Walking in the Truth

Book of 3 John

1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I was overjoyed when brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brothers and sisters, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth.

9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we testify too, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

This is the last of the three books which comprise 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. This letter was written to a man named Gaius, not to a church. You probably noticed that in this letter, John calls Gaius his child, but I do not think he means that literally. He must mean that Gaius is his spiritual child. If that is the case, it puts more evidence on the side of those who believe 2 John was written to a specific unnamed woman, and not to a secret church. I say that because it stands to reason that the “children” of that woman could stand for her spiritual children the same way it stands for that here.

Again, we see John’s focus on truth. This is obviously paramount in importance to John. I understand why he is focused on truth, though, for if we are not walking in truth, then we are not following Jesus. Think with me a minute about the devil’s schemes. He is called the father of lies. John 8:42-45 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came forth from God and am here; for I have not even come on My own, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I say the truth, you do not believe Me.’”

John recorded those words of Jesus, and they became the foundation of what he is writing in these letters. He is saying that only those who remain in the truth are of God and are following God. Only those who are following Jesus will accept and understand God’s word. Jesus says that if someone is not following Him, then that person cannot listen to or understand what He is saying. That must be because that person is deceived and whether they know it or not, they are ultimately following the devil, who is the father of lies. This is why adhering to the truth is so vital. And this is why the devil works so hard to manipulate and destroy truth. He has done such an effective job at it that I am afraid much of Christianity has been taken in by his deceptions. Think about a lot of the language that is used today, even within the Church. We’ve been conditioned to use phrases like “my truth” or “what’s true for me” or “it’s all relative” and by using those words, we unknowingly support the idea that there is no absolute or objective truth. The world thinks everything is relative and subjective, but that is a lie.

When John says in verse 3, “your truth,” he doesn’t mean Gaius’ personal truth that is relative to him. No, he is using truth as a noun. He even clarifies it by explaining, “that is, how you are walking in truth.” John is pleased that Gaius has shown he knows the truth. And as he says in verse 4, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.” He doesn’t say, ‘I’m so happy that my children are following their truth’ or ‘living their best life’ or some statement like that. It is “the truth.” Again, it is “the truth” that does not change or waiver. There is only the truth, otherwise it’s not truth, it’s opinion or belief or preference. Truth is not relative, it is fixed and constant.

Then John writes, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brothers and sisters, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth.”

John is praising Gaius for how he has been hospitable and supportive of fellow Christian workers who were strangers to him before he helped them out. These workers have given John and the church a positive report of how well Gaius treated them. They did not take support from Gentiles, which in this instance doesn’t mean non-Jewish Christians, but means non-believers. The Greek word here is ethnikos which is usually translated as pagan or heathen. Just like when Jesus sent out the disciples and instructed them to go from house to house relying on the Christians in each town they visited to host them, it seems that is still the same practice. Gaius must have opened his home to these traveling evangelists. By doing so, Gaius became a fellow worker. It is the same today, when we support people who are working “for the sake of the Name,” then we, too, become fellow workers. The Name is of course a reference to Jesus. Perhaps, because of the hostility to Christians at that time, John uses “the Name” instead of saying Jesus. Or maybe he just chose it because it is a fitting title for Jesus. For He is “the Name above all names” as Philippians 2:9 says.

Then John adds, “9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.”

Here, John is letting Gaius know that when he sees him, he is going to call attention to Diotrephes’ deeds. He is going to confront him. In other words, he is going to truly love Diotrephes by telling him the truth. This is far more loving than if he overlooked what Diotrephes is doing: he is kicking people out of the church, but not for legitimate reason.

It seems like Diotrephes is causing a lot of trouble. He is accusing John, using ‘malicious words’ and, if anyone disagrees with him, he ‘puts them out of the church.’ Maybe Diotrephes had heard John’s teaching to not welcome people who denied Jesus had come in the flesh, but he had taken it too far. Maybe he thought that gave him a license to kick out anyone he disagreed with. We don’t know what issue is causing this split among the church. John keeps it vague and simply says, “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.” It could be in reference to what he stated in verses seven and eight which say, “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth.” Maybe it was that matter of accepting help from non-believers that Diotrephes disagreed with so heartily that he was willing to put people out of the church over it?

We don’t know for sure, but what we do know for sure is this: we should be careful to avoid extremes. Back in 2 John, he was not saying that we should refuse entrance to our homes or churches to anybody and everybody who doesn’t agree with all the finer points of our theology. He was speaking of those who have been greatly deceived, specifically, those who claim to be a Christian, but deny that Jesus is who He said He is- the very Son of God, come in the flesh to save the world.

That said, I find it very insightful that in his commentary, The Early Christian Letters, N.T. Wright does not limit John’s prohibition of giving a greeting to only those who do not think Jesus came in the flesh. He applies that warning to anyone who claims to follow Jesus but is “simultaneously worshiping one of any number of other gods”. He also says we must be careful not to accidentally give the approval of acceptance to people’s deception by greeting them the way John mentions in 2 John. He says, “If this seem harsh, as indeed it does, we need to remember the way in which even casual greetings, let alone hospitality, can then be used and are indeed regularly used as a sign that such people are approved of: ‘Well, so-and-so had them to dinner, so they can’t think it’s so bad after all.’” (p.179)

I really like N.T. Wright’s example. I think he is correct in applying that warning to include more than that specific theological deception. I think that would apply to all major theological deceptions. He used inviting people to dinner as an example, but another example we could also use is from social media: ‘Well, so-and-so follows them on social media and likes all their posts, so they can’t think it’s so bad after all.’ That would be another way in which, if we do that, we are signaling our approval.

Some of these things John writes in all three letters probably seem to go against modern ideas. We are constantly being told that ‘Christians should not judge’ and to be a ‘true Christian’ means we love everyone. We should ‘be tolerant and accepting of everyone’ and ‘Jesus ate with sinners, you know.’ Yes, Jesus ate with sinners, but they were sinners who had repented. They were people who were being changed by Jesus. Jesus did not turn a blind eye to anyone’s sin. He called people out, telling them to leave their sin and follow Him. We called them to walk in the truth.

This might seem so opposite of what we were seeing in mainstream Christianity. A lot of pastors and teachers within Christianity are telling everyone that we need to be tolerant and accepting of all people, regardless of their anti-biblical behavior and beliefs. At the same time, other groups within Christianity are labeling just about everyone and anyone who disagrees with their denomination’s minor doctrines a heretic.

Can you see why it is so important to read the whole Bible? If we don’t read 2 John carefully, we might think that we should not give a greeting to anybody we disagree with over any issue and willy-nilly kick people out of church like Diotrephes was doing. Or if we only read 3 John, we might think that ‘putting people out of church’ is always bad. When we read the whole Bible, we see that we need to be mindful of everything we do. We should not blindly go along with the world, partnering with anyone and anybody who claims to follow God. We should be careful to discern the spirits and walk in the truth. We should be on guard. We should strive for unity, but a unity that is centered on the steadfast truth of God’s word. And as John keeps emphasizing in these three letters: we should love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

A lot of churches, in an effort to welcome everybody to church, are simultaneously giving their nod of approval to people who are denying who Jesus really is. They are welcoming people who are worshiping different gods and who are living lifestyles that are opposite to what the Bible clearly teaches. These churches would disagree with me, and would probably tell me they are welcoming everyone in the hopes that eventually they will repent and get saved. But the problem is, they never tell the people this. The people who are welcomed, and the rest of the congregation, don’t see the pastor’s strategy. Nobody ever confronts anybody and offers correction. Why would anyone repent if they don’t think they are doing anything wrong? And what about all the other people, namely the children in attendance in the church, who now think these things are not so bad after all?

Jesus warns us in Matthew 18:6-7, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!”

That tells us that we had better be careful to not do anything that creates a stumbling block for other people. If we approve of sin by welcoming it with our blind approval, or we neglect to offer correction to those who are clearly in error of what the Bible teaches, we are in danger of creating stumbling blocks. At the same time, if we exclude people from fellowship over minor disagreements, then we are also in danger of creating stumbling blocks.

If this seems overwhelming, or it seems like a catch-22, please be encouraged that it is not. It is only difficult if we stray from what John has kept emphasizing throughout these 3 books. We must hold fast to what Christ has taught us, walking according to the truth of God’s Word. We must focus on the truth. Our goal is to stick to the teachings that do not change. What is this teaching? It is that Jesus is the only way to the Father; we must obey His commandments; and we must love one another. We do that by staying alert, staying in prayer, and studying the unchanging Word of God, so we are not taken in by new doctrines and deceptive lies of the devil. We must test the spirits and hold to the truth that does not change. We must walk in the truth.

John goes on to write in this letter to Gaius: “11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.”

Like John’s other methods for discerning what is of God or not of God, here, John offers another method. The one who does what is evil is not of God. This is reminiscent of what he said in 1 John 3:6-10, “No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.”

If we are following Jesus, then we will not embrace evil. We will not imitate or give approval to evil things. We will do what is good. We will strive to live lives pleasing to God. We will walk in the truth.

Then John ends the letter by saying, “12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we testify too, and you know that our testimony is true. 13 I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.”

Don’t you wish you could read what else John had to say? Just like John said in John 21:25, “But there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written in detail, I expect that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” I often wish that the Bible was longer and we could read more and learn more about what else Jesus did and said. I trust that God has purpose, though, in every word He caused to be written in Scripture and even in what He chose not to include.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to walk according to the unchanging truth of Scripture. Let us pray to be wise so we can discern deception and not be taken in by the devil’s lies. We should pray that God will help us to be bold in loving people, so we will tell people the truth in love. And let us pray as John did when he prayed for Gaius: I “pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health”.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we pray that You would help us by the Holy Spirit to walk according to the truth of Your word. Please help us to be able to discern truth from lies. Help us see through the enemy’s deceptions. Please help us to truly love people by telling them the truth even when it’s uncomfortable to do so. We pray that You would prosper us and give us good health all the days of our lives so we can be good witnesses for You. We love you and in the Name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.