1. III. Truth Will Not Associate With Deception (7-11)
    1. B. The Deception of Exceeding Christ's Message (9)
Thematic Relation: Some stretch the teaching of Christ beyond its intent - adding their own poor thoughts to the pure insights of Christ's own teaching. This, too, dishonors truth.

Some Key Words

Goes too far (parabaino [3845]):
To step aside, to lose one's office by transgression, willfully stepping out of line; to go past, or pass over without touching, overstep, violate, transgress, turn aside from, depart, abandon one's trust; go contrary to, violate a command; Vine's: This is the less accepted word for this verse. The better manuscripts have the following.
Goes too far (proago [4254]):
to go before, lead, precede, bring out; to go further than is right or proper; to precede; Vine's: signifies a taking of the lead.
Abide (meno [3306]):
remain, dwell, endure, last, persevere, stand firm; to remain as one, not become another or different; to stay, continue, be present, stand.
Teaching (didache [1322]):
The art of teaching, the teaching which is given, the teaching of Jesus; what is taught, doctrine
Has (echo [2192]):
to have, hold, hold on , count, consider, regard, possess; to have in the hand, to have possession of the mind, to own or possess property or each other, to be in a given condition, to adhere or cling to a person or thing; to hold an ability, continuity, relation, condition, or other thing.
 

Paraphrase

9 Those who stretch Christ's teaching, lose both truth and God, but those who hold to His teaching remain in Him, and in God.

Key Verse

9 - It's the only one here.

Thematic Relevance:

 When a point is over-emphasized, even though the original point be true, the result is no longer true.

Doctrinal Relevance:

 Not only the seed of the teaching, but the conclusion of the teaching must be considered, before a truth claim can be called valid.

Moral Relevance:

 We, too, must avoid that temptation to focus too strongly on a single piece of God's truth, to the exclusion of the rest. We must watch that we keep our understanding balanced by the full counsel of Scripture.

Some Parallel Verses

9
Jn 7:16 - Jesus' teaching is not His, but the Father's. Jn 8:31 - Those who abide in His word are His disciples. 1Jn 2:23 - The treatment of the Son determines the treatment of the Father, denying or confessing the one includes in it the other.
 

New Thoughts

It's interesting in looking at the alternatives for 'going too far', that while the second "more accepted" word defines the cause, the first still serves to define the effect. The problem is our propensity for hearing the seed of truth, and jumping off to inappropriate conclusions from there; we stay focussed just long enough to hear something that tickles us, and then forget the rest of Scripture as we wander the paths of our own thoughts. Thus do we get out ahead of what Christ is doing and saying. The consequence of remaining on such a tack uncorrected is shown in the first word: we turn aside, abandon our trust, and lose our office due to our transgression. Ah, but how does this last fit the full counsel of God? Can we fall or can we not? Surely, there is a large amount of teaching that would say we cannot, and yet... Of course, in this instance, it's an implication based on a word which may or may not be correct. But the same possibility seems to be implied in the previous verse, as well.

I also like what the words say for those who remain sound. We remain as one with the Teacher, not becoming another, or different. We persevere, and stand firm in the teaching of Jesus. In doing so, not only do we have in hand the teaching He has given, but we also own the Father and the Son in much the same way as we 'own' our spouse or our children. We own each other inasmuch as there is that implied obligation one to the other. What's such a blessing in this is that it's not a one way thing, we're mutually obliged. God, help us to hold up to our obligations, and thank You for holding up to Yours.