Title: Get the Full Prize
(2 John 1:7-13)
1. Beware of you
Verse 8 says, "Beware of you." There are always things to refrain from in the life of faith. To refrain means to be temperate in all things. In 2 Peter 1:6, there is a command to be 'temperate in knowledge'. Since knowledge has an expansive nature, it is easy to deviate from the truth if it is not followed by temperance. These days, new theology that interprets the Bible artificially or heresies that go beyond the scope of the Word come from a faith or knowledge of disorder that is almost uncontrolled.
Therefore, we must always have a restrained attitude and live believing and obeying within the boundaries of the Word. Next, in verse 9, John said, 'Whoever does not dwell in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.' The lesson should not be overlooked. What does it mean to pass a lesson? It means that God has revealed what we should do with His Word, and it is transformed into human knowledge or rules.
Such was the faith of the Pharisees. They made ordinances that were not even in the Law, and called them the elders' inheritance, and made them a more important guideline for life than the Law. Idolatry is a criminal act. Still, if you teach that setting up a sacrificial table and bowing out loudly because you honor your parents is not idolatry, but filial piety, this is the lesson of Christ.
So, in what cases? There is a lesson to be learned from misinterpreting the Bible. The Bible must be correctly interpreted according to the revealed word. You get tired of receiving new revelations. God's revelation has been completed in the Word, and all the lessons and future events for us have already been revealed in the revelation.
Those who do not know the truth are deceived by receiving new revelations. This is a violation of the teachings of Christ. We must keep in mind the saying that anyone who does not abide in the precepts does not have God. He who abides in the precepts has the Father and the Son. Christians are to live in the teachings of Christ in all cases. In Revelation 13, the beast that came up from the earth looked like a sheep, but the words that came out of his mouth were the words of a dragon.
The saints must have discernment to distinguish the words of God from the words of the dragon. We must always draw close to the Word and listen to what the Lord's servants teach us. In the days of the Apostle John, it was called Nostic Paragon.