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| Dr. Rick Flanders |
There are many New Testament passages that address the subject of dividing light from darkness (Genesis 1:4), and knowing with confidence when believers must decline an opportunity to work with others, and when we must say, “Yes” (such as Matthew 7:15-20, Romans 16:17-20, Second Corinthians 6:14-18, Ephesians 5:7-12, Titus 3:10-11, and Jude3-4). But the clearest collection of teachings related to the subject in one chapter is found in the Second Epistle of John. This little letter was written by the Apostle John in his final years on earth to a dear Christian lady who had trouble discerning when it is appropriate to help and encourage a certain ministry, and when it isn’t. Let us read it again, and notice five principles that show the servant of God how to love the brethren while staying loyal to the truth.
1.
The truth may be known (verses 1 and 2).One of
the great problems of our time is that the very existence of knowable truth is
disputed. Every opinion of philosophy, religion, or politics is weighed as an unverifiable
proposal, and there is no room in many minds for absolute truth. This flawed approach to truth has even
influenced the minds of Christians. We
must be reminded repeatedly it is wrong.
There is such a thing as truth, and the truth can be known.
In
his second epistle included in the canon of scripture, the Apostle John
identifies himself simply as “the elder” (the old man) because he was the only
one of the twelve apostles still alive.
The ones to whom the letter is addressed are called “the elect lady and
her children,” whom the Apostle is said to “love in the truth” (verse one). This phrase, “love in the truth,” sums up what
he is about to say. It is stated in the
first verse that Christians are “they that have known the truth” and in the
second verse that the truth “dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.” It
is a distinctive Christian doctrine that God has revealed absolute truth to man
in the Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Paul
tells us in his First Epistle to the Corinthians that vital truths which do not
come to us through observation or tradition or philosophy (“Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him”) have been revealed to man by God’s
Spirit through the verbal inspiration of the Bible (“But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit,…not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual”—First
Corinthians 2:7-13). Jesus said it
plainly in a prayer to the Father: “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Contrary to popular philosophy, absolute
truth can be positively known. Every
idea is not purely a matter of opinion.
Some doctrines have divine authority.
The First Epistle of John emphasizes this fact (see chapter 1, verses
1-3; chapter 4, verses 1 through 6; and chapter 5, verses 13, 19, and 20). We have the truth and always will, and we
must choose to believe it, stand by it, and teach it! By the illumination of the Spirit,
divinely-inspired scripture gives us the basis of confidence in certain facts
that we can affirm to be true, without a doubt.
2.
Truth and love go together (verse 3). The salutation of the epistle emphasizes the
balance and relationship between “truth and love.” Followers of Jesus must be committed to both
truth and love. The temptation to hold
to one and forget about the other will lead us astray. Jesus did teach us, “Love one another; as I
have loved you …By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another” (John 13:34-35). I
am to love every other true believer in Jesus Christ, even though problems
arise when brethren (people we are commanded to love) veer into error in their
teaching or practice. Shall we stop loving them, or just ignore the ways in
which they have strayed? This dilemma is
examined and resolved in many passages of the New Testament, such as Romans 14
(where we are told to “receive” those who are “in the faith” but “weak,” while
avoiding the “doubtful disputations” that can arise when you try to love an
erring brother). Second Thessalonians 3
commands us to “have no company” with a Christian whose practices are
“disorderly” (read again verses 11 through 16), but warns us not to regard the
erring brother “as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” We must have discernment to maintain the
balance between truth and love in fellowship with others. But our Lord calls upon us to have that discernment. We will not be excused from loving the
brethren at the Judgment Seat because we have been exceptionally “separated”
from what’s wrong. It is easier to decide that we will just love, and forget
about the truth, or just stand for the truth and forget about loving the brethren,
but we have the duty to love, as well as the duty to stand. Remember what Jesus said to the Christians at
Ephesus.
“I know thy
works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which
are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s
sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy
first love.”
(Revelation 2:2-4)
Followers
of Jesus must have the wisdom and the consecration to maintain the balance of
love and truth. We do not have the
option of picking one or the other, although some churches, some Christian
families, and some preachers seem to have done that very thing. There are “love” churches which teach very
little truth, and there are “truth” churches which practice very little
love. Such churches, as well as the
preachers who make them the way they are, and the dysfunctional families they
produce, do not correctly represent true God.
He presents Himself as “gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon children’s children”
(Exodus 34:6-7). He is balanced between
mercy and truth (remember Psalms 25:10, 57:3, 85:10, 86:15, 89:14, 98:3, 100:5,
and 115:1) and Jesus is “full of grace and truth.” When we fail to reflect that balance we
distort the image of God. God’s uncompromising
truth demanded that justice be executed upon the sins of mankind, but His love
sent His Son to take our punishment. The
balance of truth and love in God was the reason for Calvary! Truth without love is not really God’s truth,
and love without truth is really not God’s love. Neither the “come as you are and leave as you
were” ministries nor the cold-hearted ministries proud of their high standards
meet the expectations of their Lord.
Christian love and Christian truth go together.
3.
Truth must be lived as well as believed (verse
4). The Apostle rejoiced to find the
lady’s children “walking in truth.” This
is a phrase he uses again in his third epistle (verses 3 and 4), and it teaches
us that truth is not only something we believe and teach; it is something we
live. In making decisions about whether
or not to do something, the servant of Christ should ask, “What will I be
saying by what I will be doing?” Now having
anything at all to do with somebody else, or showing any regard or appreciation
for a ministry, does not imply to sensible people that I endorse everything
they do or think. What grown-up thinks
that it does? But there are things I can
do that do indicate that I approve of certain wrong things in another person’s
life or preaching. Ephesians 5:11 says
that the children of light should “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness.” Having anything to do with
an erring brother does not necessarily involve having fellowship with their
sinful works, but there are clearly ways a Christian’s actions can imply
approval of wrong doctrine or practice.
We must walk in truth and avoid saying the wrong thing by what we do. This sometimes requires a preacher to refrain
from working with another preacher under certain circumstances.
4.
Truth must govern our love (verses 5 and 6). In recent years, people have been saying that
“love unites but doctrine divides.” With
this adage, they have advocated that doctrine be minimized or neglected. Actually the adage is true, but the conclusion
is false. Although truth and love go
together, and balance each other, the teaching of scripture is that truth is in
some sense above even Christian love. The
truth of true doctrine naturally divides people on either side of an
issue. But to avoid taking a position on
a scriptural issue in order to promote some weak kind of “unity” or to express
something falsely defined as “love” is actually a way of abandoning truth. Never give up truth for love. “The truth shall make you free” (John
8:31-32). In Second John we read that
“this is love, that we walk after his commandments.” Apparently, real love for Christ will always
call for us to comply with His truth. Love
“rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth” (First Corinthians
13:6). We must never give up truth for
“love.” Our expressions of Christian
love must be guided by the limitations of Christian truth. It is not really love
that motivates a preacher to say something wrong by his actions. Love may motivate you to receive a weak and erring
brother in some way and to some degree, but it is never an excuse to recognize
an unbeliever as a Christian (remember what we are commanded in Second
Corinthians 6:14-18 and Jude 3-4, and how the teaching of separation will apply
to teachers who take the name of Christian but deny the fundamentals of the
Christian faith), or through some association to give approval to a brother’s
error. The more two churches or preachers
agree on doctrine, the more they can freely work together without implying unfaithfulness
to the truth. If you and I honestly
disagree on what the Bible says about Christian apparel (for example), it may
not be wrong for us to cooperate on some level or in some way, but it might
well be wrong to cooperate on another level in a way that implies that one of
us endorses the error of the other. Truth, in this way, guides and limits our
expressions of Christian love.
5.
Love will insist on the truth (verses 7 through
13). The lady addressed in the Second
Epistle of John was tempted to help the ministry of “deceivers” masquerading as
servants of God (wolves in sheep’s clothing—Matthew 7:15). She missed the point that all “Christian
teachers” are not the same. They must be
tested by their views regarding “the doctrine of Christ.” False teachers must not be received as
Christians or even encouraged in their work (verses 10 and 11). Although this policy may seem “mean” to sweet
ladies like the one addressed in this letter (and you have known others like her
who can’t seem to keep from sending money and other help to very unworthy
“ministries” or who can’t see the point of leaving the church they had always
attended even when it has openly departed from the faith of its fathers), whose
appreciation for Christian love clouds their discernment about false teachers,
the fact is that standing for the truth is an act of love. Nobody has a greater need for Jesus or is in
deeper trouble than an apostate preacher or a cult-member. “Receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God speed.” To avoid challenging his errors about the deity of Christ or to
give him encouragement in his religious work are not ways of exercising love
for his soul. To refuse to accept his message
as the true Gospel, or acknowledge him as a true servant of Christ, is to love
him. It is to love him enough to confront
him with the truth that can save him forever.
As we continue reading the Bible, we find that the Third Epistle of John encourages us (again) to “love in the truth” (verse 1), to “walk in truth” (verses 3 and 4), and to “be fellowhelpers to the truth” (verse 8). Ours is a time when fundamentalist Christians need to learn again to work together as our spiritual forefathers did. There is a way to love one another within the bounds of truth, to “love in the truth,” and the revival that we are asking the Father to send us will put us in the spiritual state (see Psalm 85:6-10) where we can do it successfully. May followers of Christ think this through prayerfully, so that the day of uncompromising Christian brotherhood and cooperation may dawn again soon.
Dr. Rick Flanders
Revival Ministries
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