Truth, Love, and Locked Doors Text: 2 John 1:7-11
Introduction: The War on Reality
We live in an age that prizes an open mind, but often confuses an open mind with a hole in the head. The prevailing sentiment is that love is a gelatinous, sentimental thing that must never, ever draw a hard line. Truth, if it is acknowledged to exist at all, is considered a private affair, something you can keep in your pocket as long as you don't bring it out in public where it might offend. To suggest that there is a central, non-negotiable truth upon which all reality hinges is seen as the height of arrogance and bigotry. To suggest that this truth has a name, and that name is Jesus Christ, is to invite the world's hostility.
But the Apostle John, the apostle of love, would have none of it. For John, truth and love are not rivals; they are inseparable dance partners. Love without truth is just syrupy sentimentality, a cheap knock-off that will curdle into hatred the moment it is crossed. Truth without love becomes a brittle, loveless orthodoxy, a skeleton with no flesh on its bones. The two must go together. And because they must go together, there are times when love for God and love for the saints requires us to identify a lie, call it a lie, and refuse to give it a platform. There are times when the most loving thing you can do is lock your front door.
John is writing this brief letter to a church, personified as an "elect lady," to warn her about a clear and present danger. Smooth-talking deceivers were on the move. They were traveling teachers, taking advantage of Christian hospitality, and spreading a poison that struck at the very heart of the faith. Their message was sophisticated, spiritual-sounding, and utterly demonic. It was an early form of Gnosticism, a worldview that despises the material world. They taught that spirit is good and matter is bad. And if matter is bad, then God could never have truly taken on a physical, human body. Jesus, they argued, only seemed to be a man. He was a phantom, a spiritual apparition.
This was not a minor disagreement over secondary issues. This was a direct assault on the gospel itself. To deny the Incarnation is to deny everything. If Jesus did not come in the flesh, He did not live a real human life, die a real death on a real cross, and rise in a real, physical body. If He did not do those things, we are still in our sins. This is why John's language is so severe. This is not a drill. This is war, and the souls of men are at stake.
The Text
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
See to yourselves, that you do not lose what we accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting,
for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
(2 John 1:7-11 LSB)
The Central Lie (v. 7)
John begins by identifying the enemy and his core message.
"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:7 LSB)
Notice the diagnosis. The problem is not misunderstanding; it is deception. These are not honest seekers with a few theological quirks. They are "deceivers," and they have "gone out into the world." This implies they were once part of the visible church but have now revealed their true colors by their departure and their doctrine. As John says elsewhere, "They went out from us, but they were not of us" (1 John 2:19).
Their central lie is a refusal to "confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh." This is the touchstone of orthodoxy. The Incarnation is the hinge of history. God the Son, the eternal Word, took on a real human nature, a real body and soul. He got hungry. He got tired. He bled real blood. This is scandalous to the Gnostic mindset, both ancient and modern. The modern Gnostic wants a "spiritual" Jesus, a Jesus of concepts and nice ideas, not a Jesus who is Lord over the material world, over our bodies, our finances, our politics, and our sexuality. The spirit of antichrist always hates matter. It hates the idea that God would dignify dirt by making man from it, and then dignify humanity by becoming one of us.
John's label for this position is stark: "This is the deceiver and the antichrist." He doesn't mince words. The word "antichrist" here is not referring to a single, future Bond villain figure. For John, the spirit of antichrist is the spirit that opposes the centrality of Christ, and it does so primarily by denying the Incarnation. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the God-man is peddling an antichrist doctrine. To deny the Son in His flesh is to deny the Father who sent Him. It is to unravel the entire fabric of redemption.
The Sober Warning (v. 8)
Because the stakes are so high, John issues a sharp, personal warning.
"See to yourselves, that you do not lose what we accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward." (2 John 1:8 LSB)
This is a call to spiritual vigilance. "See to yourselves." Pay attention. Be on guard. Doctrine matters. Bad doctrine is not like a harmless fog; it is like a corrosive acid. It can eat away at the foundations of your faith. John is concerned that the believers might "lose what we accomplished." This refers to the apostolic foundation, the work of the gospel that has been established in them. It is possible for a Christian to build with gold, silver, and precious stones on the foundation of Christ, or to build with wood, hay, and stubble. It is possible to get to the end and find that much of your work has been burned up (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
The alternative is to "receive a full reward." This is not about earning salvation. Salvation is a free gift. But rewards are earned by faithful service. The Scriptures are clear that there will be gradations of reward in heaven. God is a generous Father, and He delights to reward the faithfulness of His children. But dabbling in heresy, entertaining false teachers, and treating the central truths of the faith as negotiable is a sure way to forfeit that full reward. It is to arrive at the finish line, saved by grace, but smelling of smoke, with very little to show for your life. John wants them, and us, to aim higher. He wants us to receive the "well done, good and faithful servant" commendation.
The Doctrinal Boundary (v. 9)
John now draws the doctrinal line in the sand with theological precision.
"Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son." (2 John 1:9 LSB)
Here is the test. The false teachers are those who "go too far." The Greek word can mean to transgress, to run on ahead. They are the progressives, the innovators. They are not content with the simple, apostolic testimony about Jesus. They have moved "beyond" the doctrine of Christ into what they consider a higher, more enlightened spirituality. But in going "beyond" the truth, they have left the truth behind entirely. They are like a man who wants to go beyond the cliff's edge to get a better view. His progress is real, but his destination is the rocks below.
To not "abide in the teaching of Christ" has a devastating consequence: he "does not have God." This is absolute. If you get Jesus wrong, you do not get God. You cannot reject the Son and claim to have the Father. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). To reject the incarnate Son is to have a god of your own imagination, an idol, not the living God of Scripture.
Conversely, "the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son." To abide is to remain, to dwell, to make your home in the truth of the gospel. When you hold fast to the biblical Christ, the Christ who came in the flesh, you have everything. You have fellowship with the Son, and through the Son, you have fellowship with the Father. This is the heart of eternal life (John 17:3). There is no third way.
The Practical Application (v. 10-11)
Finally, John brings this high doctrine down to the level of the front door. This is where the rubber of orthodoxy meets the road of hospitality.
"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting, for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." (2 John 1:10-11 LSB)
This is one of the hard sayings of Scripture, and our sentimental age chokes on it. The command is twofold. First, "do not receive him into your house." In that culture, itinerant teachers depended on the hospitality of believers for food, lodging, and a base of operations. To welcome a teacher into your home was to give him your endorsement. It was to say to the community, "This man is sound. He speaks for us." John says that love for the truth and love for the flock requires you to refuse this platform to those who deny the Christ.
This is not a command to be rude to the mailman or to refuse to give a lost person a glass of water. This is about refusing to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the gospel who are actively trying to subvert the church. Christian hospitality must be discerning. Our homes are to be outposts of the Kingdom, not neutral zones where any and every doctrine is given a fair hearing. To provide a platform for a liar is not loving; it is reckless.
Second, "do not give him a greeting." The word for greeting here is not just a casual "hello." It means to wish someone joy, to give them a blessing, to wish them Godspeed on their mission. To do so for a false teacher is to bless a mission that God has cursed. John provides the reason, and it is sobering: "for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds."
There is no neutrality. When you aid, abet, endorse, or bless a false teacher, you become a partner in his wickedness. You share in his guilt. You are helping him poison the sheep. This is why doctrinal discernment is not an optional extra for the intellectually inclined. It is a matter of basic Christian faithfulness and love. To be fuzzy on the doctrine of Christ is to be an accomplice to the spirit of antichrist. True love protects the flock. True love draws sharp lines. True love, when necessary, bolts the door.