The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles Chapter 53: “For There Are Certain Men Crept in Unawares”

Chapter 53: “For There Are Certain Men Crept in Unawares”

The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, (1979), 434–41

2 JOHN: TO A BRANCH OF THE CHURCH 3 JOHN: TO GAIUS, A CHRISTIAN CONVERT (2 AND 3 JOHN), CA. A.D. 96
	2 John
Saints Are Commanded to Teach the Law of Love	1:1–6
Do Not Aid the Enemies of Christ	1:6
	3 John
Gaius Praised for His Labors	1:1–8
Beware of the Example of Diotrephes	1:9–11
Demetrius Commended	1:12–14

THE LETTER OF JUDE, A BROTHER OF THE LORD, TO JEWISH CHRISTIANS FROM JERUSALEM, CA. A.D. 70–90 (JUDE)
	Jude
“Contend for the Faith”	1:1–5
1:7–13	Certain Angels Kept Not their First Estate
The Disputation of Michael the Archangel	1:7–13
Enoch Prophesied of Christ’s Second Coming	1:14–16
“Keep Yourselves in the Love of God”	1:17–25

Introduction

As the shadows of apostasy increasingly overtook the church, its leaders earnestly sought to meet the challenge. Thus John and Jude warned the former-day saints of “ungodly” and false men who had “crept in unawares.” (Jude 1:4, 15.) Their perverse doctrines and conduct were polluting the church and leading the unsuspecting astray. John and Jude forthrightly identified these errors and counseled the faithful how they might resist them.

Similarly, in our own time church leaders have cautioned the Latter-day saints of the false men teaching incorrect doctrine. The modern prophets have spoken as unequivocally as their predecessors, and not surprisingly they have described problems remarkably parallel to those of the early church. Satan’s tools and man’s nature have not changed.

“There are some as wolves among us. By that, I mean some who profess membership in this church who are not sparing the flock. And among our own membership, men are arising speaking perverse things. Now perverse means diverting from the right or correct, and being obstinate in the wrong, willfully, in order to draw the weak and unwary members of the Church after them.” (Harold B. Lee in CR, Oct. 1972, p. 125.)

Who are these people? What are their false ideas and ungodly practices? How can you fortify yourself against their deceptions? If you suspect someone of “speaking perverse things,” what is your obligation both to them and to the Church?

The letters of John and Jude help to answer these pressing and important questions. Now read 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. Remember that their warning and counsel have an application for our own time.

Before proceeding, read all the scriptural references in the reading block.

Interpretive Commentary

Second and Third John

(53-1) Place and Date of Writing

All the evidence, and it is very scanty, suggests a date and place identical to that for First John somewhere near the turn of the first century at an unknown place in the Roman Empire. Indications in the letters suggest that Gnosticism is still the apostle’s dominant concern. While we cannot be certain as to the exact order in which the three letters of John were written, there is no solid evidence for accepting them in any other sequence than that in which they presently appear in the New Testament.

(53-2) Background Information

The background of Second and Third John is much like that for John’s first letter. Second and Third John, however, are more intimate, for they are addressed to “the elect lady and her children” (2 John 1) and to “the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.” (3 John 1.) Who is this elect lady? Is she a person of John’s close acquaintance, such as a wife or sister? Are the children his own flesh and blood offspring? Or are these designations to be interpreted spiritually? Is the “elect lady” an individual branch of the church whose members are her “children”? Is she an individual in whose home (2 John 10) the faithful saints, her “children,” gather for weekly worship? Is Gaius a presiding elder of a local branch? Who are Diotrephes and Demetrius?

Unfortunately these questions cannot be answered conclusively from the evidence that is available. What is apparent, however, is that Second and Third John seem to have been written to warn the faithful saints against the Gnostic philosophy of the day, to beware of those “many deceivers … who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” (2 John 7.) John urges those confronted by this and other heresies to “follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.” (3 John 11.)

(53-3) Significant Contributions

Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who believes that these two epistles may have been personal letters written to members of John’s own immediate family, summarizes the contributions of the two writings as follows:

“Why these two brief, personal epistles?

“Their doctrinal content and historical recitations are, of course, minimal. But they do add a unique contribution to the revealed word which well pays for their preservation. …

“Brief, less significant than some portions of Holy Writ, these two lesser epistles of the Beloved John are yet of eternal worth, and the saints rejoice in the added perspective they give to the Bible as a whole.” (McConkie, DNTC, 3:409.)

(53-4) 2 John 1. Was John an Elder in the Priesthood?

The word elder is a title applied to all holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood, whether they be ordained to the specific office of elder or not (D&C 20:38). The priesthood is greater than any of its ordained offices. Peter, an apostle and president of the high priesthood, referred to himself as an elder (1 Peter 1:5). John and Peter were elders in the same sense that any holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, regardless of his ordained position, is an elder.

(53-5) 2 John 1. What or Who Is an “Elect Lady”?

If we assume that the “elect lady” to whom John wrote was an actual person rather than a figurative designation for a branch of the church, as some maintain, what does the term mean? Elder McConkie has written:

“An elect lady is a female member of the Church who has already received, or who through obedience is qualified to receive, the fulness of gospel blessings. This includes temple endowments, celestial marriage, and the fulness of the sealing power. She is one who has been elected or chosen by faithfulness as a daughter of God in this life, an heir of God, a member of his household. Her position is comparable to that of the elders who magnify their callings in the priesthood and thereby receive all that the Father hath. (D. & C. 84:38.)” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 217.)

(53-6) 2 John 7. “For Many Deceivers Are Entered into the World”

From the beginning of this earth’s history, Satan and his emissaries have engaged in works of deception. For this reason, prophets of God have constantly warned the followers of Christ to beware of those who seek to beguile the unwary away from the truths revealed by God.

John’s day, as formerly shown, was no exception, for there were “many deceivers” in his day. John specifically warned of those “who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” These were the Docetists, Gnostic heretics who insisted that Christ was a phantom and ministered in appearance only. Matter is evil, and Christ could not have been a material being, for that would make him evil by association. Christ did not suffer for men’s sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross; he only seemed to suffer. (Dokein in the Greek means “to seem or appear,” hence Docetism.)

Such a teaching, if accepted, would have undermined the entire structure of the gospel of Christ. If Jesus had not suffered for our sins through the shedding of his blood, our sins would have remained unremitted. If Jesus had not conquered death by resurrecting his physical body, we and all before us would have remained dead forever and ever. All of our expectations for eternal life would have been shattered. There would have been no “good news,” or gospel of Jesus Christ, to place confidence in. Small wonder that John warned his readers to beware of the “many deceivers” abroad in the world who “confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” Latter-day Saints know he has, and that knowledge opens the doors to a more purposeful life.

(53-7) 2 John 10, 11. What Is So Serious about Bidding a Bearer of False Doctrine “Godspeed”?

“Godspeed” was a common form of greeting and of farewell in the 1600s when the King James Version was produced. It was, at that time, a good translation of the Greek. John was actually telling his readers to refrain from wishing prosperity and success to those whose lives and teachings were not in harmony with gospel truth. John is not suggesting that common courtesy cannot be extended to those who teach contrary doctrines. But in his time, the phrase he used also meant to welcome one into the home, to accept him as a guest. It was this kind of hospitality that enabled the itinerant preachers to exist and carry on their work. Thus, extending greeting was akin to supporting the work of these teachers. John is saying that saints should support only those who come teaching the gospel doctrine that Christ actually came in the flesh, suffered for mankind, brought about the Resurrection, and will judge each of us in the final day.

The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles Chapter 53: “For There Are Certain Men Crept in Unawares”

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.- Matthew 5:4