The children of your elect sister greet you.
The letter ends the way a family note ends — with a greeting passed from one household to another. Two questions sit behind those few words. Who was this "elect sister"? And why does John send a warm greeting here, after refusing one to certain visitors earlier in the letter?
Who the elect sister is
Some have read the "elect lady" of verse 1 as a picture of a church rather than a person. Verse 13 makes that reading hard to hold. In the New Testament, "elect" is a word for people, not churches:
Arend RemmersThis last possibility is out of the question. Nowhere in the New Testament is a local church called "elect" or even "lady." God chooses only individual believers (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:2), and this in one Lord only, in Jesus Christ. The expression "the children of your elect sister" in verse 13 raises even more difficulties. It is therefore much easier to relate these greetings to a believing lady, her sister and her children. Peter also calls his wife "she that is elected" in 1 Peter 5:13 (Darby translation).
So these are real relatives. And notice who sends the greeting: the children, not the sister herself.
Leslie M. GrantVerse 13 also shows the greeting of true fellowship. "Your elect sister" was clearly not there with her children. If she had been, John would surely have included her in the greeting he sends for them. It seems likely that these children were the actual nephews or nieces of "the elect lady."
Love that runs only in the truth
Warm greetings close the letter. Kelly marks what that love was tied to:
William KellyThere was hearty love, but it was only in the truth, of which Christ alone is the test and obedience the effect.
The elect lady had a sister. Her sister's household seems to have been near the apostle, and his love for them rested on one thing:
Arno C. GaebeleinShe also had a sister with children, who seems to have been in the same place where the apostle was, probably in Ephesus. The last verse of the letter points to this... every child of God — man, woman or child — is best loved for the sake of the truth. It is the blessed truth poured out so richly in the First Letter, the truth which is Christ Himself. And that truth "abides in us and will be with us forever." So the truth known binds together in closest fellowship all who know Him.
Confidence, not pressure
Earlier in the letter John had told this household to shut the door on anyone who denied Christ. He now ends without a threat, and without leaning on his own standing:
William KellyHis hope of coming and his greeting both show something. The apostle fully counted on his readers to take to heart and carry out his order without fail. They were to shut out the man who was false to Christ and was trying to trap others into his wicked works. He threatens no consequences. He only warns that compromise in such a case means sharing fellowship with the evil-doer. He makes no effort to force obedience by appealing to his own position, or to their close friendship up to now. It all depends on what grace has made us feel is due to Christ.
That freedom also marks a boundary. The strictness of this letter belongs to one subject, and Kelly warns against stretching it further:
William KellyStrictness is an absolute duty where the question is the true Christ or a false one. But nothing can be less of the Spirit of God than to apply that same strictness to minor differences over discipline. The great enemy uses such a mistake to scatter those whom Christ died to gather into one.
Names withheld, truth in view
The letter closes without telling us a single name. That silence looks deliberate:
The Christian's FriendHe had put the elect lady on her guard "against everything doubtful about the person of Christ." With that, he had delivered the message entrusted to him. So he closes his letter with the words, "The children of your elect sister greet you." We are not told who these were, or who the elect lady was (verses 1 and 13). Our attention goes to the truth communicated, rather than to the persons.
Summary
- Truth loved. John's affection for this household runs "only in the truth, of which Christ alone is the test and obedience the effect."
- Truth shared. John calls two related families "elect." That word marks out chosen people, not congregations. What binds them in closest fellowship is the truth they both know.
- Truth guarded. This letter refuses a greeting to those who deny Christ, yet sends one warmly here. That strictness guards the person of Christ alone. Stretch it to smaller differences and it scatters those Christ died to gather.
- Truth trusted. No threat, no pulling rank, no appeal to old friendship. The closing greeting simply assumes they will obey, out of what grace has taught them is due to Christ.
- Truth first, names last. The letter names neither woman. Our attention goes to the message, not to the people who received it.