BiblicalInsights.net

Goebel Music, a brother in Christ, who is now deceased wrote a book titled, A Crucial Study of a Critical Subject: Fellowship, in 1989.  In this book, he includes six chapters and an appendix.  The third chapter addresses the topic: Let’s Understand the Doctrine of Christ.  I would like to convey some of Goebel’s remarks on II John 9-11.
“With this “key” passage of major significance listed as one of our “troubling” spots, for some brethren, and with what some scholars have had to say about it, it is now time for us to examine critically and to clarify its meaning.  I want to set this before us “thought after thought” for the best possible understanding of its contents.  Therefore, we now turn our attention and focus our best mental abilities to that end.”
1.  “Whosoever.”  “Although it seems rather foolish to have to state this, let me remind us that this is a general, universal, and catholic term.  Its meaning is like that of John 3:16; Matthew 18:4; 19:9; 5:31-32; Revelation 22:17; etc., regarding “whosoever.”
2.  “Goeth Onward.” “This is the Greek proton (pres. act. participle, nominative, singular masculine from proago, Nathan E. Han, A Parsing Guide To The Greek New Testament, p. 433).  According to Thayer it means “b. to proceed, go forward; in a bad sense, to go further than is right or proper,…to transgress the limits of true doctrine…advanced…in a disparaging sense, 2 Jn. 9…” (P. 537, emp. GM). this is the word from which we get our word “progress” or “progressive,” (Maybe this is what people mean when they want to know, “Is this a progressive church?” GM).
3.  “Abideth Not.” This is the Greek melon (the same identification as proago), from meno, and is descriptive of the same process.  There is, however, a difference, as this is negative, whereas the first is positive.  Among other meanings, this word means “to maintain unbroken fellowship with one” (Thayer, p.399).  The teaching is most explicit! If we are to “have God” (as per the verse) and “to have the Son,” we are to abide “in the doctrine of Christ.”
4.  “In the Teaching of Christ.”  “This phrase, used twice in this one verse, has already been discussed as meaning “the teaching of Christ, which he did personally, and through those inspired men, as he is the author of this infallible, inerrant, unchangeable standard.” “There is to be no progression beyond the limits of this teaching!”
5.  “Hath Not God.”  “The true God is found only in the teaching of Christ (cf. I John 5:20; John 14:9,11; 10:30).  When we refer to God, various scriptures automatically come to mind, such as: Genesis 1:1; Psalms 33:6,9; Isaiah 43:7; 44:6; 45:18; Exodus 3:14; Psalms 90:2; I Corinthians 8:5-6; John 3:16; Isaiah 45:22; Deuteronomy 5:7; 6:1ff and a galaxy of others.  This is, indeed, the Father!
6.  “He That Abideth In The Teaching, The Same Hath Both The Father And The Son.” “This is a most explicit statement with abiding results!  The necessity of it is herein shown. It is a positive statement relative to that “which results” when one abides “in the doctrine,” or as the American Standard Says, “in the teaching.”  If logic is worth a dime, the negative of this statement is viewed as being most disastrous!  To fail to abide “in the teaching,” is to “give up having,” yea, both the Father and the Son!”
7.  “If One Cometh Unto You.”  “I first want to call you (sic) attention to the “broadness” of this statement: “If Any One!” The “whosoever,” and now this “if any one,” is likened unto its usage in Matthew 5:31-32 where “whosoever’ is used twice and “any one” is used once.  It is also like Matthew 19:9 where we have “whosoever” and “he that” (which “he,” is it? It is any “he.”). This is a thought worthy of our mental bank! It is to be understood since the Greek construction is ei with the indicative, that they “will come” and they “will come” for the very purpose of “teaching.” It is not a statement that “supposes someone might come….!”  Brethren, they may come “from without,” but they may very likely come “from within” (cf. Acts 20:29-30).
8.  “And Bringeth Not This Teaching.” “This is a self-explanatory and easily understood statement, as it is the “follow-up” in verification of what has been previously sated.  Note the “if any one cometh” and now the “and bringeth not this teaching,” as this is the proof of the first statement.  Again, let us remind ourselves that these teachers “will come’ and they will not come with “the teaching of Christ.” If one fails to understand “this teaching” to be synonymous with “the doctrine/teaching of Christ” then he truly has a problem!  Note the different statements: “the teaching of Christ” (twice used), “the teaching,” and “this teaching.”  And note also the negative used in relation to “this teaching.”  When this “is done,” we are then told exactly, explicitly, what our action is to be!”
9.  “Receive Him Not Into Your House, And Give Him No Greeting.”  “Is there a “qualification” that one must meet in relation to the teaching/doctrine of Christ and my hospitality and personal greeting of the same?  Does this passage of sacred scripture (2 John 9-11) not teach what we might term a “test,” “examination” etc., as to whether or not a person is deemed by the Master as being “worthy” of that which my house (hospitality) has to offer?  This, if you read carefully, absolutely relates directly to whether or not “if anyone cometh unto you and bringeth not this teaching,” that is the teaching of Christ.  How am I to relate to one who has “progressed beyond the limits of the teaching of Christ” (Thayer’s definition of proago) and “abideth not” in the same?  It is simple! No reception is to be given, extended, to such a one.  No, not even a greeting (Greek chairo). Here the word, evidently, carries the idea of “God speed” (Vine, op. cit., p. 178).  I want to emphasize that NO ONE CAN GIVE SUCH AND BE FAITHFUL TO “THE TEACHING/DOCTRINE OF CHRIST!”  Just as surely as “no one who proceeds beyond the doctrine/ teaching of Christ and BE FAITHFUL TO THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN! Why??”
10.  “For He That Giveth Him Greeting Partaketh In His Evil Works.”  “No one is to fail to show hospitality to strangers (cf. Hebrews 13:2), but this is not just a case of hospitality!  It is the case of aiding, helping, encouraging a false teacher. That this is the case can be seen from the word “partaketh” (Greek koinoneo), which word means “a. to come into communion or fellowship , to become a sharer, be made a partner…b. to enter into fellowship, join one’s self as an associate, make one’s self a sharer, or partner…2 Jn. 11” (Thayer, pp. 351-352).
“I don’t think this will make my case any stronger than it is already, but for those who “cry out” that “fellowship” is always a noun they need to look at verse 11 of 2 John.  The word “partaketh” in its form is koinonei, and that is 3rd per. singular, present active indicative of koinoneo (which word was posted in our first section). If a person does not know that a verb “shows action,” then, indeed, he is not “as schooled” in “English” as he ought so to be.”
“I trust it is now clear why I have a section on this passage, and why I call it a “key” scripture for the battles being fought today in our own ranks.  Doctrine is important! We are to have “no fellowship” (Ephesians 5:11); “with the unfruitful works of darkness, but we are to “reprove them.” (Goebel Music, A Crucial Study of a Critical Subject: Fellowship, pp. 23-27).
I have given this lengthy quotation from Goebel Music’s pen, in order to emphasize that there is a limit to fellowship.  The Warren Christian Apologetics Center violates this limit by using false religionists and promoting false teachers in their published materials.  For this reason, they are disqualified from receiving funds from faithful Christians and churches of Christ.  Please reference my earlier blog on the Warren Christian Apologetics Center and read the Book Reviews of Nobie Stone’s book, now twice published by the WCAC, titled, Genesis 1 And Lessons From Space. Nobie Stone continues to be used as a staff writer for Sufficient Evidence, a journal published by the WCAC under the direction of Charles Pugh III even though he teaches theistic evolution and is a mitigated skeptic.