3 John

Overview – October 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

3 John

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” —3 John 2 NKJV

Third John has much to say about truth and love, but it emphasizes love as being the necessary accompaniment of truth. Another type of evil had arisen: a man in the assembly apparently was claiming to be acting for the truth and yet casting others out, even refusing the apostle John. If love for the saints of God is ignored in this way then no claims of “truth” can stand. Truth and love must stand together as complements of one another, for in these is the very nature of God.

Gaius, to whom John wrote, was commended because his soul prospered, and John expressed the wish that in health he should prosper similarly. He may not have been blessed with physical strength to bear much in the way of controversy, but his walking in the truth and his faithful care and love toward those who had gone forth in the work of the Lord is highly commended.

The “strangers” mentioned in verse 5 are very different from the “deceivers” in 2 John. These strangers were brethren unknown to Gaius but who were unselfishly devoting themselves to the work of Christ, taking nothing from the Gentiles, meaning those who were unsaved. Just as fully as deceivers were to be refused, so were true servants of Christ to be received.

Let us cultivate this godly warmth of affection in a proper balance of truth by attending to the ministry of this epistle. Once again the apostle wrote as though he intended to come shortly.

By Leslie M. Grant

This column is taken from the book: “The Bible, Its 66 Books In Brief.”
It is available for purchase from Believers Bookshelf USA and Believers Bookshelf Canada.