3 John
Author: John
The elder writes to Gaius, praising his care for traveling believers and warning him about Diotrephes, who refuses them.
Outline
Gaius (1–8)
The elder rejoices that Gaius walks in the truth and that he has received strangers who went forth for the Name.
Diotrephes (9–11)
A man who loves the preeminence will not receive the elder’s letter or the brethren, and he casts out those who would.
Demetrius (12–14)
Demetrius has a good report of all, and the elder hopes to speak with Gaius face to face.
Key verses
3 John 1:4
The elder has no greater joy than to hear that his children walk in truth.
3 John 1:8
Those who receive the traveling workers become fellow helpers to the truth.
3 John 1:11
Follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.
Third John is addressed to one man. The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. The letter is a commendation and a warning about hospitality, the same subject as Second John, turned toward a person who is getting it right and a person who is using his position to stop it. Traveling believers have come back to the elder and have reported what Gaius did for them. The report is the reason for the joy.
Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well, because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. The workers Gaius helped did not take support from unbelievers. They depended on the households of believers along the road. To receive them and to send them on is not a private kindness only. It makes the host a fellow helper of the truth they carry. The elder is asking Gaius to keep doing what the returned brethren have already praised in front of the church. The phrase after a godly sort matters. The help is to match the work. A journey undertaken for the Name is to be forwarded in a way worthy of that Name.
I wrote unto the church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words, and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Diotrephes is not accused of the doctrinal denial that Second John names. He is accused of loving the first place. He will not receive the elder. He talks wickedly against him. He refuses the traveling brethren. He stops those who would receive them, and he puts them out of the church. The elder does not leave the behavior as a matter of taste. He says that when he comes he will bring the deeds up. Authority that shuts the door on workers who went out for the Name, and that punishes the members who open it, is the evil the next sentence tells Gaius not to copy.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself, yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. Demetrius may be the carrier of the letter, or a third example beside Gaius and Diotrephes. Either way, he is named because his report agrees with the truth and with the elder’s own witness. A church choosing whom to trust is given three portraits: the man who forwards the workers, the man who loves preeminence and casts people out, and the man of whom the truth itself speaks well. I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee, but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name. Third John is the companion of the letter to the elect lady. One household is told not to welcome a false teacher. One man is told that welcoming the true workers makes him their partner, and that a leader who loves the first place can be recognized by the people he shuts out.