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

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

    The writer returns to the same theme he had in 1 John. In this he writes something which has an element of circular logic, but I have always thought there was a little more to it than that. First the logic:
Love is doing what God commands
God commands us to love one another
However, I believe there is more to what the writer is saying than what is written. The writer is not saying that the only God commands us to do is love one another. He is saying that everything God commands us to do is how we love one another.

    In his third letter the writer has a different message. There are actually three elements to this letter, although the writer does not separate them out in his writing. The first, and the one we must find by reading between the lines, is that the Church should send out traveling teachers who preach the Gospel to unbelievers. I am not quite sure why it is necessary for traveling teachers to preach to the unsaved in areas where there are already believers, but the writer encourages such behavior. He even tells us that we should support such teachers when they come into our area. Further, he condemns those that object to such teachers and attempt to make it difficult for them to gain support for their ministry.

    I have never noticed how the message of 2 John leads into the message of 3 John, which transitions us to the message of Jude. Second John tells us that all of God’s commands are expressions of the command to love one another. Third John tells us of the importance of accepting and supporting traveling teachers who teach the true Gospel and warns us against those who try to isolate us from teachers other than themselves. Finally, Jude warns us against people who claim that God’s grace means that we can live immoral lives. Such people base their authority on extra-biblical sources, such as dreams and revelations which they have received, or the writings of other faiths which they attempt to meld with Christianity. In most cases, if we examine their lives we discover that their teachings derive from their attempts to justify their own sins rather than confess and turn from them.