In verses 4-6 John expresses his joy that some of the believers are walking in the truth as commanded by God the Father. He then tells them to love one another, calling it a command
they have had from the beginning. The "beginning" refers to the beginning of the teaching they received in the church. False teachers were providing new revelation and new commands. John refrains from this and sticks to the basics. He then describes love as walking in obedience to God's commands. John ties correct doctrine and correct behavior together.

In verses 7-11 John quickly gets to his main point which is to warn against false teachers who
are traveling through the cities and churches in Asia. These false teachers were an early form of Gnosticism which included the false doctrine that Jesus Christ had not come in the flesh. These traveling teachers would stay in the homes of people and be sent to the next town with provisions. John tells the believers not to support or help them and to avoid their false teaching. The false teaching could cause believers to lose their rewards because bad doctrine leads to bad performance in the Christian life.

In verses 12-13 John says he has more to say but he wants to teach them face to face and
not with paper and ink. John is planning on doing some traveling and teaching in Asia himself.

"Here is a rule for
everyday life:
Do not do anything which you cannot offer to God."

- John Vianney

In 205 AD Origen, a scholar trained in Greek literature and philosophy, began to record his Christian teachings in Alexandria, Egypt. He lived an ascetic life, slept on the floor, spent most nights in prayer and study, and castrated himself in order to literally follow Jesus teaching in Matthew 19:12. Origen defended Christianity from the pagan attacks, wrote a systematic theology, but also, established the corrupt practice of allegorical interpretation of Scripture that would confuse the church's study of Scripture into the Middle Ages. Origen used hermeneutic principles from Greek philosophy to interpret scripture. Augustine would follow Origen's practice of allegorical interpretation.