约翰二书
We’re in this series called “Little Big Shots,” exploring five of the shortest books in the Bible. Andinmanyways, these five little books are like postcards. Don’t use postcards as much anymore – not travelling obviously, but also impact of social media – but postcards used sent often by people travelling. Kind of like sending a letter, but only have to write a small amount. These little books in series are in a way like postcards. The letter looking at today – 2 John – is so small, could have been written on one single piece of papyrus – almost like an ancient postcard.
Now as Lucy just explained, 2 John is most probably written by the apostle John, one of the closest followers of Jesus. I say most probably because strictly speaking it’s anonymous. The author doesn’t say who he or she is. But similarities with 1 and 3 John, as well as the gospel of John, and the very early testimony of the church, indicates pretty strongly that apostle John wrote it. Here’s how he introduces himself.
我们在这个名为“小篇幅大人物”的系列中，探索圣经中最短的五本书。在很多方面，这五本小篇幅的书就像明信片。 人们不再像以前那样常常寄明信片了—显然不仅旅行时已经不再寄了，另外还有社交媒体所带来的影响—然而过去人们经常在旅行中寄明信片。有点像寄信，但只需要写少量的文字。 这系列中的小篇幅书就像明信片一样。 今天看到的这封信——约翰二书——篇幅太小了，可以写在一张纸莎草纸上——几乎就像古代明信片一样。
正如露西刚刚解释的那样，约翰二书很可能是耶稣最亲密的跟随者之一使徒约翰写的。我只说是最有可能是他写的，因为严格来说它是匿名的。 作者没有说他或她是谁。但是与约翰一书和三书的相似，以及约翰福音，还有教会早期的见证一样，都明显地表明它是使徒约翰所写。以下是他如何做自我介绍……
The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children ... (2 John 1) So John calls himself the elder, which is also what he will say in 3 John, as seen next week. But if ambiguity over his identity, there’s even more about who the book is written to. Who is this lady that is chosen by God?
Well, there are 2 main ideas. One is that this was written to a specific woman that John knew, possibly some kind of church leader or a woman who hosted a church in her home. And that’s a possibility, although more commentators and pastors go with the 2nd option, which is that this little postcard was written to a church. Sometimes in the NT, the universal church is called “the bride of Christ”, and the word for church in the Greek language was a feminine word. And this was an appropriate way to talk about a church.
我这做长老的，致蒙拣选的女士和她的儿女…(约翰二书 1) 所以约翰称自己为长老，这也是他将在约翰三书中所说的，我们下周会说到那一章。但是，如果对他的身份含糊不清，那么关于这本书写给谁的问题就更多了。这位被上帝选中的女人是谁？
有两个主要的说法。 一个，这是写给约翰认识的一位特定女性的，可能是某种教会领袖或在她家中带领家庭教会的女性。这就是一种可能，尽管更多的评论家和牧师会选择第二种可能，即这张小明信片是写给教会的。 有时在新约中，普世教会被称为“基督的新娘”，希腊语中的教会一词是一个阴性词。 这是谈论教会的恰当方式。
And the reason most scholars go this way is that John’s language switches between singular and plural through the letter, which seems to suggest he’s talking to a group of people. And as we’ll see, the commands he gives and the statements he makes seems to indicate he’s writing to a small congregation of people. And at the end of the postcard, John writes, The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings. (2 John 13)
Now if this was two sisters and their kids, they wouldn’t depend on John to communicate with each other. They would send greetings or letters to each other. So this is probably a reference to another church, sending their greetings from the church and the individual members, to this congregation. So what is John writing about?
而大多数学者之所以这样认为，是因为约翰表述的话其字母在单数和复数之间切换，这似乎表明他正在与一群人交谈。 正如我们将看到的，他发出的命令和他所做的声明似乎表明他正在给一小群人写信。 约翰在明信片的末尾写道，”你那蒙拣选之姊妹的儿女问候你。” (约翰二书 13)
如果这是两个姐妹和她们的孩子，他们就不会依赖约翰来相互交流了。他们会互相问候或写信。所以这可能是对另一个教会的指代，教会和教会里的个人成员在问候这个教会会众。那么，约翰写的是什么呢？
The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth – and not I only, but also all who know the truth – because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever. (2 John 1-2)
In these opening words, John introduces one of the key themes of this little letter – “the truth.”He mentions it 3 times in just these 2 small verses. And notice that it has the little word “the” in front of it. If you were with us last week in the book of Jude, you might remember the key idea therefrom Jude 3: I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (Jude 3)
我这做长老的写信给蒙拣选的女士和你的儿女，就是我本着真理所爱的。你们不单是我所爱的，也是一切认识真理的人所爱的。我们爱你们，因为真理在我们里面，并且永远与我们同在。
在这些开场白中，约翰介绍了这封小书信的一个关键主题——“真理”。他仅在这两小节经文中就提到了 3 次。 请注意，它前面有一个小词“the”。如果你上周跟着我们对犹大书有所了解，你可能还记得犹大书 3 中的关键观点：现在我觉得有必要写信劝勉你们竭力护卫一次就完整地交给圣徒的真道。(犹大书 3)
Last week we saw that “the faith” was the core belief about the Christian faith – that if we are followers of Jesus, that is the core content of what we believe. Those beliefs that the earliest Christians put into creeds and statements that unite true believers in Jesus. Well, John is talking about the same thing. That’s what he is referring to as well when he talks about“the truth” – it’s those core beliefs that make up the gospel. And for John, this truth is incredibly important. See, John is the last of the apostles, the leaders that Jesus handpicked and trained. It’s nowaround90AD, and the rest of the apostles have all died by this point –most probably dying for these truths about Jesus. And so John writes as the last of the apostles, to make sure that the next generations of Christians will hold on faithfully to the truth about who Jesus is and what he has done.
And as he writes, he’s hopeful that’s going to happen. Look at v.4: It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. (2 John 4)
上周我们看到“信心”是基督教信仰的核心信念—也就是说如果我们是耶稣的跟随者，信心就是我们信仰的核心内容。 最早的基督徒将这些信仰放入信条和宣告中，它们把真正的耶稣信徒合一。约翰在谈论同样的事情。 这也是他在谈论“真理”时所指的—正是这些核心信念构成了福音。而对约翰来说，这个真理极其重要。看，约翰是最后一位使徒，是耶稣精心挑选和训导的领袖。 当时是公元90 年左右，其余的使徒此时都已经死了—很可能是为这些关于耶稣的真理而死。因此，约翰作为最后一位使徒写作，以确保下一代基督徒将忠实地坚持关于耶稣是谁以及祂所做事迹的真理。
他写的时候，他盼望着这一切都会发生。看第 4 节: 你的儿女当中有人按照我们从父领受的命令遵行真理，我知道后非常欣慰 (约翰二书 4)
When John says “some of your children” he’s not implying that some of the members of this congregation are walking faithfully with God, but others have gone off the rails. He’s saying that the ones he knows, the people he’s met, are walking in the truth, and we assume the rest are as well. But then he makes his key request in vv.5-6: “And 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. And 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 5-6)
So John has already talked about “the truth” 3 times in vv.1-2; now he mentions “love” 3 times invv.5-6. This is the 2nd key idea in the letter – that we love another. And this is one of the key themes of the letter we call 1 John. Listen to these words from 1 John 3: For this is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another…This 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 and sisters. (1 John 3:11, 16)
当约翰说“你们的儿女”时，他并不是在暗示这个会众的一些成员在忠实地与上帝同行，而其他人已经偏离了轨道。 他是说他认识的人，他遇到的人，都在按真理而行，我们假设其余的人也是如此。 然后，他就在第 5，6 节里提出了他的关键的请求，”女士啊，我现在劝你，我们大家要彼此相爱。这不是新命令，而是我们从起初就已经领受的命令爱就是遵行上帝的命令，这是你们从起初就听过又当遵行的命令。(约翰二书 5-6节)
这样，约翰在第 1-2 节已经讲了 3 次“真理”； 现在他在 5-6 节中3 次提到了“爱”。这是这封信中的第二个关键信息——我们彼此相爱。 这是我们称为约翰一书的这封信的关键主题之一。听听约翰一书 第 3 节的这些话：”我们应当彼此相爱，这是你们起初听见的信息…主耶稣为我们舍命，我们由此便知道什么是爱，我们也应当为弟兄姊妹舍命。(约翰一书3:11, 16)
John here is repeating Jesus’ commands from the night he was betrayed – that we should love another. Jesus said this is how people would know us as his followers. And he points to Jesus, and his sacrificial death for us, as the example of what real love looks like. Real love is not just a feeling or emotion; it’s a commitment to act for the good of someone else. And that’s what John wrote next: If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)
And that’s what John is calling for in this little postcard we call 2ndJohn as well. But then it’s verse 3 that pulls these two ideas together. “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John 3)
约翰在这里重复耶稣被出卖的那天晚上的命令——我们要彼此相爱。耶稣说这样人们就识别出我们是祂的追随者。 他指出耶稣，以及祂为我们牺牲自己的生命，都是真爱的例子。真正的爱不仅仅是一种感觉或情感，也是为他人的利益行事的一个委身。这就是约翰接下来写的：如果一个丰衣足食的人看见贫穷的弟兄姊妹，却毫无怜悯之心，怎能说他爱上帝呢？ 所以，孩子们啊，不要单在口头上说爱人，总要以真诚的行动表现出来。(约翰一书 3:17-18)
这就是约翰二书，也就是我们称为小明信片中所呼吁的。然后，第3 节将这两个想法结合在一起。 从父上帝和祂儿子耶稣基督而来的恩典、怜悯和平安也必在真理和爱中与我们同在！(约翰二书第 3节)
John began this little letter by talking about truth 3 times and then love 3 times, and now he binds them together. What he’s saying is that in the gospel, through the work of Jesus, truth and love go together. And that’s really the key idea that John wants us to understand. So far in this series, we’ve seen that grace is like a welcome mat that God has put out for us, and we put out to others. And last week we saw that grace is like a travelator, that it is grace that will carry us all the way home. Now, I want to suggest, that grace is also like superglue.
Grace is like superglue that fuses the absolute truth of the gospel with the incredible loveof God.
约翰在这封短信中 先是 3 次说到真理，然后 3 次提到爱，现在他将它们结合在一起。他要说的是，在福音中，通过耶稣的做工，真理和爱是相辅相成的。这确实是约翰希望我们理解的关键信息。到目前为止，在本系列中，我们已经了解到恩典就像一张写着欢迎的脚垫，是上帝为我们铺的，我们也铺给别人。 上周我们理解了恩典就像一个自动扶梯，它会带我们一路回家。现在，我想说，恩典也像强力胶。
恩典就像强力胶水，将福音的绝对真理与上帝难以置信的爱融合在一起。
See I think what John is saying here is that the message of grace brings truth and love together. That if we fully understand and get the grace of God, we will be both people of truth and people of love. Because grace fuses those two things together. The problem for sinful human beings, including those of us who have been saved by God’s amazing grace, is that we often prioritise one of these important elements over the other.
Some people want to prioritise truth over love. They hear Jude’s command from last week to“contend for the faith” and they have their boxing gloves on. They are ready to argue with anyone, to take on anyone who wants to attack the Christian faith. And for them, truth trumps love. They need to win.
看，我想约翰在这里说的是恩典所传导的信息将真理和爱结合在一起。如果我们完全理解并得蒙上帝的恩典，我们将既是讲真理的人，也是懂得爱的人。因为恩典将这两件事融合在一起。有罪的人，包括我们这些因着 上帝的奇异恩典而得救的人，都有个问题，就是我们经常将这两个要素中的一个放在另一个之上。
有些人想把真理放在爱之上。 他们听到犹大上周发出的“为信仰而战”的命令，他们戴上拳击手套。 他们准备好与任何人辩论，抓住任何想要攻击基督教信仰的人。对他们来说，真理胜过爱。他们需要赢。
Perhaps you know some people like that. Perhaps you’re like that. I was. This was me for a number of years as an early Christian – I was a zealous young Pharisee. I remember arguing with virtuallymywholeHistory class in Year 13 about the person of Jesus. I don’t know if I won the argument; I certainly didn’t make any of them feel loved by God. See this was the problem of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. They were zealous for the Law; they were the Bible students of Jesus’ world. They loved God’s word. But they had no heart for people; they didn’t love those they considered sinners. For them, truth triumphed over everything. And Jesus had to lovingly challenge them with some pretty tough words to try and break through their rhino skins. They failed to be people of grace because they wanted the truth to trump love.
也许你认识一些这样的人。 或许你就是这样。 我曾是。 这就是早期我做为基督徒多年来的情况—我是一个热心的年轻法利赛人。 我记得在 13 年级的时候，几乎所有历史课上我都在和别人争论耶稣这个人。 我不知道我是否赢得了争论； 显然，我并没有让他们中的任何一个感到被上帝所爱。看，这就是耶稣时代法利赛人的问题。 他们为律法狂热； 他们是耶稣所说的圣经学生。他们热爱上帝的话语。 但他们对人没有爱心； 他们不爱那些他们认为是罪人的人。对他们来说，真理战胜了一切。 耶稣不得不用一些非常严厉的话来充满爱心地挑战他们，试图打破他们硬硬的外壳。他们没有成为有恩典的人，因为他们想要真理胜过爱。
But then there are others who prioritise love over truth. It’s about being kind, and accepting, and not judging people. Sometimes these people have been put off by the legalism or hurt by the harshness of the truth brigade. And we live in a world now where any claim of absolute truth is greeted with suspicion or downright hostility. And so many of us allow love – or what we consider love – to triumph over truth. We don’t want to hurt people, or alienate people, or get people angry. And so we dilute the truth of what we believe. Andlovetrumps truth. But again this isn’t grace – the message of grace tells us the truth about our brokenness and sin, as well as the good news about what Jesus has done.
The truth is we need both. We need to be people of truth and people of love. And grace demands that we do both. UK pastor John Stott, one of the great Christian leaders of the 20th century, wrote this: “Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth hard if not softened by love. Scripture commands us both to love each other in the truth and to hold the truth in love.” (John Stott)
但是还有其他人将爱置于真理之上。 这是关于善良，接纳他人，而不是评判他人。有时，这些人受律法主义驱使或被真理阵营的严厉态度而击伤。 我们现在生活的世界里，任何宣称绝对真理的都会被怀疑或遭遇彻头彻尾的敌意。我们中的许多人让爱—或者我们认为的爱—战胜了真理。 我们不想伤害人、疏远人、或惹怒别人。因此，我们淡化了我们所相信的真理。 爱胜过真理。 然而，这也不是恩典—恩典所传导的信息是关于我们的破碎和罪的真相，以及关于耶稣所做之事的好消息。
事实是我们两者都需要。 我们需要成为明白真理的人和有爱的人。恩典要求我们两者都做。英国牧师约翰·斯托特 (John Stott) 在谈到 20 世纪伟大的基督教领袖时写道：我们的爱如果没有被真理加强，就会变得柔弱，而我们的真理如果没有被爱软化，就会变得僵化。圣经命令我们在真理中彼此相爱，并在爱中坚持真理。 (约翰·斯托特)
Grace is like super glue that fuses the absolute truth of the gospel with the incredible love of God. That’s what John wants his readers to understand. Because just like us, and Christians of every era, the people he wrote this postcard to we’re tempted to allow one of these core traits to trump the other. So in the 2nd half of the letter, he applies this idea of grace fusing truth and love to the problem they faced. He introduces it in v.7: I say this because many 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. (2 John 7)
The specific problem in the churches John ministered to towards the end of the 1st century was the people were denying that Jesus was a real human. There was this belief that Christ was god, but he only appeared to have a human body, so it’s a denial of Christmas, of the incarnation, the ideathatJesuswho was fully God became fully human. In our day we battle the opposite heresy – people who claim that Jesus was a human teacher or prophet, but he was certainly not God and never claimed to be God. And the problem is that belief about the person of Jesus – being fully God and fully human–is a core part of the truth, the faith that we believe. This is why John says anyone who denies the biblical truth about Jesus is a deceiver and an antichrist. But here’s the problem in vv.10-11: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. (2 John 10-11)
恩典就像强力胶水，将福音的绝对真理与上帝难以置信的爱融合在一起。这就是约翰希望他的读者理解的。 因为就像我们和每个时代的基督徒一样，他写这张明信片是给那些持有一个方面战胜另一个方面想法的人。因此，在这封信的后半部分，他将恩典融合了真理和爱的信息应用到他们所面临的问题中。 他在 第 7 节中引出： “因为现在世上有许多骗子出来迷惑人，他们否认耶稣基督曾降世为人。这样的人是骗子是敌基督者。(约翰二书7)
约翰在一世纪末所服事的教会中的具体问题是，人们否认耶稣是一个真正的人。有人相信基督是神，但 祂只是透过肉身而显现，所以他们否认圣诞节，否认道成肉身，否认本是神的耶稣也能成为完全的人。在我们这个时代，我们与相反的异端作斗争—就是那些声称耶稣是人师或先知的人，但祂肯定不是 神，祂也从未宣称自己是神。问题在于，相信耶稣是完全的神和完全的人，是真理的核心部分，也是我们所信的。这就是为什么约翰说任何否认关于耶稣的圣经真理的人都是骗子和敌基督的。但这就说到了第10-11节中的问题。 若有人到你们那里不传基督的教导，不要请他到家里，也不要问候他，因为问候他就是与他同流合污。(约翰二书10-11)
Many of these teachers who were peddling this false teaching about Jesus were visiting preachers. The early church had a number of teachers who would travel from town to town, and church to church, and as part of loving one another, Christians in each town would provide hospitality to these visiting teachers. That was part of loving one another, and it was a great thing. But what if it turned out to be a false teacher? Someone who denied the truth about Jesus? What then? Well, John was very clear in v.10 – they were not to welcome them into their home. If they are denying the truth, you’re not to provide hospitality. Now someone could have argued, “but that’s not loving.
The loving thing to do is at least give them a bed for the night.” But what John is arguing is that we should never pit truth against love. UK pastor Phil Moore summarises it this way: “John explains to the church that they do not need to choose between dealing with the false teachers in love and dealing with them in truth. If they love with God’s agape love, their reaction will be both completely loving and completely truthful. (Phil Moore)
很多兜售这种关于耶稣的错误教导的教师在拜访传教士。早期教会有许多教师，他们会从一个城镇到另一个城镇，从一个教会到另一个教会，作为彼此相爱的一部分，每个城镇的基督徒都会热情接待这些来访的教师。 那是彼此相爱的一部分，这是一件很棒的事情。但如果结果是假老师呢？ 是否认耶稣真理的人？ 然后会怎样呢？
约翰在第 10 节中说得很清楚—他们不会欢迎那些人进入他们的家。如果他们否认真理，你就不能提供款待。 现在有人可能会争辩说，“但这不是爱。示爱的事就是至少给他们一张床可以过夜。”但约翰所提出的是，我们永远不应该将真理与爱对立。 英国菲尔·摩尔牧师（Phil Moore）是这样总结的：”约翰向教会解释说，他们不需要在是用爱心对付假教师还是用真理对付他们之间做出选择。 如果他们以上帝的爱来爱，他们的反应将是完全的爱和完全真理。 菲尔·摩尔
Truth should never trump love. And love should never triumph over the truth. In the grace of God, these two things go together, and so that’s always our question: What is the truthful and loving thing to do?
So as we finish, how does this impact the way we relate to others? Well, it depends on the people we’re dealing with. Because a truthful and loving response can look quite different with different people. For example, person A might be a fellow Christian who belongs to a different denomination or church tradition. And they have some quite different and quite strong views than you do on some points of theology. How do we deal with them in both truth and love?
This is where understanding what “the truth” means is key. Remember, “the truth” or as Jude puts it, “the faith,” is the core belief that makes you a Christian. To deny those core beliefs is to deny the faith. However, Christians can be united around the core beliefs, but disagree strongly about other very important theological topics.
真理永远不应该胜过爱。 爱永远不应该战胜真理。 在上帝的恩典中，这两件事是相辅相成的，所以这始终是萦绕我们的问题：什么是即符合真理而又符合爱的事呢？
所以在今天信息接近尾声时，我们思考这会如何影响我们与他人的关系？这取决于我们要打交道的人。因为不同的人对待即符合真理又充满爱心的回应的看法可能完全不同。比如，A 可能是属于不同教派或教会传统的基督徒弟兄。 他们在神学的观点上有着和你完全不同，而且比你更强烈的观点。那我们如何以真理和爱来对待他们呢？
关键就在要理解“真理”的真正含义。 记住，“真理”或正如犹大所说，“信”是使你成为基督徒的核心信念。 否认这些核心信念就是否认信仰。然而，基督徒能做的是在核心信念上合一，但在其他一些非常重要的神学主题上允许存在强烈分歧。
For example, last week I talked about the Apostles Creed as one statement of core beliefs (we’re going to sing The Creed again shortly). Now the Apostles Creed says, “we believe in God the Father, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth.” The belief that God is our Creator unites all Christians. But different believers may have different views on creation and evolution, and how to interpret Genesis 1, and how science and the Bible go together, and how old the earth is. Or the Apostles Creed talks about “the forgiveness of sins,” which is symbolised by baptism. But different denominations and churches have different ideas about who should be baptised and how it should be done. Now it’s important for a church like Gracecity to make a decision on an issue like that, but that’s not a core belief. Or we say, “I believe in life everlasting.” But there’s lots of debates and disagreement about end times and what exactly will happen.
And I’m not saying those issues aren’t important. I’m simply saying they’re not core to the faith; they don’t define “the faith.”
比如，上周我将《使徒信经》作为核心信仰的一种陈述（我们一会就再次唱《信经》）。使徒信经说：“我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主。”相信上帝是我们的创造者，将所有基督徒联合在一起。但不同的信徒可能对创造和进化，如何解释创世记第一章，科学和圣经如何结合，地球的年龄等等有着不同的看法。 或者使徒信经谈到“罪得赦免”，这是洗礼的象征。 但是不同的宗派和教会对于谁应该受洗以及应该如何受洗有不同的想法。 现在，像 恩典之城这样的教会在这样的问题上做出的决定很重要，但这不是核心信念。或者我们说，“我相信永生。” 但是，关于末世时间以及究竟会发生什么，存在很多争论和分歧。
我并不是说这些问题不重要。我只是说它们不是信仰的核心；他们没有定义“信仰”。
A few centuries back a church leader named Rupertus Meldenius coined a phrase that’s often been attributed to a number of other people. But it goes like this: In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. (Rupertus Meldenius)
In other words, what he was saying was that when it comes to the core beliefs that historically have been seen as essential to the faith – that’s what we unite around. In other theological issues that may be important but aren’t essential to the faith, we give each other freedom to lovingly disagree. But in all of that, we love one another. So a perfect example of that was in the Auckland Prayer Breakfast that Jonathan hosted this last Thursday as chair of the Auckland Church Leaders group. Over 250 churches were represented, as they came together to pray for the city and our country and our various communities. That’s loving one another in the truth.
But let’s take another example – what about person B who denies some of those core beliefs? Historically, the word “heresy” has been used to describe the beliefs of those who deny the existence of personal God, or the full deity and humanity of Jesus, or his sacrificial death and bodily resurrection. In those cases, 2 John tells us that the truthful and loving thing to do is to not assist that person in spreading those beliefs. So that might mean lovingly challenging the belief they express in a conversation, to refusing a request for money to support what they do.
几个世纪前，一位名叫 鲁珀图斯·梅尔德纽斯（Rupertus Meldenius）的教会领袖创造了一个短语，经常被认为是指代其他人的短语。 它是这样的：在本质的地方，我们要统一，在非本质的地方，可以有自由，在每一件事上，要有爱。鲁珀图斯·梅尔德纽斯
换句话说，他所说的是，当谈到历史上被视为信仰的本质—核心信念时，我们应该统一。对于其他可能很重要但对信仰来说并不是本质上问题的神学观点，我们给彼此自由，可以友爱地表示异议。 但在这一切中，我们彼此相爱。因此，乔纳森牧师上周四作为奥克兰教会领袖小组主席主持的奥克兰早餐祷告会就是一个完美的例子。 超过 250 间教会出席了聚会，他们聚集在一起为这座城市、我们的国家和我们的各个社区祷告。 这就是在真理中彼此相爱。
但让我们再举一个例子—否认其中一些核心信念的人 B 又怎样？历史上，“异端”一词被用来描述那些否认上帝存在、否认耶稣的完整神性和人性、或祂舍己赴死以及肉身复活的信条。在这些情况下，约翰二书告诉我们，即符合真理又有爱的做法是不要帮助那个人传播这些信条。因此，这可能意味着要充满爱心地去挑战他们在对话中所表达的信念，拒绝资助他们所做的事情。
A few years ago I faced this situation. I received an email from friends who were in event management, or who were looking at bringing a visiting speaker out from the US. He was a well-known personality that at one time had claimed to be a believer, but over a number of years had moved further and further away from what I felt were the essentials of the faith. And they were asking me whether I would endorse this visit and help them promote it.
And I felt in this horrible quandary, debating this very question 2 John addresses: What is the truthful and loving thing to do?
And in the end, I felt the truthful and loving thing to do was to not endorse or promote that particular speaker. And so I wrote back what was I hope a loving and kind email explaining why I couldn’t support this particular venture. It wasn’t easy to do, but it was the right call.
几年前，我遇到过这种情况。 我收到了一封来自朋友的邮件，他说他正在张罗一个活动，正在考虑从美国邀请一位客座演讲嘉宾。他是名人，曾一度声称自己是一名信徒，但多年来，他离我所认为的信仰的本质越来越远。 他们问我是否会支持这次嘉宾访问并帮助他们宣传。
我陷入了两难的境地，就约翰二书中所提出的问题进行辩证：什么是即符合真理而又符合爱的事呢?
最终，我觉得即符合真理、又有爱的做法就是不支持也不帮着宣传那个特别的客座演讲者。所以我回了一封充满爱和善意的邮件，解释了为什么我不能支持这个特别的活动。这并不容易，但这是正确的决定。
Finally, what about person C – the non-Christian you work with, or flat with, or play sport with? And it may not be someone who just isn’t interested in spiritual things, but maybe someone who strongly denies some aspects of what we believe, or strongly promotes or defends choices or lifestyles or beliefs that are completely opposite of what the Bible teaches. How do you deal with that in a truthful and loving way? Well, that’s a different situation to what 2 John is talking about. The case study in the 2nd of 2ndJohnis about visiting teachers who are claiming to be Christians but teaching false doctrine. That’s different to a non-Christian workmate or family member who simply doesn’t believe what we believe.
However, 2 John has reminded us that grace is like super glue that fuses truth and love.
最后，如果还有 C 呢—那些与你一起工作、同居或一起运动的非基督徒怎么办？可能不是对属灵事物不感兴趣的人，而是强烈否认我们所信的某些方面的人，或者是那些强烈提倡或捍卫与圣经教导完全相反的人生选择、生活方式或信仰的人。你又如何即符合真理又有爱地与其相交？翰二书所说的情况不同。 约翰二书所提及的是关于访问教师，他们是自称基督徒但教导错误教义的教师。 这与完全不相信我们所相信的非基督徒同事或家庭成员不一样。
然而，约翰二书提醒我们，恩典就像融合真理和爱的强力胶水。
Grace is like super glue that fuses the absolute truth of the gospel with the incredible love of God. So we walk with both, seeking to love them and truth them. We aren’t loving if we never share the truth of the gospel, so never saying anything about our faith is not an option. But unloading the truth on them without tact and compassion and care is not loving. And the gospel of grace calls us to do both. Grace is the superglue that fuses truth and love.
So as we finish, let me finish with two questions.
1. Which of these two do you lean towards? If you were going to let one of these trump the other, which way would you go? And what then do you need to do to make sure you don’t do that? If you’re more naturally a truth person, what could you do even in this coming week to learn to be more loving? How could you grow in your compassion and caring for others? And if you’re more a “love” person, how can you strengthen your commitment to the truth of the gospel and the faith, and how can your resolve to realise that often the most loving thing we can do is find a way to share what we believe?
2. What opportunities might you have this week to personally superglue truth and love into your response to someone? Maybe you’ve had a disagreement over theology with a friend that you need to come back to and show more unity, liberty and charity. Or perhaps there’s someone in your family or at the office who doesn’t believe in Christ, and you’ve let either truth or love trump the other. Maybe this week you can begin the task of supergluing them together in your conversations.
恩典就像强力胶水，将福音的绝对真理与上帝难以置信的爱融合在一起。因此，我们两者并用，寻求爱他们并用真理对待他们。如果我们从不分享福音的真理，我们就不是爱他们，所以从不谈论我们的信仰不是一种选择。 但是，在没有机智、同情和关怀的情况下将真相强加于他们也不是爱的表现。 恩典的福音呼召我们两者兼顾。 恩典是融合真理和爱的强力胶水。
因此，我们用下面两个问题来结束今天信息。
1. 你更倾向于这两者中的哪一个？ 如果你要让其中一个胜过另一个，你会选哪个？然后你怎么确保你不会那样做？如果你更自然地倾向真理，那么在接下来的一周里，你能做些什么来操练爱？你如何才能在操练你的同情心和对他人的关怀中成长？如果你更喜欢选择“爱”，那么你如何加强对福音真理和信的委身，你又如何才能认识到我们能做的最有爱的事往往是找到一种恰当的方式去分享我们的信仰？
2. 本周你有什么机会可以亲身操练将真理和爱融入你对某人的回应中？也许你和一个朋友在神学上有分歧，你需要回到朋友那里表现出更多的统一、自由和爱的意愿。或者，也许你的家人或办公室里有人不相信基督，而你让真理或爱胜过另一个。 也许这周你可以开始在你们的谈话中把它们融合在一起。
Because that’s what John calls us to do. To be people who understand that to be really loving means we cling to and share the truth of the gospel. And to be really truthful calls us to exhibit that truth in our love.
Because that’s what grace does – it superglues truth and love together. And I'm so glad it does.
因为那是约翰呼召我们去做的。 成为真正有爱的人，意味着我们要坚持并分享福音的真理。并且要成为真正坚守真理的人，意味着我们要在爱中展现出那个真理。
因为这就是恩典所成就的—它将真理和爱融合在一起。 我很高兴它做到了。
