly saint and her children, and the truth set its limits — if we can speak of limits when the subject is infinite. That truth is the revelation of God in Christ. Outside this blessed circle the apostle's heart did not, and could not, flow, so far as the Holy Spirit controlled him. We see this at once when John adds, "but also all who know the truth." Every heart that cherishes the truth must love those who are also under its power.

Notice the moral fitness of the words chosen here. In writing to a lady, John does not use the words "well beloved" and "beloved" as he does to Gaius. It is certainly not that he loved her less, but John is careful to give no one any occasion for wrong impressions. Yet she is "the elect lady" whom he says he loves "in truth." Her being chosen by God is the reason for his love toward her, a love shared by all those who have known the truth.

Very early in the church's history the citadel had fallen to the enemy, and the flag of truth had been hauled down and laid in the dust. Had it? Perhaps that was true of the majority, who had yielded to some other authority than the Lord's and had compromised the truth. But this lady and her children had not given in to the adversary. They were keeping the flag flying. When the church failed, the Christian household stepped into the breach. Its answer to the enemy was "No surrender!" and it held the fort for the Lord and the truth.