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2 John 7-9
New Catholic Bible
2 John 7-9
New Catholic Bible
Warning against False Teachers.[a] 7 Many deceivers have gone forth into the world, those who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Any such person is the Deceiver[b] and the Antichrist. 8 Be on your guard that you do not lose what we have worked to accomplish so that you will receive your reward in full.[c]
9 Anyone who fails to remain faithful to the teaching of Christ but goes beyond[d] it does not have God. Only the one who remains faithful to the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 John 1:7 The false teachers are under the sign of the Antichrist (see 1 Jn 2:18-26; 4:1-3). They want to “go beyond” the teaching of Christ, thus adulterating Christ, the Gospel, and Love. This seems to be the Gnostic teaching attacked in the First Letter of John—that the Son of God did not become flesh (see Jn 1:14) but came upon the man Jesus temporarily at his Baptism and left before the crucifixion (see note on 1 Jn 5:6).
- 2 John 1:7 Deceiver: another title of the Antichrist or of those associated with him (see 1 Jn 2:18f, 22; 4:2f). Antichrist: see note on 1 Jn 2:18.
- 2 John 1:8 The author stresses that a future reward awaits those who work faithfully on earth (see Mk 9:41; 10:29f; Lk 19:16-19; Heb 11:26). We: some manuscripts have “you.”
- 2 John 1:9 Goes beyond: a reference to the Gnostics’ claim that they had advanced far beyond the teaching of the Apostles; they were, in effect, teaching pure speculation as apostolic doctrine (see 2 Tim 2:16; Tit 3:9).
