Authored by Samuel Kuehn
This analysis was made in reference to the 2017 CSB translation published by Holman Bible Publishers.
2 John 1:7-8 “7Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.”
Before beginning, there is some clarification to be made in the following interpretation of 2 John. Some people subscribe to the idea that the ‘lady and her children’ is metaphorical, referring to the church and its believers residing therein. The lady is seen as a representation of the universal church, God’s elect, and John’s writing is addressed to the general Christian public. Later, at the end of 2 John, John refers to another lady – the initial lady’s sister (also described as elect) – and her children who send a greeting. This would mean that at the time of writing, John is at this sister location church and its congregation sends a greeting through John’s letter. In this article (and as is this author’s belief) the lady, her children, her sister, and her children are referred to as actual individuals that John knows and is writing to encourage them. There is nothing detrimental or more beneficial to believing either way (both views harmonize with the rest of Scripture so that nothing is contradictory); it’s inconsequential. But for the sake of this article, holding to the literal translation of these verses is easier exegetically.
In these two verses, not much is written but much is said. John, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, writes to an elect lady in the church after Jesus’ ministry reminding her about some principles of seeking truth and rejecting deception. In this context, it is known that the word ‘elect’ (found in v. 1) means one of God’s elect who is saved by grace through faith because of Christ Jesus, not a person in a position of power in the church. This is evidenced by the transliterated Greek word ‘εκλεκτός’ (eklektos) also used to refer to ‘chosen’. John (as an elder of this church) holds this believing lady in high regard because of her ability to act in love and discern truth and deception and writes to her to reinforce these ideas (v. 5). This is further supported by the fact that John goes out of his way to commend her that some of her children walk in truth (v. 4).
With the idea established that John sees this believing lady as someone who walks in truth and writes simply to reestablish those truths within the church, it’s easy to examine and understand vv. 7 and 8. Verse 7 begins by acknowledging the reality that “7Many deceivers have gone out into the world…”. During Jesus’ active ministry, it is known that He taught against many different factions and distortions of faith, including strict letter-of-the-law Pharisees (Matthew 23:13), Jews blind to the reality that Jesus was their Messiah (Luke 20:1-19), those with self-righteous faith (Luke 18:9-14), and more. Like people true to Christ and the Christian faith, John and the church are aware that people who subscribe to misinterpretations, deceptions, and their own hearts have also gone out into the world to spread their message. We also see this reality in Matthew 24:24, which says “24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (and the Greek word ‘εκλεκτός appears again).
John states plainly what these people do and where they are from; “…they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” John writes to say that the deceiver (Satan) and the antichrist are actively working in people’s hardened hearts to counteract the work of the elect. In 1 John 2:18-19, John also writes about the antichrist in plurality, saying that they are people who were of faith who have left in favor of an incorrect path. This is likely why in v. 8 John writes “8Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.” John has experienced, warned against, and tried to prevent people leaving the church and abandoning the Way, understanding that although they were a part of the church, their leaving revealed their fickle nature and the reality that they were never of the Way to begin with. He warns this lady and her children to act in love and be wary of this occurrence. He does not want people to fall away and trusts this lady’s faith to guide the church. Colossians 3:23-24 follows this idea as well: “23Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, 24knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord.”
Both of these passages encourage working diligently for the Lord with the incentive of a reward/inheritance. One difference is that the 2 John passage talks about guarding one’s work more than doing the work initially. This also can instill an idea of cultivation in work, especially if that work is evangelism, discipleship, or an individual’s own spiritual restoration. The main difference between the Colossians passage and the 2 John passage (and the key takeaway) is that people will always be actively working against the church. They can (and have) come from within the church body. Work to protect it.
Christians need to be diligent in discipleship and accountability within the church, acting in love towards one another (v. 6). A Christian that is overflowing with God’s love both in their church body and in their community is a Christian who does their best to heed v. 7 and abide by v. 8.
Children of Light 
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