Truth or Love. Must We Choose? (Part Two)

This is a three-part look at II John, one of the shortest letters in the Bible, but also at one of the most important controversies in the church and on the street. It is a crucial issue which has many pastors fooled. We must get it right.

Truth is central and includes love

Verses 6-9 of II John are very clear about love, but the whole book is also.  Truth and love are two wings of the same airplane.  You don’t get rid of either. In spite of the skirmish theologically or the discussions at the coffee shop, we don’t get to choose between doctrine and good behavior.  We don’t get to say, “I don’t do doctrine.”  All we believe is our doctrine, and what we believe about Christ and the purpose of life will clearly influence how we love others.

From the beginning of this letter John is talking about truth and love together.  He even says that the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ will come to us with truth and love.  Together.  They are twins, not to be separated.

The command

It’s pretty clear here.  If we obey the truth, we will love.  Part of the truth is the teaching or doctrine that we must love others.

I John, his previous letter of course, spends a lot of time saying that we must love our brother or sister, and that if we do not it even shows that we are not part of Jesus Christ and His body.  We do not have this Spirit of love living within us.  It’s pretty blunt.

So here John just summarizes by saying almost glibly that if we abide in the truth we will love, and part of the truth is this command to love others.

The definition of love

Love is a way of life that is obedient to God’s truth.  John is clear: “This is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands” (6).

And His command or truth is clear: “that you walk in love” (6).

So let’s dwell on that word “command” for a moment – love can be commanded.

I don’t think you can command feelings, but you can command actions, and love is the action of doing what is good for others.  Often we will feel good afterwards of course.  We will be glad we loved.  But the feelings follow the actions of love, and the actions follow the obedience to the covenant to love others.  That is the new command.

Let’s think of it for a moment as a candlestick in a strong candle holder.  The holder or base represents  the covenant, the candle is the actions of love, and the flame represents the feelings of love.  The covenant holds everything up.  But real love is based on that covenant, and is the actions of love that we do for others – notably giving and forgiving.  And the feelings of love will follow – that is the flame.

It’s a great reminder for marriages, but also for a way of life of loving others.  The point is it isn’t about standing there and feeling total empathy or sympathy, but knowing to do good and then doing it.  And the fact is that when we honor the covenant with Christ that way, whether it’s the covenant of marriage or the salvation covenant that links us with Him in connection, then we do what the actions of love call for, and we will feel good about it later when our hearts are clean.  Covenant produces actions; actions produce feelings.

Truth calls for action love; action love produces feelings of love and joy. So why would we think we can take love but not truth as our hobby horse?  How can church leaders call for love actions while playing down truth?

The Christian life is a life of content, a life based on the faith, the content of revelation.  Of course Jesus Christ our Lord is at the center of it all, and His life was the perfect balance of love and truth.  Actually He loved because He was truth.  And the truth calls for love.

The debate is a quarrel that is unnecessary.  Truth and love are the two wings of an airplane – keep them both!  Both are significant in God’s eyes, and must be in ours. Ephesians 4:15 calls us to be “truthing it in love” (literal translation).

That refers to a whole way of life, not just what we say.  Truth and love go together.

The Holy Spirit

John does not get into it in this letter, but surely everyone who seeks these goals has to admit that we need wisdom from above and we need the Spirit from within.  And from above.

There is no way we are going to be able to carry this out.  We either go from one extreme or to the other, showing love without truth, or truth without love, or we miss on both counts.  It is the way we are.  And God in His grace makes provision so we can do something about this with His help.

And there comes the question of choice, of course.  It is daily but it is also the choice of a way of life.  And in church we should be emphasizing constantly this need to choose to live out the good news of Jesus Christ, in the strength of His Holy Spirit, following the clear teaching of His Word.

It would seem to be the job of us pastors to not only call people to a spiritual life of love and truth, but also to teach where we get the strength to make it possible.