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.