WALKING IN TRUTH AND LOVE

The Second Letter of John

Pastor Mark Warda

Woodland Church

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

1.  Importance of Truth

Truth is Fact, not Opinion

Truth is Real, not Imagined

Truth is Absolute, not Relative

Truth isn’t what one feels it to be, needs it to be, or makes it to be

Truth is not a matter of point of view

Neither is it manufactured nor manipulated

“Truth” is the keyword in the Apostle John’s second letter

(2 John 1-3) “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.” 

2.  Combination of Truth and Love.

(Matthew 10:34) “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 

(Ephesians 2:8-9) “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

(2 John 4-6) “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” 

(John 15:9-10, 12) “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” 

(1 John 2:3-6) “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” 

(1 John 4:7-8) “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 

(John 15:12) “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” 

If God (the truth) is “in us” then we walk “in truth”

And when we walk “in truth,” we walk “in love”

And because “God is love” and God is “in us,”

Then we can “love one another as God loved us.”

That’s “walking in truth and love.”

3.  Warnings of Love Without Truth

(2 John 7-11) “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 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.” 

(1 John 1:6) “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 

a.  If we “say” but don’t “obey,” then we’re claiming to know the truth but not practice the truth

b.  If we practice the truth but don’t defend the truth, then we can lose our blessing by excusing the sin of others 

“Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks, and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks.” – Phillips Brooks

c.  If we “go on ahead” or add to God’s Word, we do not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.”

(Colossians 1:11) “being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” 

4.  Loving in Truth

The only way you can love in truth is being together

(2 John 12-13) “Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sister greet you.”