The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
This letter opens with no title of office and no church address. It is one older man writing to one friend he calls beloved. Two questions follow: why does John call himself only "the elder," and what does it mean to love someone "in truth"?
John had every right to open with apostolic authority. Instead he takes the lower place, and commentators see this as deliberate.
"The elder," says the apostle. So he steps down from the first place in the church of God, which he had every right to fill. But love takes the better way, and here the Holy Spirit inspired it for the special need... We need not doubt that there was a wise and worthy reason why the apostle John introduced himself as "elder" rather than as apostle, both to the elect lady and to the beloved Gaius.
The word points to age and relationship, not to a post:
John writes to those he stood among as an older man. He does not speak of his apostolic authority here. He wrote the letters as "the elder."
Several men named Gaius appear in the New Testament. One writer is careful not to claim more than can be known:
Gaius was one of the more common names in the Roman world of the first century. So it is best not to rush to identify the man this letter was sent to with the men of the same name in Acts 19:29, Acts 20:4 or 1 Corinthians 1:14. Paul describes the Gaius of Romans 16:23 as his host. John's well-loved friend certainly knew the privilege of showing Christian hospitality.
The letter says nothing about his gifts. It says a great deal about his character:
There is nothing to show that Gaius was gifted as a teacher or preacher. But he had those spiritual qualities, and without them gift counts for nothing... He comes before us as a humble, gracious and devoted believer. He loved the truth and walked in the truth. He acted in faithfulness and love, helped fellow believers on their journeys, welcomed them into the churches, and so helped to spread the truth. No wonder the Apostle calls him "the beloved Gaius". There was everything in Gaius to draw out the affection of God's people. Who would not want to be a Gaius?
John valued the generosity of Gaius. But that is not where he rests his love:
Whether it was the elect lady and her children, or the well-loved Gaius, it is all the same. It was not because of his hospitality, but "whom I love in the truth." No doubt the apostle valued his generosity and care very much. But even in matters completely different from those of his second letter, the mark that pressed on his soul was this: "whom I love in the truth."
One writer sees this as John's constant habit, and gives the reason for it:
It is striking that John, while he speaks of love, always guards it in the clearest way by what he calls "the truth." Real love is in God Himself. He is love, and wherever love is real, the truth as it is in Jesus must guard it, or it is not from God.
John writes to one man rather than to a church. The reason lies in what had happened where Gaius lived. A man named Diotrephes had taken the first place:
It is only here that the word "Church" appears in John's writings... But now he finds he can trust the Church no longer, and he finds relief in the personal grace of this "beloved Gaius." He had honoured the Church from a distance, but he was disappointed. "Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first," had got in, and John has to fall back on what can never fail: on "truth and love" in the "beloved Gaius."
John's second letter warned the elect lady about dangerous men. This letter adds the other side:
If we had only the Second letter, we might be in danger of becoming rigid, hard and suspicious. But the Third letter tells us whom we are to receive, and to receive with all our heart. If dangerous men go about trying to get in, we must not forget true men who are eager to spread the truth of Christ.
- Elder — John lays down the apostle's title and writes as an older man. Love takes the lower place.
- Beloved — Gaius earns no title either; he is loved not for his gifts or his generosity but "in truth."
- Guarded — the truth always guards real love. Where the two part, it is not from God.
- Personal — when the church failed under Diotrephes, John fell back on the truth and love he found in one man.
- Open-hearted — the second letter warns whom to refuse; this one says whom to receive with all your heart. Both keep a Christian from being hard or careless.
Beloved, I desire that in all things thou shouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers.
John's short letter opens with a personal wish for Gaius, a believer he knew mostly by report. The wish is unusual: it measures his body and his circumstances by the state of his soul.
Older translations read "I wish above all things." Commentators say that goes too far. John is not saying that the soul is the only thing worth caring about.
He wishes that in all things he may prosper. "Above all things" goes too far. Some have taken up the extreme idea that it makes no difference how badly our affairs go, or how poor our health is — the only concern is that the soul should prosper. The apostle, writing by inspiration, does not support such fanaticism… He carefully gives first place to the soul's welfare. If that welfare is guarded and real, we can as a general rule count on the Lord's interest in what we undertake or in our business, and in our health. If the soul prospers, our gracious God takes pleasure in us and in everything that concerns us. The very hairs of our head are all numbered.
The wish only works as a compliment if the soul is already doing well. Most people would not want the comparison run in their direction.
In the second verse John testifies that Gaius's soul prospered so much that he could only wish his body might be as healthy as his soul… For most of us the health of the body is better than the health of the soul. We meet one another and ask, How are you? We take it for granted that the question is about the body, so we answer cheerfully (as a rule), Quite well, thank you. But if the question were, How is it with your soul? — what would we say?
The ESV says "in good health," where older translations say "be in health." That same word turns up elsewhere in the New Testament.
The word translated here "be in health" also appears in Luke 7:10 and 15:27, where the King James translation renders it "whole" and "safe and sound". When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he prayed that their whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23).
Gaius seems to have had a strong soul and a weak body. That pairing upsets a popular assumption.
Gaius was probably weak in body. Even so, he clearly did not plead that as a reason to ease off in his service. Note too, since it touches a common error, that there is no necessary link between our spiritual condition and our bodily condition. Many now accept that all bodily weakness and disease are signs of a bad state of soul. But this inspired prayer for Gaius shows at once that such a claim is not scriptural.
Commentators put the emphasis differently here. Others note that God does sometimes use illness to win back a drifting believer. That was not the case with Gaius.
Sometimes, so that the soul may prosper, God dries up the thing we are too taken up with. If that is not enough, He disciplines us with bodily sickness… Sometimes He sets a keen worker aside so that he may learn that God can carry on His work without him. That man has been busy reaching and preaching to others, and has grown less watchful over his own communion with God. The Lord in His goodness and love corrects him, and turns a little sickness to much good. But here, since Gaius was prospering in soul, the apostle wishes him prosperity in everything else and in his body too.
John was writing from a distance. His confidence rested on something visible to others.
John did not learn of Gaius's spiritual prosperity by meeting him, for he was far away and writing to him by letter. Others told him. Some believers had arrived in John's area and spoke of Gaius. What they said showed that the truth was living in him, and that it came out in his life, for he walked in truth. What is in us comes out in what we do.
John's wish rested on how Gaius used what he had.
He wishes Gaius to prosper as well as to be in health. Gaius stood out, like some dear believers today, in every kind of Christian hospitality… John could then wish him full health and prosperity, because his prosperity served God's people.
- Prosper inwardly. John puts the soul's welfare first and asks for the rest alongside it — not instead of it.
- Prosper visibly. Visitors reported Gaius's inner health: what lives in a person comes out in how they live.
- Prosper bodily. John wishes Gaius plain physical health too — poor health is no proof of a poor soul.
- Prosper under discipline. When a believer drifts, God may use sickness or loss to win the soul back — though illness is never a verdict on the soul.
- Prosper for others. Gaius's means and strength served God's people, so John could wish him more without hesitation.
For I rejoiced exceedingly when [the] brethren came and bore testimony to thy [holding fast the] truth, even as *thou* walkest in truth.
John was far from Gaius, so what he knew of him came second-hand. Travelling believers arrived and gave a report. That report raises two questions. What does it mean for truth to be in a person? And how does anyone else come to know it?
So how could John be sure how Gaius was doing?
John's confidence about how Gaius was doing spiritually did not come from meeting him. He was far away and writing by letter. It came through the testimony of others. Some brothers had arrived in John's area and spoke about him. What they said showed that the truth was living in him. It also showed that this truth came out in his life, for he walked in truth. That which is in us comes out in our activities.
The report came from other people, not from Gaius. That is part of its weight.
It was a matter of plain testimony on the part of others. "The brothers came and testified to your truth [or, that is in you]." If Gaius had said it himself, it might have been open to question. Who has ever met a man with a steady, wholehearted love for the truth who was loud about his own faithfulness or service? The more a man loves and values truth, the more he judges his own shortcoming in his service and his daily life.
The visitors reported two things, not one. The first was tied to Gaius personally.
These brothers seem to be the ones Gaius had hosted while they were away serving. They brought joy to the aged apostle, for Gaius appears to have been one of his spiritual children. They testified to two things. First, to the truth that was in him — the words are "to your truth", meaning his firm hold on the truth. Second, to his walking in its power. What a testimony! The heart of this devoted man held the truth. The truth shaped him, then flowed out into his life and governed his walk.
The verse ends, "as indeed you are walking in the truth." That is not an extra compliment. It explains how the first half of the report was possible at all.
By the power of the Spirit the truth marked him out. It formed his character, so it governed his daily life — he walked in truth. This walking in truth showed the brothers that the truth was in him. That is how they could bear witness to it.
Later in the letter John praises Gaius for his hospitality, even to strangers. But he puts something else first.
The main point the apostle dwells on, in writing to Gaius, is that he was in the truth. It is remarkable in John that he speaks of love, yet always guards it in the clearest way by what he calls "the truth." Real love is in God Himself. He is love, and wherever love is real, the truth as it is in Jesus must guard it, or it is not from God. So before he commends Gaius for his love and hospitality to the brothers, he says, "I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth." This is the first thing he dwells on. Only then does he speak of what Gaius does for the brothers and for strangers.
The letter had just wished Gaius health and success. One writer weighs those against what the visitors actually praised.
Kindness to the brothers, thoughtfulness about others, doing well in his affairs and in bodily health — what were all these next to holding fast the truth, "your truth," and his own walking in truth? Gaius sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else was added. There was no compromise of Christ, no treating truth as a secondary matter. He kept walking truthfully.
John's joy here is not a small thing. One writer sets it against the ruin of everything the Church once was.
This kept John's heart so much at ease; this told him of his special joy. Paul's joy was at seeing the Church walking in order. That might now be gone. But here it is: "I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth." We may be troubled at seeing the lampstand ruined. Yet there is a deeper joy — seeing the children "walking in the truth," and getting a good report of them when the brothers come.
- Truth held. The report was to "your truth" — Gaius kept his grip on it, and it shaped his heart.
- Truth walked. What is inside comes out in what you do; his daily life was the proof that the truth had lodged in him.
- Truth reported. Others, not Gaius, gave the account — those who love truth most are least loud about their own faithfulness.
- Truth guarding love. John praises the truth in Gaius before his hospitality. Truth keeps real love safe, or the love is not from God.
- Truth rejoicing. Even when everything around him lies in ruins, one child walking in truth is still John's deepest joy.
I have no greater joy than these things that I hear of my children walking in the truth.
Near the end of his life, John writes to a friend named Gaius. He tells him what he values more than any other news. Two questions follow. Who are these "children"? And why does their walk outrank every other joy?
Elsewhere John writes of a lady's children. Here the children are his own. They are not family by birth. They came to faith through his work, and he watches how they go on.
It is no longer the lady's children or "the children of the elect sister." Here we read of "my children" — those related to the apostle in a spiritual way. Gaius was one of them, and dear to the apostle for that reason. Gaius had not only begun well, but was going on well in the face of evil.
One writer notes that no list of John's converts survives.
He clearly had converts. Gaius, the man he wrote to (3 John), was one. And not the only one, since John writes to him, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." So he had joy in the fruits of personal labour. We may be sure he carried that work on very quietly, keeping no record that counted his converts or told interesting details of his work.
Walking is the plainest picture of a life in motion. To walk in truth is not to hold an opinion but to have every movement shaped by it.
We may speak of walking as the simplest and most basic activity of the human race. So it naturally stands for activity. To walk in truth is to have all one's activities — thinking, speaking, going, doing, every movement of mind or body — governed by one whole world of reality, and in keeping with it. That reality finds its centre in God Himself revealed in the Lord Jesus. Its outer edge is the furthest reach of His will and word.
No one can manufacture such a walk. It grows out of having the truth in the first place.
Walking in truth is the result of having the truth. The truth produces truthfulness. The man who has not got the truth cannot possibly walk in truth, and will not long wear the appearance of it.
John's joys were many. Against all of them he sets one.
The Christian's joys are many and great. Yet the words "I have no greater joy" show plainly how important walking in truth was in his view. When his children walked that way, his joy overflowed.
John was not there to watch Gaius live. The joy reached him through others who had seen it.
He not only had the truth, but he gave evidence of it by walking in the truth. His practical life was consistent with the truth he professed. What greater joy can a servant have than to know this: the people blessed through the truth he taught are walking by it! This joy the Apostle had as he heard through others of Gaius, his child in the faith.
By the time John wrote, much that once marked the church had already failed. One writer sets that loss beside this joy.
Paul's joy was at seeing the church walking in order. That might now be gone. But this joy is still here. It may trouble us to see the lampstand ruined. Yet there is a deeper joy — seeing the children walking in the truth, and getting a good report of them when brothers come... But where does the Spirit lead us? To this unfailing joy, to see the children walking in the truth.
And this joy is not the apostle's alone.
And this is not only the aged apostle's joy, but it is the joy of the Lord. How He must rejoice when His beloved children in whom He dwells walk in truth!
- Children. "My children" means people related to John in a spiritual way. They came to faith through quiet work that kept no record of numbers or details.
- Truth first. Having the truth comes before walking in it. The truth produces truthfulness. Without the reality, no one keeps up the appearance for long.
- Walk. Walking stands for activity: thinking, speaking, going, doing. All of it is governed by what God has revealed in the Lord Jesus.
- Joy. A man rich in joys says he has no greater one. That shows the weight he gave to a life governed by truth.
- Shared. The joy reaches the servant by the report of others. It survives the ruin of what the church once was. And it belongs to the Lord Himself, not to His servant alone.
Beloved, thou doest faithfully [in] whatever thou mayest have wrought towards the brethren and that strangers,
John has praised Gaius for walking in the truth. Now he praises what Gaius does: he opens his home to Christian workers he has never met.
John praises what Gaius believes before he praises what Gaius gives. One writer sees a fixed pattern in this.
It is remarkable in John that, while he speaks of love, he always guards it in the most definite way by what he calls "the truth." Real love is in God Himself. He is love, and wherever love is real, it must be guarded by the truth as it is in Jesus, or it is not of God. So before he commends Gaius for his love and hospitality to the brothers, he says, "I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth." This is the first thing he dwells on, before he even speaks of what Gaius does for the brothers and for strangers.
At first glance the verse names two sets of people: brothers, and then strangers. But that reading is disputed, and the better-attested one changes the force of the word "faithfully."
The end of verse 5 might lead us to suppose that there were two classes in question: (1) the brothers, and (2) strangers. The better attested reading, however, appears to be, "the brothers, and that strangers." It was right to serve the brothers who were well known to him. But to serve brothers who were complete strangers, just because they served the same Master — that was indeed to act "faithfully." The truth is that the saints are one. The Name of the Lord Jesus binds together all who serve in that Name, and love is the cementing power in the Christian circle. To this truth Gaius was faithful. It was in him, and he walked in it.
If these men were unknown to Gaius, then affection and acquaintance cannot explain why he took them in. Something else qualified them at his door.
Gaius did not receive and help these stranger-brothers because he knew them and liked them. He helped them because they were devoted to the Name of Christ, because they were separate from the world and took no help from it, and because they were publishing the truth.
The verse speaks of whatever Gaius does — his hospitality is treated as labour. It is also written to a man whose local situation was turning hostile, as the following verses about Diotrephes show.
Gaius had not only begun well, but was going on well in the face of evil. Still there was the need of cheering him on. Kindly, thoughtfully, generously or lovingly — these would have been the words most Christian men might have used. With Gaius it was first of all a matter of faith before God. Faith always brings in God in one way, as love does in another. Faith brings in the word of truth; love is the energy of the divine nature in gracious affection.
The people Gaius helped could report what his love was like. One writer traces the words behind such love.
His work was the fruit of his faith. Hebrews 13:1 speaks of "brotherly love," philadelphia, and 13:2 of not neglecting to "show hospitality to strangers." Those two words translate one Greek word — philoxenia, which literally means "love of strangers." Here in verses 5 and 6 we find love working in a similar way. The strangers were brothers so far unknown. The people Gaius had served could only witness to his love. Gaius did not live for himself, but was a brother who proved his kindness by caring for and serving others.
The same practice still decides whether a church is fed or goes without.
We know towns where hospitality is not available, or at least hard to arrange. There the assemblies of God's people suffer through lack of ministry. On the other hand, we know towns where believers compete with each other in showing hospitality. There this happy service shows itself in ministry that is plentiful and helpful among the saints. A servant of the Lord receives hospitality, and his ministry builds up and strengthens the saints. Then everyone owes a debt to the home that gave that gracious welcome.
- Truth first. John praises Gaius's walk in the truth before he mentions his kindness. Love that is not guarded by truth is not of God.
- Then love. Once truth is settled, love takes practical shape. John calls the work "faithful" because it springs from faith before God.
- Reaching strangers. The better reading joins the two terms. These were brothers Gaius had never met, and serving them proves that the saints are one.
- For the Name. They came with no introduction. What opened Gaius's door was devotion to the Name of Christ and the truth they carried.
- Result today. Where homes open, ministry is plentiful and all gain. Where they stay shut, the church goes hungry.
(who have witnessed of thy love before [the] assembly,) in setting forward whom on their journey worthily of God, thou wilt do well;
Gaius had opened his home to travelling preachers he had never met, and they went back and reported his love to the church. John now writes to tell him to keep going — and to set the measure for sending them on: God Himself.
The men who spoke up in the church were the travellers Gaius had helped. What John approves is his love for believers he did not know:
Many saints are drawn out in love for workers whom they know and admire, but they hold back from brothers they have never heard of. The love of Gaius for those unknown brothers had the apostle's marked approval. Before the church they "bore witness of your love."
Why does welcoming a stranger count for so much? Because of what ties believers together:
It was right to serve the brothers who were well known to him; but to serve brothers who were complete strangers, just because they served the same Master, was really to act "faithfully." The truth is that the saints are one. The Name of the Lord Jesus binds together all who serve in that Name, and love is the cementing power in the Christian circle.
Some older versions soften this phrase to "after a godly sort." Commentators hold to the stronger wording:
Even if the love of Gaius had been taken advantage of, the apostle would not expect any pause. The word is, "send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God." The weaker phrase "after a godly sort" waters that force down. Undeniably "after a godly sort" is much and excellent in itself; but it is always safer and more reverent to hold to the actual words used by the Spirit of God. And nothing can be clearer than setting them forward, not by a man's idea of godliness, but "in a manner worthy of God." For God is love, and love is of God. It may be about a small thing here below; but it connects the soul in faith and love with what is unseen and eternal, with God who blesses for all eternity.
John asks for more than a warm welcome:
He would have Gaius not just receive them, but set them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, who loves such men and such ways.
In practice, this meant covering what the travellers needed for the road:
It is right that those who have gone out for "His Name's sake" should be supported and helped on. Paul expressed his confidence in the believers at Rome that they would send him on his way to Spain (Rom. 15:24. See also 1 Cor. 16:6; 2 Cor. 1:16 and Titus 3:13). The phrase "bring forward on their journey" suggests that the financial needs of the Lord's servants would be met by the saints.
In John's letters, love never stands on its own:
It is remarkable that in John, while he speaks of love, he always guards it in the most definite way by what he calls "the truth." Real love is in God Himself. He is love, and wherever love is real it must be guarded by the truth as it is in Jesus, or it is not of God.
The open door still comes with a condition:
This letter encourages the believer to practise hospitality, both towards brothers he knows and towards strangers. It encourages every kind of generous care in helping them on their way when they leave. The condition is that they come with the truth and for the truth's sake, without salary or provision.
The verse asks a lot, yet the wording stays gentle:
Yet the apostle, in suggesting it, says no more than "you will do well." This careful language of the Holy Spirit is simplicity as to Christ. It avoids anything like pressure or overstatement, though the matter was close to the apostle's heart. Something like it appears in Hebrews 13, where the apostle speaks of two kinds of sacrifice. One is "a sacrifice of praise to God." The other is to "do good and to share what you have." The first is of incomparable weight and value. The lower one is doing good and sharing here below, yet it flows from the same faith and love, "for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."
- Truth first. Love is real only when truth guards it. John praises the truth in Gaius first, then his hospitality.
- Strangers count. Helping workers he knew was good. Helping brothers he had never met, because they served the same Master, is what John calls faithful.
- Two actions. John asks Gaius to receive the travellers and then to send them off. The sending includes meeting their needs for the road.
- One standard. Not "after a godly sort," but in a manner worthy of God. The measure is God's own character, not human ideas of kindness.
- Quiet reward. John applies no pressure. He says only, "You will do well" — the doing good and sharing that pleases God.