These people are like rotten spots [contaminating the food] at your love feasts, while they gorge themselves without fear [i.e., unashamed of their selfish indulgence]. [Note: This passage may mean "like selfish shepherds, looking out only for themselves, they eat the grain set out for the animals"]. They are like clouds that blow over without producing rain; [they are like] trees in the fall that do not produce any fruit and have been uprooted, [thus] being dead twice [i.e., fruitless and rootless].

And King David said [Psa. 69:22-23], "Let their table ensnare and trap them [i.e., let the Jews' devotion to such things as lavish feasts become the occasion for leading them astray], and become an occasion for their falling [away from God]. And let them be repaid [for such conduct with punishment].

[This is being written by] the elder to the lady chosen [by God], and to her children [Note: The terms "lady" and "children" here refer to a congregation and the Christians who belong to it. See I Peter 5:13; II John 13], whom I love in the truth. [Note: Perhaps this phrase means "whom I truly love"]. And I am not the only one [to love you], but all those [other congregations] who know the truth [of God], also love you.

And if you love [only] those who love you, what thanks do you deserve for doing that? For even worldly people love those who love them.

[Note: The following traits should be understood in the context of love for people]. Love is patient [with people], and is kind [to them]; love does not envy [what people are or have]; love does not boast [of being superior to others], it is not arrogant [in dealing with people].

If a person says, "I love God," yet [in reality] hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot [possibly] love God, whom he has never seen.

The second one is this, 'You must love your neighbor the same way that you love yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these [i.e., love for God and man]."

And the man answered Him, [Deut. 6:5], "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind." And [Lev. 19:18 says], " [You must love] your neighbor just as [you love] yourself."

So, after they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you really love me more than these [other disciples do]?" Peter answered Him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." [Note: Since two different Greek words for "love" are used in this conversation, some scholars see a distinction in their meaning. See Butler, Vol. II, pp. 453-457 for a discussion of these views]. Jesus replied to him, "[Then] feed my lambs."

Then Jesus asked him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you [truly] love me?" Peter was sad because Jesus had asked him a third time, "Do you [even] love me?" So, he said to Jesus, "Lord, you know all things. You [surely] know that I love you." Jesus replied to him, "[Then] feed my sheep.

Loved ones, we should have love for one another, because love comes from [the very nature of] God, and every person who [continually] loves [others] has been [spiritually] conceived by God [See 2:29; 3:9], and knows [he is in fellowship with] God.

In the same way also, husbands should love their own wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his own wife [actually] loves himself.

You should not love the [godless] world, nor the things [i.e., the materialistic values] that are part of this [present] age. If any person loves the world, a [genuine] love for the Father is not in his heart.

There is no [reason for] fear if one [really] loves, but a complete love removes fear [from us] because fear produces punishment [i.e., mental anxiety], and the person who is [always] afraid does not have a complete love.

And that to love Him with all one's heart, with all one's understanding, and with all one's strength, and to love one's neighbor the same way he loves himself, are far more [important] than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices [in the world]."

I am giving you a new commandment: love one another. Also you should love one another in the same way that I have loved you.

For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward will you get for that? Do not even the publicans [Note: These were people with a bad reputation for their dishonest tax collecting activities] do that much?

[For] we [can] know that we have passed out of [the realm of spiritual] death and into [spiritual] life, because we [show] love for the brothers [and sisters]. The person who does not love [them] continues to be [spiritually] dead.

Little children [i.e., dear ones], we should not [merely] claim to love [people], or [even just] talk about it, but [we should love] by what we do [for them] in a genuine way.

The person who does not love [others] does not know God [as Savior], for [the very nature of] God is love.

No person has gazed upon God [at any time]; [but] if we love one another, God [continually] lives in our hearts, and His love is made complete within us.

Here is what a complete love will do for us: It will give us boldness in [facing] the judgment day, because the way Jesus acts [regarding love] is the way we should act [while] in this world.

And this is the [greatest] commandment [See Matt. 2:37-38] we have received from Him: [It requires] that the person who [claims to] love God should also love his brother.

This is [one] way we know that we love God's [spiritually reborn] children: [It is] when we love God and obey what He commands us to do.

Unearned favor, mercy and peace will be with us from God, the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love [i.e., truth and love will accompany the other blessings].

And this is [the true meaning of] love: That we should live in obedience to God's commandments. And this is the commandment, just as you heard from the beginning, that you should live in it [i.e., live a life of love].

[This is being written by] the elder to my dear [friend] Gaius, whom I love in the truth. [Note: This may mean "whom I truly love"].

Keep yourselves in God's love [i.e., continue to love God], as you look forward to [receiving] the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, [who will grant you] never ending life.

"But, this is what I have against you, that you have forsaken your first love [i.e., love for Christ and His church].

Show honor to your father and mother. And you must love your neighbor the same as you love yourself."

A second one, similar to it is [Lev. 19:18], 'You must love your neighbor the same way that you love yourself.'

[Since] you have purified your souls by [your] obedience to the truth [i.e., the Gospel message], which produces a genuine love for your brothers, [now] you should have this kind of fervent, heartfelt love for one another.

Above everything else, have a warm love for one another, for such a love keeps many sins from occurring [between you].

However, you are doing well if you fulfill [i.e., obey] the royal law found in the Scriptures [Lev. 19:18], "You should love your neighbor the same way that you love yourself."

If you obey my commandments, [then] you will continue receiving my love; just as I have obeyed my Father's commandments and [so] continue receiving His love.

I command you to do these things so that you will [demonstrate your] love for one another. [Note: Or this may mean that His command was to love one another, as in verse 12].

I in them, and you in me, so that they may be completely one. [This is] so the world will know that you sent me and that you love them just as you love me.

Jesus asked him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you [really] love me?" Peter answered Him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus replied to him, "[Then] take care of my sheep."

Who [i.e., what] can separate us from Christ's love [for us]? [i.e., what unfortunate circumstance of life might suggest that Christ does not love us?] Would [it be] trouble? Or distress? Or persecution? Or inadequate food? Or inadequate clothing? Or danger? Or [even] death?

For [the commandments are: Ex. 20:13ff], "You must not be sexually unfaithful to your mate. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not have a strong desire for what belongs to someone else." These and any other commandments are summed up in these words, "You must love your neighbor the same as you love yourself."

If you love your neighbor, you will not do anything wrong to him. So, to love people is the way to fulfill [the requirements of] the law [See Matt. 22:39].

But now [i.e., since the temporary gifts are to pass away], these three things remain: faith, hope and love; and the most important of them is love.

So, I will most gladly spend [all I have], and [even] spend myself for the sake of your souls. If I love you so much, should you love me less [than that]?

For the whole law of Moses can be fulfilled by [obeying this] one requirement [Lev. 19:18]: "You should love your neighbor the way you love yourself."

May God's unearned favor be upon all of those [there] who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Then they can train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

For this reason, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. [Note: This suggests that her forgiveness was the result of her loving, but the point Jesus makes better fits the idea that her forgiveness produced love]. But the person who is forgiven of little [i.e., of only a few sins], loves [only] a little bit."

The person who knows [what] my commandments [are] and obeys them is the one who [truly] loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.

Here is [the essence of] love: [It is] not that we loved God [first], but that He loved us [See Rom. 5:6-8] and sent His Son to be a "covering over" [i.e., atonement, 2:2] for our sins.

Loved ones, if God loved us that much, we should also love one another.

And we have known [with certainty] and have believed [with assurance] that God has truly loved us. God's [very nature] is love and the person who [continually] loves [Him and others] lives in [fellowship with] God [continually], and God [continually] lives in that person's heart.

"Just as the Father has loved me, [so] I have also loved you. You should continue to receive [or, respond to] my love. [Note: The next verse tells how this can be done].

Loved ones, if our hearts do not condemn us [i.e., because we are showing love by helping the needy], we can have boldness before God [in prayer for our own needs];

We love [God and others] because God has first loved us.

Every person who believes that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one] has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God. And everyone who [continually] loves God, who did the conceiving, also [must continually] love the person whom God has [spiritually] conceived.

My dearly loved ones, I am not writing to you about a new commandment, but about an old one. [It is the one] you had learned about from the beginning. [Note: This is the commandment to love one another (3:1: II John 5) which Jesus had taught his disciples during His earthly ministry. See Mark 12:31]. This old commandment is the word [of God] which you heard [previously].

Yet, I am [also] writing to you about a new commandment [Note: This commandment was to love one another as Jesus loved them. See John 13:34]; its truth is [being demonstrated] by Christ [perfectly] and [also] by you people [in a lesser measure], because the darkness [of sin] is passing away, and the real light [of righteousness] is already shining [in people's lives].

Listen, my dearly loved brothers; did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be wealthy in faith and to inherit the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?