I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received a commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. – 2 John 4-6.
The elder, as John refers to himself, begins the heart of the epistle on a positive note, with a word of encouragement and an expression of personal joy. He wishes to continue the warm affection established with his readers in the opening verses, thereby preparing them for the harsh warnings that will follow. Many a minister would do well to follow the wise strategy we see here (note Paul’s similar approach concerning the “Onesimus affair” in his letter to Philemon).
John rejoices because of a good report he has received concerning these believers (see 3 John 3). There is a depth of intensity to the joy John has experienced upon discovering that members of this community are walking in truth. The phrase, “I have found,” suggests that the time of John’s discovery was in the past but also that he believes their walking in the truth continues.
How did John discover these things about the chosen lady’s children? The text does not say. Perhaps he had actually met some of them and discovered firsthand their commitment to obey the Father. News may have reached him by a report from visitors or traveling missionaries. Regardless of how the information arrived, this community had cultivated a reputation for devotion to the truth of God.
Some students of Scripture have emphasized the word “some” in the verse, and taken it to mean that certain children were walking in the truth but that others were not. John may only be referring to those children whom he had actually met, however, and that they constitute “some” of the total fellowship. Given the positive and encouraging thrust of verse 4, to read a negative judgment between the lines seems unnecessary and unwarranted.
“Walking in truth” indicates that truth is both what we believe and how we live. It is doctrine and duty, creed and conduct. As with so many spiritual characteristics, it denotes action; an active participation. The wonderful Baptist preacher Vance Havner used to say: “What we live is what we believe. Everything else is just religious talk.”
John notes that walking in the truth is a commandment we previously received from the Father. It may be that he is alluding to 1 John 3:23. Any other attempt to specify a canonical reference is difficult to support. However, it would support the precedence of the Epistle of 1 John. It may be that John’s intent is simply to stress the ultimate source (the Father) of the message (to love one another) and to remind us to whom we are ultimately accountable.
Continuing into verse 5, John utilizes a form of address. The word “dear” is not in the original text, although its addition captures the elder’s intent. Understanding “lady” as referring to a local congregation, as many scholars suggest, the words that follow are for the whole body of believers. The gentle and sensitive approach taken by John again ensures that he will gain a receptive hearing.
“And now” has a logical force flowing from the previous commendation of verse 4. Since they are walking in the truth, John is confident they will welcome his call to “love one another.” John does not have a new word for this congregation. This sets him apart from the “deceivers” found in verse 7 and those that “transgress” in verse 9, who boast of something more, something new. John is not one who believes old is always bad and new is always better. Truth is truth regardless of its age, for all truth ultimately finds its source in God.
“The commandment [we] have heard from the beginning” (a favorite and recurring phrase in the epistle of 1 John) is simple and worthy of being repeated: “We should love one another.” What John means by “from the beginning” may bear the same meaning in each instance, although each occurrence should be evaluated in context. Here John seems to be referring to the origin of the Christian faith itself embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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