II John 1:7-13
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (vv. 10-11) When the apostle John was writing this letter he probably had the Gnostics in mind – people who were denying the full divinity of Jesus. Today we have various sects who also deny Jesus’ full deity – primary among those are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. I don’t know whether it was my early reading or whether I had somehow been “coached” into proper Christian behavior, but I have been visited numerous times by JWs and Mormons and always met them at the door, sometimes engaging in small conversation, but never inviting them in and refusing their entry if they had asked to come in and chat a bit. Having read these two verses today, I am pleased that I behaved as St. John had taught.
And so we end II John.
Slava Bohu!
I was struck by v. 8, to be on your guard not to lose your reward. My Bible notes indicate that the “reward” here is not our salvation but our rewards of loyal service. What are those? Fruits of the Spirit?