Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Often times when I comment on passages from different books of the Bible I will separate my blog entry into different sections on each.  I have done that in the past for today’s passages.  However, today I want to comment on the theme which runs through all three.  All three warn us against those who claim to be Believers but preach untruths.  In his second letter (the first of the two we read today), John reminds us that the root of Gospel teaching tells us to live lives filled with love, to allow love to guide all of our actions.  He then warns us against false teachers who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus actually came in the flesh.  If Jesus did not live at the time and place which the Bible proclaims, then nothing in the New Testament is of any value.  In his third letter, John warns against those who spread malicious falsehoods about others in order to keep those over whom they hold sway from being influenced by the thoughts of others.  Then we have the letter from Jude.  Jude warns against those who pervert God’s grace as an excuse for immorality.  He warns us that these people reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings in ways that even the archangel Michael would not do against the devil.  We can recognize those that these writers warn against because they cause division, boast about their own accomplishments, and flatter others (an important point about flattery is that it is designed to make you feel that you are better than others and can look down on them).  Throughout these letters the writers remind us of the importance of God’s love: these false teachers do not practice love towards others and by practicing love towards others we can thwart their false teachings.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.