Albert Barnes Commentary 2 John 1:8

"Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward." — 2 John 1:8 (ASV)

Look to yourselves. This seems to be addressed to the lady to whom he wrote, and to her children. The idea is that they should be particularly on their guard, and that their first care should be to secure their own hearts, so that they should not be exposed to the dangerous attacks of error.

When error abounds in the world, our first duty is not to attack it and make war upon it; it is to look to the citadel of our own souls, and see that all is well guarded there. When an enemy invades a land, the first response should not be to go out against him, regardless of our own strength or the security of our fortresses. Rather, it should be to see that our forts are well manned and that we are secure there from his assaults. If that is so, we may then go forth with confidence to meet him on the open field. In relation to an error that is in the world, the first thing for a Christian to do is to take care of his own heart.

That we lose not those things which we have wrought. The marginal note says, 'Or, gained.' Some copies read, which ye have gained, but that ye. The reading here referred to in the margin is found in several manuscripts and also in the Vulgate, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions. It is not, however, adopted in recent critical editions of the New Testament, and the common reading is probably genuine.

The sense is not materially varied, and the common reading is not unnatural. John was exhorting the family to whom this epistle was written to pay close attention to themselves while so many artful errorists were around them, lest they be drawn away from the truth and lose a part of the full reward which they might hope to receive in heaven.

In doing this, nothing was more natural than that he, as a Christian friend, should group himself with them, speak of himself as having the same need of caution, and express the feeling that he also ought to strive to obtain the full reward. This showed that he was not disposed to address an exhortation to them which he was not willing to regard as applicable to himself.

The truth taught here is one of interest to all Christians: that it is possible for even genuine Christians, by allowing themselves to be led into error or by failure in duty, to lose a part of the reward which they might have obtained. The crown they will wear in heaven will be less bright than that which they might have worn, and the throne they will occupy will be less elevated.

The rewards of heaven will be in accordance with the services rendered to the Redeemer; and it would not be right that those who turn aside or falter in their course should have the same exalted honors which they might have received if they had devoted themselves to God with ever-increasing fidelity.

It is painful to think how many there are who begin the Christian career with burning zeal, as if they would strive for the highest rewards in heaven, but who soon waver in their course and fall into some paralyzing error, until at last they receive, perhaps, not half the reward which they might have obtained.

But that we receive a full reward. This reward is such as will be granted to a life uniformly consistent and faithful—all that God has to bestow on His people when they are most faithful and true. But who can estimate the "full reward" of heaven, the unspeakable glory of those who make it the grand business of their lives to obtain all they can of its bliss? And who is there that does not feel that he ought to strive for a crown in which not one gem will be missing that might have sparkled there forever?