"7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him." -- 2 John (1):7-10
What exactly is the "Teaching of Christ" that John is referring too? Some teach that the teachings of Christ consist of Matthew through Revelation only, and that Genesis through Malachi do not apply. It is further taught by those, that one must follow the Teaching of Christ to the letter or you are damned to hell. It is my belief that the teaching of Christ encompasses the whole of the Bible, from Genesis 1:1 all the way through Revelation 22:21. I further believe that the teaching of Christ is love and that if you love God and love your neighbor you have fulfilled the teaching of Christ. In this study, I will use the Bible to support this belief.
"1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.Jesus is the Word. He was with God, He is God. His teachings have come to us since the very beginning. Through Moses, the prophets and then through Jesus Himself. EVERYTHING that is in God's Word has come from Jesus. It is true that in the Old Testament Christ did not physically teach the Isrealites through the prophets, but rather the teaching came from God. Some argue that was God the Father, and not Christ. By Christ's own words though, He and the Father are one (John 10:30). Also, Jesus got His teaching from the Father:
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made... 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." -- John 1:1-3,14
" 11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." -- Revelation 19:11-13
"11In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." -- Hebrews 1:1-3
"16Jesus answered, 'My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.'" -- John 7:16-18Jesus testified to His own teaching, and He testified that He received His teaching from the Father. The teaching of Christ was really the teaching of God, just like Moses and the prophets. Jesus was much greater, though, in that He Himself is God. So the teaching of God is also the teaching of Christ. Jesus is the Word, so we see that all of Scripture is not only useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16), but all the Word is, well, from the Word. Jesus is the Word, so everything the Bible teaches us, from Genesis to Revelation, is the Teaching of Christ.
"34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: ' 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" -- Matthew 22:24-40As you can see, we must love God and love our neighbor. So, in that sense we must follow the law. If we are going to follow Christ, we must love God and we must love our neighbor. In fact, if you do not have love you do not have God:
The law of Christ, the Teaching of Christ, the old law. They are all summed up in love. If we love God and love our neighbor, we have fulfilled all of the law because love does not harm its neighbor:"7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love... 20If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." -- 1 John 4:7-8, 20-21
"9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him." -- 1 John 2:9-11
"8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." -- Romans 13:8-10Jesus said that all the commandments could be summed up by loving God and loving your neighbor. By the words of the Word Himself, all the commandments are summed up by love. His Apostle further clarifies, under inspiration, that love does not harm to its neighbor. That being so, he echoes Christ in saying, "love is the fulfillment of the law." Not only is love fulfillment of the law, but it is in itself a command of God. It is the command of God. If we look at the context of 2 John, we see that is most likely what he is talking about:
"4It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." -- 2 John (1):4-6Jesus' Command is Love. Jesus taught love. Jesus told us all the law and the prophets hand on love. Love is fulfillment of the the law and love is the Teaching of Christ.
"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3Not only are we nothing without love, but if we do not have love we are empty. If you do not have love, you do not have God (1 John 4, 1 John 2 see above). If you do have love, however, than you do have God, and everyone will know it. Love is the very mark of a Christian:
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." -- 1 John 4:16 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." -- John 13:35If we have love, we have God. With God inside us, His love is inside us as well, and people will know we are His. They will know because what is in a man's heart comes out in the way he speaks and acts:
"33Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." -- Matthew 12:33-35Just as actions without love are meaningless, we need to act out in love. We need to help out neighbor whenever and however we can."11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another....16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." -- 1 John 3:11, 16-18
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." -- Galatians 6:2As we can see, love without action is empty love and a man without love is an empty man. If we have love, we will help those in need. It is a natural progression. Love marks us as God's, for God is love, so people will know we are Christians by the love we show in what we do."34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" -- Matthew 25:34-36
"9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." -- Romans 12:9-13
"7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully." -- 2 John (1):7-8Here, John tells us that that some people have denied certain teachings about Jesus. They denied he came in the flesh. "This was one of the main tenets of the Gnostic movement, which was gaining in momentum at the time of John's writing (and much of his writings seem to have this group at least partly in mind). The Gnostics essentially denied the incarnation. They believed physical matter was inherently evil, thus God would NEVER have sent His Son in physical form. Thus, Jesus did not have a flesh and blood body; it was merely an illusion." (Al Maxey, Reflections #84) It is immediately after this passage that John tells us, "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God". It is very likely that he the teaching of Christ, could be the teaching about Christ in this case. In his first letter, John tells us, "No one who denies the Son has the Father" (1 John 2:22), which matches what he says in 2 John (1):9. As you can see, it can very easily read either way. Personally, I believe it reads both ways. I think that the teaching from and the teaching about Christ compliment each other and indeed are one in the same. If you love God, why would you deny Him? If you do deny Him, you do not have Him and you do not have love. Accepting Christ and Loving Him and your neighbor go hand in hand. You cannot really do one without the other.
The Teaching of Christ. Is it the teaching from Christ, or the teaching about Christ? If it is the teaching from Christ, the entire Bible, from the first verse in Genesis through the last in Revelation can be said to be all the teaching of Christ, and it can all be summed up in one word, Love. Jesus taught love. He said that all the commandments could be fulfilled by loving God and loving your neighbor. By the words of the Word Himself, ALL THE COMMANMENTS ARE SUMMED UP WITH LOVE. His Apostle further clarifies, under inspiration, that love does not harm to its neighbor. So how do we love? 1 Corinthians 13 is an excellent chapter on the topic. Love is not just an attitude, it is a state of being and doing. We must love our neighbors, that includes treating them right and providing for them when needed. If it is the teaching about Christ, we can see that we must not deny Him. To do so proves we do not have the Father. However, John also tells us if we do not have love we do not have the Father (1 John 4:20). Thus, the two go hand in hand...if you have no love, you do not know Jesus. If you do not know Jesus, you do not have love. Either way, you are not following the Teaching of Christ. Love is enduring and everlasting, and if we love we have God and we will be everlasting as well. After all, if you love Jesus, why would you deny Him? Love is the be all and end all. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)