Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 John 1:5

"And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote to thee a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." — 2 John 1:5 (ASV)

Clearly for John the commandment of love has precedence here, just as it does in 1Jn 4:21. It is not that love precedes truth or belief but that love offers the clearest test of the truthfulness of the confession and the sincerity of the obedience given to God’s commands. Belief may be feigned and confession only of the lips, but love is harder to counterfeit. The elder is not requiring something new but that which has been the supreme and final word “from the beginning.” Love for one another is what the Father required , the Son manifested , and the Spirit makes available through life in him .