1. Compare the tests of a true Children found in 2 John with those given in 1 John.
2. Consider the three mentioned in 3 John, all professing Christians. What does the apostle praise in Gaius? What faults does he find in Diotrephes? What threefold witness does he give in praise of Demetrius?
3. What dangers arise from listening to false teachers? What is John’s answer to the claims of ‘advanced thought’? See Note 3.

Notes

1. 2 John Cf. NEB, ‘whom I love in truth … for the sake of the truth’.
2. 2 John 4. ‘Walking in the truth … ’: i.e., living true Christian lives in obedience to the command which we have received from the Father.
3. 2 John 9. ‘Love to be first’: i.e., claims a knowledge superior to God’s revelation.
4. 3 John 5. Cf. Heb. 13:2.