Why does 2 John 10 tell us not to receive certain people when Jesus told us to love our enemies?
According to Jesus, we are supposed to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to those who hate us (Matt. 5:44). However, according to John, we are not to receive into our house or even greet anyone who comes to us and does not believe that Christ is come in the flesh. Which are we supposed to do?
Anonymous
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Danny Hickman
2 John 7 says this: "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."
John was warning the early Church what they were to be aware of from those who wanted to pervert the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ having come in the flesh. (The Messiah had come, praise the Lord!!) The people John is saying we're to reject are people who try to teach a different gospel; who want to teach that the keeping of the law is the way to be in relationship with God the Father. They taught that nothing had changed from the time of the giving of the Law of Moses at Sinai. They're still teaching it today. It's called Judaism. It denies the deity of Christ Jesus. It (that teaching) has no place in a Christian congregation. The people who believe it are welcome to come and learn the truth. They are not welcome to teach their beliefs!
That's what John is talking about. He isn't telling us to disassociate with anyone who doesn't believe what we believe. The whole letter is about what to look out for from those who teach an antichrist doctrine of faith. This letter is to a church, not a lady friend of his.
Here it is: the Church is to be hospitable; we can be hospitable and stand firm in the faith at the same time.
Jack Gutknecht
Yes, Danny, by utilizing the following two cross-references that I find relevant, the apparent contradiction dissolves. The command in 2 John 10 is not a suspension of Jesus’ command to love enemies; rather, it is a specific application of the warnings found in Romans 16:17 and 2 Timothy 3:5.
Romans 16:17 "Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive."
Paul continues in 2 Timothy 3:5f, "They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. 6 For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions."
John instructs believers to withhold the cultural marker of fellowship (hospitality and greeting) precisely BECAUSE giving it would be misinterpreted as endorsing the destructive behavior Paul describes in the cross-references. Refusing to enable false teaching is a distinct action from refusing to love a personal enemy.
Danny Hickman
Jack, in both the Scripture references you bring up, Paul is telling believers to avoid messy Christians. In neither instance is he speaking about "the world." The Church has a prime enemy; it is the world. Our struggle is against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
When Jesus instructs us to love our enemies, He isn't telling us how to feel about people; He's instructing us on how to treat people. No one can feel differently than they feel. He doesn't tell us to love "the world," either. In fact, John told the Church, "Do not love the world or the things of the world (1 John 2:15). The things of the world are "the lust and pride of life." That is about "feeling" a certain way.
So, when we're told to love our enemies, we aren't being told how to feel but how to act. We're to treat our persecutors the way Jesus treated His. We're to imitate our Lord. HARD TO DO!!
There's no contradiction for us to be told to treat people who persecute us the way we want to be treated, with us being told to watch out for people who will try to corrupt our mission by promoting a false doctrine. The Church has an assignment to spread the good news of the Savior to a lost world (Matthew 28). The charge isn't to go and be nice, or "go and make friends." It is to go and teach the truth of the Christ.
One mission! Preach the word! (ll Timothy 4:2) Do it in love (1 Jn 3:18).