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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Address and salutation:
v. 1. The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth,
v. 2. for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever.
v. 3. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
The address shows the affectionate regard which the aged apostle bore to all his spiritual children: The elder to the elect lady (or, to elect Kuria) and to her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all that know the truth, through the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. The name which John here employs to designate himself is one that shows how little hierarchical tendencies were apparent in those days. He calls himself simply the presbyter, or elder, one of those active in the ministry of the Gospel. Although he was an apostle, yet he was perfectly content to perform the functions of the ordinary minister of the Gospel and to bear the name which this office had had since the early days in Jerusalem. He addresses this letter to the elect lady and her family. The apostles habitually call all true Christians elect; they include them all in that gracious decree by which God from eternity appointed them unto faith and unto salvation. Hypocrites, Christians in name only, are not included in this honoring designation. John states that lie is united with the persons to whom he is writing by that true brotherly love which flows from the one saving truth, which is kindled in the hearts of the believers through the Gospel. And he is not alone in this brotherly regard, but is joined by all the other Christians that have come to the full knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, of salvation in Christ Jesus. This truth has found a lasting abode in all true Christians and serves as the bond of fellowship and union among them, in time and in eternity.
St. John's salutation is the apostolic greeting: There will be with us grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. This is a blessing in the form of a definite assertion, such as only true faith and trust in God as the merciful heavenly Father can give. The blessing thus becomes a promise, an assurance. Grace will be with us, that grace which remits the sentence of damnation as righteous justice passed it upon sinful men; mercy, which, in benevolent, fatherly kindness, pours out the riches of God's favor upon a world redeemed by the blood of Christ; and peace, the blessed effect of God's love in the revelation and redemption of His Son. All these wonderful spiritual blessings come down upon us not only from the reconciled Father, but also from Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Father, coequal with Him in divinity and possessing with Him all the attributes of the Deity. These gifts come to us in truth, when we believe in the saving truth of the Gospel-message, and in love, when our entire life is a manifestation of the regeneration which has been wrought in our hearts. This assurance is in force for, and therefore concerns, the Christians of all times.