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

Merry Christmas!

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

John’s two letters which we are reading today and Jude’s letter were written to different people.  Yet, all three letters have much the same theme.  The writer in each of these letters emphasizes the importance of loving our fellow believers and not following false teachers.  In fact, I read them as saying that loving our fellow believers will aid us in resisting the teachings of false teachers.  The writers also seem to suggest that following these false teachers leads us to not love our fellow believers.  Each letter also gives us guidance about the sorts of things which false teachers will teach.  In the first letter, John warns us against those who teach that Jesus did not have a physical body, that it is the teachings which are attributed to Jesus which matter, not His actual existence.  In the second letter, John tells us that false teachers will discourage us from listening to anyone but them.  They try to silence all opinions which might run counter to their own.   In the third letter we are reading today, Jude gives us a series of behaviors, each of which provides a warning that someone may be a false teacher..  First, they live immoral lives.  Any one who claims to teach the Gospel, but lives an immoral life is a false teacher.  The other behaviors, while not individually decisive indicators, give us warning signs that a teacher may be teaching false doctrine.  They grumble and complain, they brag loudly about themselves, they flatter others to get what they want from them.  We should also take Jude’s letter as a warning against allowing such behaviors in ourselves.