‘I rejoice greatly that I have found of your children walking in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father.'
This does not necessarily mean that some were not walking according to the truth, only that he himself did not know all her children. But the point is that those whom he did know walked in the truth. And this was the truth commanded by the Father. In 1 John 3:23 we are told that ‘this is His commandment that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ'. It is this truth that is to be the foundation of their whole faith, and will result in loving one another, which is the parallel commandment. By this he emphasises the close relationship established by the Father with His Son in the work of salvation.