John, the apostle of Jesus who also wrote the fourth gospel, wrote these letters as late as 90 A.D. As I mentioned in the previous blog, the first letter warns about false teachers who were saying Jesus wasn’t God. It also encourages Christians to have faith and love. The second letter follows with similar themes and urges discernment when traveling evangelists show up with messages for the church. We can see from this warning that Christianity was spreading beyond what the first disciples had covered. The religion was being carried throughout the Roman Empire.

Here are a few things to consider as you read this short epistle. Look for similarities with 1 John to see if both appear to be by the same author. Compare verse 6 here with 1 John 5:3 and verse 9 here with 1 John 2:23. Which parts reflect the ideas of 1 John? See 1-2 for the theme. There is a heresy mentioned in verse 7. How is this Gnostic (look up the definition of this early Christian heresy)?