This epistle explains two main ideas: walking in truth and love and guarding the truth from false teachers. God’s word gives life and is constantly attacked.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
I. Main Questions:
1. Why do you think God wanted this brief epistle among the sixty-six books of the Bible?
2. What does it mean to walk in the truth? How is this vital to the Christian church?
3. What does it mean to guard the truth? Why is this needed in every generation?
II. Verse by Verse Questions:
verses 1-3: Greetings from John to the Church
1. What does John call himself at the beginning of this epistle? How is this title a humble one
for John?
2. To whom does John address this epistle? Note: there are a variety of interpretations for “the
chosen lady and her children”: 1) a figurative term for a local church and its members; 2) a
figurative term for the universal church—all true Christians; 3) a specific individual
Christian woman and her believing children. Most scholars favor the first of these options. If
so, why do you think John might call the church “the chosen lady and her children”?
3. What does John mean by “the truth”?
4. How does the truth unite all Christians?
5. What does John say about the truth in verse 2?
6. The greeting in verse 3 is very common in all New Testament epistles. What does it mean for
the apostles to wish the churches “grace and peace” from God?
7. John adds “mercy” to the standard “grace and peace.” How do you understand the overlap
and differences between grace and mercy?
8. How are grace, mercy, and peace guaranteed to all true followers of Jesus Christ?
9. How does John describe Jesus Christ in verse 3?
verses 4-6: All Disciples Walk in Truth and Love
10. What does John say brings him great joy in verse 4? Why should it cause all genuine
Christians to rejoice in the faithful lives of other Christians?
11. What does it mean to “walk in the truth”? What does the metaphor of “walking” refer to?
12. How should our Christian faith affect our daily lives?
13. How does a godly lifestyle relate to the commands the Father has given us in the Scripture?
14. In verse 5, John uses almost an exact sentence from his longer epistle, 1 John:
1 John 2:7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have
had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
2 John 1:5 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.
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It relates strongly to Jesus’ statement in the Gospel of John (after washing the apostles’ feet
and commanding them to do the same to each other):
John 13:34-35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must
love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.
Why does John make so much of this command? Why is it so vital in the Chirstian life and
church? Why does he talk about it not being a new command, and yet Jesus says it is a new
command?
15. How does John link loving one another with walking in the truth/obeying God’s commands?
16. Why is it important for us to see our love for other Christians as directly commanded by
God, and therefore to fail to love each other is an affront to God himself?
17. Why does John emphasize that this is a command they have heard “from the beginning”?
verses 7-11: Guarding the Truth About the Son of God
18. Now John moves to the main reason for writing his epistle. John sees a grave threat to the
church in these verses. What is that threat?
19. Why are false teachers so dangerous to all Christians individually, and to healthy churches
as well? Why could it be argued that false teachers are the greatest threat we face in this
world, greater than persecution and sinful worldliness?
20. John calls them “deceivers.” Jesus calls them “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” (Mt. 7:15) Paul
says the servants of Satan masquerade as servants of righteousness just as Satan
masquerades as a beautiful angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14) What does this teach us about false
teachers in the Christian church?
21. What is their central heresy according to verse 7? Why is the denial of the doctrine of the
incarnation so vital to Satan’s attack on the church?
22. The word “antichrist” could mean both “in the place of” Christ or “against Christ.” In 1
John 2:18, John says “the antichrist is coming” and “many antichrists have come.” Here in 2
John, how does John describe antichrist? In verse 7, is John talking about the one final
antichrist or the many that have gone out into the world?
23. What danger does John warn the church about in verse 8? How does it relate to Revelation
3:11 in which Jesus warns the church at Philadelphia “Hold on to what you have so that no
one will take your crown”?
24. What does it mean to be fully rewarded?
25. John speaks of those who “run ahead” or “goes ahead” and do not abide in the teaching of
Christ. What image of sound Christian doctrine does this put in your mind?
26. Why are the Father and the Son linked together when it comes to sound doctrine?
27. What does John warn about and forbid in verses 10-11? Jesus said in Matthew 10:40-42 that
anyone who meets the physical needs of his apostles or teachers receive the same reward as
those teachers. Here the image is negative. How do those who practically provide for
teachers (both true and false) share in their work and merit their reward or punishment?
verses 12-13: Concluding Words
28. How does verse 12 show the limitations of even inspired scripture? How does the Scripture
in some sense serve as a perfect but inferior replacement to face to face fellowship with
Christ? (See 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 where Paul likens the gifts of prophecy and doctrinal
knowledge to “baby talk” compared to the perfection of seeing Christ face to face.)
29. Who does John send greeting from in the final verse? What does this verse teach you about
the church?
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III. Summary:
John writes a very brief epistle to a specific church urging them to walk continually in God’s
commandments, especially by loving each other, and he warns them of the danger of false teachers,
commanding them not to welcome them or give them any support.
