2 John 1:6

καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγάπη, ἵνα περιπατῶμεν κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ· αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή ἐστιν, καθὼς ἠκούσατε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ περιπατῆτε.

Translation:

⁶ And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you walk in it.

Commentary:

Greek

ἐστὶν is the first verb in this verse. It is present active indicative 3^rd person singular. The elder brings to light what true love is by saying “…this is love…”, and then continues by explaining both what love is and how to show it.

περιπατῶμεν is the next verb used and expresses the idea of an action taking place. This word carries the meaning of “walking” which implies the aspect of doing. There is work involved on our part when it comes to expressing real genuine love. This verb is present active subjunctive 1^st person plural.

ἐστιν is used a second time in this verse. The elder is pointing back to what he stated in both verses four and five. Verse four tells us that we were given this command from the Father and verse five informs us that these believers, like us, are not commanded anything new. Rather, this command has always been present.

ἠκούσατε is aorist active indicative 2^nd person plural. What the elder is doing is telling these people that they have heard this command from the beginning. Not only has it always been around, but this has also been an emphasized concept to these believers ever since the message first came to them.

περιπατῆτε is the final verb and is present active subjunctive 2^nd person plural.

English

How can we as Christians love people in the very best way? The answer that is given here in the Bible is that the only way to truly love someone is to obey God and His commandments. It is interesting to note that the road to true love is paved by obedience to God’s laws. This can cause some tension for many because our culture, even the Church, has greatly misunderstood both love and obedience.

In terms of love, even Christians place more emphasis upon the way one feels. Don’t get me wrong, true love does involve passionate feelings, but feelings alone should not, and cannot, be the basis or foundation of one’s love for another. Love is a choice – conscious and willful – to commit oneself to another person and to stick it out through the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yet, often, even in our churched atmosphere, we only allow the other person to hurt us so much before we leave. Then, after we have finally found an excuse to divorce, we attempt to justify both our actions and reactions through our often misguided, misinterpreted and misapplied use of Scripture.

Why is true love so misunderstood in our day and age? The answer is because Christian obedience to God’s laws is widely misconstrued today in the church. If someone even mentions the words “obedience” or “submission” they are immediately told to tread cautiously so that they do not become a legalist. Legalism is the idea of placing one’s own personal [that’s the key word] convictions upon other people and looking down on them when they do not follow your way of life and conduct.

However, obeying God’s laws and submitting to the truth of His Word is not a matter of personal opinions and convictions. The New Testament is filled with God-given commands that He places upon you and your life. Jesus Christ demands your obedience and allegiance to follow Him. One person on Google found over a thousand commands for Christians to obey in the New Testament. If you are interested, then just type in “commands in the New Testament”. This seems to contradict the notion that Jesus is fine with however we live our lives and does not expect us to change.

The fact is, you and I cannot fully love each other, or anyone else for that matter, if we are not obedient to God. God’s laws matter. Why? Because they are life-giving. God’s laws are what keep marriages together through the tough times. His standard is meant to guide and direct our lives so that we can better love the people around us. Just obey Him and true love will be the inevitable outflow.

2 John 1:5

καὶ νῦν ἐρωτῶ σε, κυρία, οὐχ ὡς ἐντολὴν γράφων σοι καινὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἣν εἴχομεν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους.

Translation:

⁵ And now I ask you, lady, not as writing to you a new commandment, but one which we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.

Commentary:

Who is the Lady?

There is some debate upon the identity of the lady which is the recipient of this letter. One reason for argument’s sake is because the personal pronoun the elder uses for her, σε, is singular. The reason this has the tendency to stir up confusion is because in other places throughout the New Testament the apostles would use plural pronouns [as is fitting] when referring to multiple individuals [cf. 1 John 2:7]. This is seen more clearly in Greek than in English.

One could argue that this lady is one singular church which is the mindset that I have thus far strongly upheld. However, I cannot completely dismiss the possibility of this being an actual woman that the elder is communicating with. Support for this position could be seen in the fact that 3 John is another example of the elder writing to a single individual [i.e. Gaius]. Nevertheless, I am still inclined to see this lady as a church since the elder chooses to use both singular and plural pronouns when referring to her throughout the whole letter and due to what is written in the very last verse of the book:

“The children of your elect sister greet you.”

What Commandment is the Elder Talking About?

In Matthew 22:36-40 we are told about a time when a lawyer asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was in the Law. What the elder is doing by bringing this up is reminding the lady [or church] that this is not a new command. We are to love God and also one another. That command had always been the emphasis of both the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the Old Testament].

Also, we must remember that the elder is directing our attention back to what he had just stated in verse four about walking in the truth. This is the point that the elder is making: that walking in the truth is displayed both in and throughout the way we love one another. But how do we practically love one another? That answer is found in verse six which I will comment on in the coming days. Stay tuned.

*Continue on with 2 John 1:6

2 John 1:4

Ἐχάρην λίαν ὅτι εὕρηκα ἐκ τῶν τέκνων σου περιπατοῦντας ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς ἐντολὴν ἐλάβομεν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός.

Translation:

⁴ I rejoiced greatly that I found children from you walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.

Commentary:

To walk in the truth [i.e. talking the talk as well as walking the walk] is a command for those who claim the name of Christ. What is truth? How do we find it? While we all have varying opinions, which tend to change on a whim, God’s Word is the only source for objective truth. Why? The answer is because He alone has the ultimate authority to define reality. Basically, it does not matter what we think. He is the Boss, so what He says goes!

Ἐχάρην is 1^st person singular aorist passive indicative and it means “to rejoice”. εὕρηκα is 1^st person singular perfect active indicative and means “to find” [this is where we get our word “EUREKA!”]. περιπατοῦντας is an accusative masculine present active participle which means “walking”. The final verb of the sentence is ἐλάβομεν which is 1^st person plural aorist active indicative meaning “to receive”.

λίαν is the adverb which adds further emphasis upon its antecedent Ἐχάρην [the first word of the verse is the verb that λίαν modifies]. Thus, his rejoicing was GREAT!

Clearer English:

As you may already be aware, translations from one language to another are not technically an exact science. I do not mean to say that it is impossible [far be it from that], but there is an art to obtaining both a clear and accurate translation. Therefore, though I translated the verse above in a more word for word manner, the following translation is more meaning based:

⁴ I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

*Continue on with 2 John 1:5