Walk In Love

“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.” (II John 1:5-6 NKJV)

Once again, John conveyed the message of love which dominated his Gospel, as well as his first epistle. John did not use his name, nor the, “lady,” to whom he was writing. Perhaps this had to do with preserving anonymity for the recipients, due to persecution, or he may have been referring to a particular church as the lady (the Bride of Christ).

John focused on Jesus’s message of love throughout his gospel, quoting Jesus on the topic in several places (13:34-35; 15:12, 17; and 14:15, among others). Then, in I John, he again focused on it again (2:5, 24; 3:11-12; 4:7, 11; and 5:3). Part of this may be because of his status as, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” In his gospel, the only John he mentioned was John the Baptist. In fact, narrating the occasion of the Last Supper, he referred to himself as, “the one who leaned upon Jesus’s breast,” so close was their relationship.

Because of his I Corinthians 13 treatise on the topic, we tend to think of Paul when we think of an epistolary emphasis on love but clearly John was considered the Apostle of Love to the early church. It is understood that he was the only one of the original Twelve who died a natural death, as opposed to being executed. This matches with what John reported Jesus had said of him in chapter 21. I’ll close with the closing of his gospel.

“Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You?’ Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’

“Jesus said to him, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.’

“Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?’

“This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (John 21:20-25 NKJV)

The commandment John conveyed from Jesus was not new, but one from of old; “Love one another.” Walking in that commandment will fulfill the will of Christ.

Related Scriptures

“‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’” (John 13:34-35 NKJV)

“‘This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. . . . These things I command you, that you love one another.’” (John 15:12, 17 NKJV)

“For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (I John 3:11-12 NKJV)

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. . . . Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:7, 11 NKJV)

“‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.’” (John 14:15 NKJV)

“But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” (I John 2:5 NKJV)

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3 NKJV)

“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (I John 2:24 NKJV)