Daily Prayer Devotional for Women and Men | OnlinePrayerJournal

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For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway. 1 The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—  2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. 4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.  5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.  6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.  8 Watch out that you do not lose what we[a] have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.  9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.  11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. 12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.

Footnotes ²John 1:8 Some manuscripts you

New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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John is probably addressing a church as ‘the lady chosen by God and … her children’ (v. 1), but he may have had a specific woman in mind. Whichever, he is writing to people who know the truth about Jesus, who love the truth and in whom the truth lives. Since Christ is the truth,1 clearly John is writing to believers. The link between truth and love is also plain (vv. 4, 5). Out of every nation, tribe, people, and language, we are called to honor the truth and love one another. Such unity in truth and love leads to the outpouring of God’s grace, mercy, and peace (v. 3) and fulfills the command of Christ.2

Certain traveling teachers, however, were troubling John’s much-loved churches by denying the true nature of Christ. These purveyors of error were being strengthened in their activities by the loving but misplaced hospitality of Christians. Love and truth must go together. Paul had a similar concern, asking what fellowship light can have with darkness.3 John warns that these traveling preachers are deceivers, labeling them, once again, as ‘antichrist’ (v. 7). He urges the believers to exercise discernment, one of the gifts of the Spirit, and to close their homes as bases for the propagation of falsehood.

We need that discernment more than ever in an age when truth decay has become a global problem for the church. Social media and the internet offer opportunities for those who peddle falsehood. John’s conclusion that he wants face-to-face fellowship in preference to paper and ink is a helpful guide. The pandemic robbed us of much human contact, but we need to prize it now more than ever. It can lead to complete joy (v. 12).

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