Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
3 John 1:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 3 John 1:5. Thou doest faithfully — πιστον ποιεις. Kypke thinks that πιστον is put here for πιστιν, and that the phrase signifies to keep or preserve the faith, or to be bound by the faith, or to keep one's engagements. Thou hast acted as the faith-the Christian religion, required thee to act, in all that thou hast done, both to the brethren at home, and to the strangers-the itinerant evangelists, who, in the course of their travels, have called at thy house. There is not a word here about the pilgrims and penitential journeys which the papists contrive to bring out of this text.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

Beloved, thou doest a faithful work in whatsoever thou doest toward them that are brethren and strangers withal;

Beloved … Note the transition to the section praising Gaius for his hospitality.

Thou doest … doest … "The second of these verbs is different from the first in the Greek, and implies more of toilful labor."J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 1062. What is in view here is the marvelous hospitality of Gaius extended to traveling brethren who were spreading the gospel; and the words "strangers withal" show that he did not merely entertain those with whom he was personally acquainted. There were good solid reasons why traveling preachers of that day depended upon faithful brethren such as Gaius for their maintenance. The scarcity of inns, the disreputable character of such inns as were available, and the general poverty of many Christians contributed to this necessity.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Beloved, thou doest faithfully - In the previous verses the writer had commended Gaius for his attachment to truth, and his general correctness in his Christian life. He now speaks more particularly of his acts of generous hospitality, and says that he had fully, in that respect, done his duty as a Christian.

Whatsoever thou doest - In all your contact with them, and in all your conduct toward them. The particular thing which led to this remark was his hospitality; but the testimony respecting his general conduct had been such as to justify this commendation.

To the brethren - Probably to Christians who were well known to him - perhaps referring to Christians in his own church.

And to strangers - Such as had gone to the church of which he was a member with a letter of commendation from John. Compare the Romans 12:13 note, and Hebrews 13:2 note.

Smith's Bible Commentary

-3 John

So the third epistle of John is now again, John addresses himself as

The elder [the presbyturos] unto the wellbeloved Gaius ( 3 John 1:1 ),

Probably not the Gaius mentioned in Paul's epistle to the Corinthians where he was in Corinth, and it would appear that these letters were written to those in the area of Ephesus.

whom I love in the truth. Beloved ( 3 John 1:1-2 ),

And he's talking to Gaius.

I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth ( 3 John 1:2 ).

Now there are many people who quote this scripture as a sort of promise for healing. And they twist the scriptures slightly making it really sort of God's declaration, God saying I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers. But this is a personal letter from John to Gaius. And he is greeting Gaius who is well-loved with this beautiful wish that you may prosper and be in good health. As we so often in our letters writing to someone we haven't seen for a long time, I hope that this letter finds you in good health. So to use this as a promise for healing is really not scriptural, as God's promise for healing. It is the wish of John for Gaius. Beautiful wish indeed. "I wish that you might prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers."

But it is interesting that there is a relationship made between the prosperity of the soul and the physical well being. And we are discovering more and more as we study the human body that there is a very definite direct relationship between a person's physical health and their mental well-being. We are learning how that attitude can change the body chemistry and that bad attitudes can create harmful chemicals that will attack your body physically. And there's a definite relationship between mental attitude and organic illnesses in many cases. The psychologist say ninety percent, I think, that they're overstressing their side. But there is a definite relationship between many illnesses and the mental attitude of the person. So there's a correlation made between the physical well-being with the mental, the prosperity of the soul, the mind.

There is a proverb that says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" ( Proverbs 17:22 ). You know that they have discovered that that is scientifically correct. That laughter aids tremendously in the digestion of food. You ought to have a joke book at your dinner table. Bitterness can eat at your physical being, can create ulcers, chemicals that are harmful, destructive. So it is interesting that John would make the correlation between the physical and the emotional or mental. "I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers."

For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as you walk in truth. And I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth ( 3 John 1:3-4 ).

I can concur with what John is saying here. The greatest joy, I think, of a teacher is to hear that their children are walking in truth. You know, to come across someone that you ministered to fifteen, twenty years ago and find them walking in the truth is just a thrill, no greater joy.

In the same way, there's probably no greater sorrow than to hear that your children have turned from the truth, got caught up in some weird doctrine, some heresy. That's painful, that hurts. But "no greater joy than to hear that they are walking in the truth."

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do to the brethren, to the strangers; Which have borne witness of your love before the church: whom if you bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, you will do well ( 3 John 1:5-6 ):

Now he's talking about Gaius's treatment of these itinerary evangelists and prophets. You've been hospitable to them. You've helped them along their way. And in this you did well. It was, and they've come, and they've told of your love. They've told of your hospitality.

Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing from the heathens ( 3 John 1:7 ).

So these itinerant prophets have gone forth in the name of the Lord and for his name's sake, but they wouldn't take anything from the Gentiles, which is in the New Testament Greek the heathen or the pagans, because in Christ, you know, they were all brothers. "There is no Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian" ( Colossians 3:11 ). So the Gentiles referred to those outside of Christ.

I question some of the fund raising techniques of the churches today that go to the major corporations or they go to the businesses or they go to the world to find financing for the ministry and for the work of the church. The early prophets that went forth did not practice that. In fact, as I told you, if they asked for money they were considered to be a false prophet. That's the apostle wrote their Dedike and they said if they ask for money they're false prophets. So he is encouraging Gaius in his hospitality, the love that he had shown was good.

It had been reported and he said,

We ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers of the truth. Now I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, did not receive us ( 3 John 1:8-9 ).

Diotrephes, an interesting character. We look how his sin has been exposed throughout the years. A man who loved the preeminence in the church. He didn't want to give, you know, any place to anybody else. He wanted the preeminence. So when these prophets would come in, he wouldn't receive them. In fact, he even refused John the beloved, apostle of the Lord. There are Diotrephes still in the church today, those who are looking for a position for themselves, those that are looking for a place of power and authority, who want preeminence.

So John said,

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 he forbids them that would, and casts them out of the church ( 3 John 1:10 ).

I mean, this guy was a real tyrant. He wouldn't receive these itinerant ministers and if someone in the church would receive them, he'd throw them out of the church.

John's exhortation is

Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. And he that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God ( 3 John 1:11 ).

Again here, John puts the emphasis upon what a person is doing. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself" ( James 1:22 ). "Not he who has the law is justified by the law, but he who does the law is justified by the law" ( Galatians 3:11-12 ).

Having the knowledge of Jesus Christ doesn't save you. It's following Him as your Lord that brings salvation. It isn't mouthing the Apostle's Creed that will save you. It's what are you doing. You're doing good, then you're of God, but if you're doing evil, you really don't know God.

Demetrius has a good report of all men ( 3 John 1:12 ),

And probably this letter was given to Demetrius who was headed that way as a letter of reference from John and he told him to give it to Gaius, and so he is encouraging now, when Demetrius gets there to receive him. "Demetrius has good report of all men,"

and of the truth itself: yes, and we also bear record; and you know that our record is true. Now 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 ( 3 John 1:12-14 ).

So as he closed the second epistle, so he closes the third with the anticipation of seeing him, not having to write to him the things that are on his heart.

Peace be to thee. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends [my friends] by name ( 3 John 1:14 ). "

Contending for the Faith

Gaius, the Preacher Supporter

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers.

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest: This is the second time John personally calls Gaius "beloved," intimating his deep and abiding love for his brother in Christ. He uses this term of Christian love to lead into a statement of commendation for Gaius’ faithful work and labor of generous love. Vincent prefers the rendition of "thou doest faithfully" that is found in the Revised Version, "thou doest a faithful work" (401). Other versions emphasize the loyalty and faithfulness of the work. It is worth noting that faith and works are united in this statement. A person of faith will be a person of work. There are two words for "doest" in this statement. The first is poieo, meaning simply "to do" (Thayer 526); the second is ergazomai, meaning "to labor, be active, to perform" (Thayer 247). Gaius proved his faith (James 2:18) by his "work of faith" and "labor of love" (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

to the brethren, and to strangers: The faithful work and loving labor that Gaius performed was directed toward the brethren mentioned in verse 3--those who came time and again to John to bring reports of Gaius’ activities in the work of the Lord. They are the brethren whom Gaius helped financially and in other ways as they spread the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. "Brethren" and "strangers" refer to the same people. Haas renders it "to the brethren, especially to strangers," explaining that the latter phrase "serves to introduce a more specific qualification" (151). John is singing the praises of this great Christian who is ready to entertain travelling preachers of the gospel even when they are strangers to him. This "faithful work" was not only exhibited toward Gaius’ friends but toward strangers and "foreigners" (Vine 80) as well. These were not Gaius’ personal acquaintances or dear friends, who would naturally be recipients of his hospitality; he knew them only because of their work’s sake, and that was enough for this loving supporter of truth. John commends such impartial hospitality on the part of this beneficent Christian.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

II. UPHOLDING THE TRUTH WITH LOVE VV. 2-12

The word "Beloved" introduces each of the three sections of the body of this brief epistle.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

John loved Gaius as Gaius loved the brethren to whom he had extended hospitality.

"The early Christian community’s deep interest in hospitality is inherited from both its Jewish roots and the Greco-Roman culture of its day." [Note: Barbara Leonhard, "Hospitality in Third John," The Bible Today 25:1 (January 1987):11.]

John’s affection for Gaius is obvious in his repeated use of the word "beloved" (cf. 3 John 1:2). Gaius acted faithfully in the sense that his behavior was consistent with God’s truth (cf. 2 John 1:1-2).

It is possible that Gaius had shown love "for the brethren and for strangers" as some Greek texts read. On the other hand, perhaps the NASB translation is correct: he showed love to the brethren and even to those brethren who were strangers to him. Probably Gaius had demonstrated love to all these varieties of people (cf. Hebrews 13:2).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

B. Encouragement to Support Those Who Proclaim the Truth VV. 5-10

John commended Gaius for his love of the brethren (cf. 1 John 2:3-9; 1 John 3:14-18; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:11; 1 John 4:20-21; 2 John 1:5) to encourage him to continue practicing this virtue.

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 1

THE TEACHER'S JOY ( 3 John 1:1-4 )

1:1-4 The Elder to Gaius, the beloved, whom I love in truth.

No New Testament letter better shows that the Christian letters were exactly on the model which all letter-writers used in the time of the early church. There is a papyrus letter from Irenaeus, a ship's captain, to his brother Apolinarius:

Irenaeus to Apolinarius his brother, my greetings. Continually I

pray that you may be in health, even as I myself am in health. I

wish you to know that I arrived at land on the 6th of the month

Epeiph, and I finished unloading my ship on the 18th of the same

month, and went up to Rome on the 25th of the same month, and the

place welcomed us, as God willed. Daily we are waiting for our

discharge, so that up till today no one of us in the corn service

has been allowed to go. I greet your wife much, and Serenus, and

all who love you, by name. Good bye.

The form of Irenaeus' letter is exactly that of John's. There is first the greeting, next the prayer for good health, after that the main body of the letter with its news, and then the final greetings. The early Christian letters were not something remote and ecclesiastical; they were the kind of letters which people wrote to each other every day.

John writes to a friend called Gaius. In the world of the New Testament Gaius was the commonest of all names. In the New Testament there are three men with that name. There is Gaius, the Macedonian who, along with Aristarchus, was with Paul at the riot in Ephesus ( Acts 19:29). There is Gaius of Derbe, who was the delegate of his church to convey the collection for the poor to Jerusalem ( Acts 20:4). There is the Gaius of Corinth who had been Paul's host, and who was such a hospitable soul that he could be called the host of the whole church ( Romans 16:23), and who was one of the very few people whom Paul had personally baptized ( 1 Corinthians 1:14), and who, according to tradition, became the first Bishop of Thessalonica. Gaius was the commonest of all names; and there is no reason to identify our Gaius with any of these three. According to tradition he was made the Bishop of Pergamum by John himself. Here he stands before us as a man with an open house and an open heart.

Twice in the first two verses of this little letter John uses the word beloved. (The well-beloved and beloved of the King James Version's first two verses translate the same Greek word, agapetos, G27.) In this group of letters John uses agapetos ( G27) no fewer than ten times. This is a very notable fact. These letters are letters of warning and rebuke; and yet their accent is the accent of love. It was the advice of a great scholar and preacher: "Never scold your congregation." Even if he has to rebuke, John never speaks with irritation. The whole atmosphere of his writing is that of love.

3 John 1:2 shows us the comprehensive care of the good and devoted pastor. John is interested both in the physical and the spiritual health of Gaius. John was like Jesus; he never forgot that men have bodies as well as souls and that they matter, too.

In 3 John 1:4 John tells us of the teacher's greatest joy. It is to see his pupils walking in the truth. The truth is not simply something to be intellectually assimilated; it is the knowledge which fills a man's mind and the charity which clothes his life. The truth is what makes a man think and act like God.

CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY ( 3 John 1:5-8 )

1:5-8 Beloved, whatever service you render to the brothers, strangers as they are, is an act of true faith and they testify to your love before the church. It will be a further kindness, if you send them on their way worthily of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the Name and they take no assistance from pagans. It is a duty to support such men, that we may show ourselves fellow-workers with the truth.

Here we come to John's main object in writing. A group of travelling missionaries is on its way to the church of which Gaius is a member, and John urges him to receive them, to give them every support and to send them on their way in a truly Christian manner.

In the ancient world hospitality was a sacred duty. Strangers were under the protection of Zeus Xenios, Zeus the god of strangers (Xenos, G3581, is the Greek for a stranger). In the ancient world inns were notoriously unsatisfactory. The Greek had an instinctive dislike of taking money for the giving of hospitality; and, therefore, the profession of innkeeper ranked very low. Inns were notoriously dirty and flea-infested. Innkeepers were notoriously rapacious so that Plato compared them to pirates who hold their guests to ransom before they allow them to escape. The ancient world had a system of guest-friendships whereby families in different parts of the country undertook to give each other's members hospitality when the occasion arose. This connection between families lasted throughout the generations and when it was claimed, the claimant brought with him a sumbolon, or token, which identified him to his hosts. Some cities kept an official called the Proxenos in the larger cities to whom their citizens, when travelling, might appeal for shelter and for help.

If the heathen world accepted the obligation of hospitality, it was only to be expected that the Christians would take it even more seriously. It is Peter's injunction: "Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another" ( 1 Peter 4:9). "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers" says the writer to the Hebrews, and adds: "for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" ( Hebrews 13:2). In the Pastoral Epistles a widow is to be honoured if she has "shown hospitality" ( 1 Timothy 5:9). Paul bids the Romans to "practice hospitality" ( Romans 12:13).

Hospitality was to be specially the characteristic of the leaders of the church. A bishop must be a man given to hospitality ( 1 Timothy 3:2). Titus is told to be "hospitable" ( Titus 1:8). When we come down to the time of Justin Martyr, (A.D. 170) we find that on the Lord's Day the well-to-do contributed as they would and it was the duty of the president of the congregation "to succour the orphans and the widows, and those who through sickness or any other cause are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning amongst us" (Justin Martyr: First Apology 1: 67).

In the early church the Christian home was the place of the open door and the loving welcome. There can be few nobler works than to give a stranger the right of entry to a Christian home. The Christian family circle should always be wide enough to have a place for the stranger, no matter where he comes from or what his colour.

THE CHRISTIAN ADVENTURERS ( 3 John 1:5-8 continued)

Further, this passage tells us about the wandering missionaries who gave up home and comfort to carry afield the word of God. In 3 John 1:7 Paul says that they have gone forth for the sake of the Name and take no assistance from pagans. (It is just possible that 3 John 1:7 might refer to those who had come out from the Gentiles taking nothing with them, those who for the sake of Christianity had left their work and their home and their friends and had no means of support.) In the ancient world the "begging friar," with his wallet, was well known. There is, for instance, a record of a man calling himself "the slave of the Syrian goddess," who went out begging and claimed that he never came back with fewer than seventy bags of money for his goddess. But these Christian wandering preachers would take nothing from the Gentiles, even if they would have given it.

John commends these adventurers of the faith to the hospitality and the generosity of Gaius. He says that it is a duty to help them so that we may show ourselves fellow-workers in the truth ( 3 John 1:8). Moffatt translates this very vividly: "We are bound to support such men to prove ourselves allies of the truth."

There is a great Christian thought here. A man's circumstances may be such that he cannot become a missionary or a preacher. Life may have put him in a position where he must get on with a secular job, staying in the one place and carrying out the routine duties of life and living. But where he cannot go, his money and his prayers and his practical support can go. Not everyone can be, so to speak, in the front line; but by supporting those who are there, he can make himself an ally of the truth. When we remember that, all giving to the wider work of Christ and his church must become not an obligation but a privilege, not a duty but a delight. The church needs those who will go out with the truth, but it also needs those who will be allies of the truth at home.

LOVE'S APPEAL ( 3 John 1:9-14 )

1:9-15 I have already written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who is ambitious for the leadership, does not accept our authority. So, then, when I come, I will bring up the matter of his actions, for he talks nonsensically about us with wicked words; he refuses to receive the brothers and attempts to stop those who wish to do so and tries to eject them from the church.

Here we come to the reason why this letter was written and are introduced to two of the main characters in the story.

There is Diotrephes. In the introduction we have already seen the situation in which John and Diotrephes and Demetrius are all involved. In the early church there was a double ministry. There were the apostles and the prophets whose sphere was not confined to any one congregation and whose authority extended all over the church. There were also the elders; they were the permanent settled ministry of the local congregations and their very backbone.

In the early days this presented no problem, for the local congregations were still very much infants who had not yet learned to walk by themselves and to handle their own affairs. But as time went on there came a tension between the two kinds of ministry. As the local churches became stronger and more conscious of their identity, they inevitably became less and less willing to submit to remote control or to the invasion of itinerant strangers.

The problem is still to some extent with us. There is the itinerant evangelist who may well have a theology and work with methods and in an atmosphere very different from that of the settled local congregation. In the younger churches there is the question of how long the missionaries should remain in control and of when the time has come for them to withdraw and allow the indigenous churches to rule their own affairs.

In this letter Diotrephes is the representative of the local congregation. He will not accept the authority of John, the apostolic man and he will not receive the itinerant missionaries. He is so determined to see that the local congregation manages its own affairs that he will even eject those who are still prepared to accept the authority of John and to receive the wandering preachers. What exactly Diotrephes is we cannot tell. He certainly is not a bishop in anything like the modern sense of the word. He may be a very strong-minded elder. Or he may even be an aggressive member of the congregation who by the force of his personality is sweeping all before him. Certainly he emerges as a strong and dominant character.

Demetrius is most likely the leader of the wandering preachers and probably the actual bearer of this letter. John goes out of his way to give him a testimonial as to character and ability, and it may well be that there are certain circumstances attaching to him which give Diotrephes a handle for his opposition.

Demetrius is by no means an uncommon name. Attempts have been made to identify him with two New Testament characters. He has been identified with Demetrius, the silversmith of Ephesus and the leader of the opposition to Paul ( Acts 19:21 ff.). It may be that he afterwards became a Christian and that his early opposition was still a black mark against him. He has been identified with Demas (a shortened form of Demetrius), who had once been one of Paul's fellow-labourers but who had forsaken him because he loved this present world ( Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:24; 2 Timothy 4:10). It may be that Demas came back to the faith and that his desertion of Paul was always held against him.

Into this situation comes John, whose authority is being flouted; and Gaius, a kindly soul but probably not so strong a character as the aggressive Diotrephes, whom John is seeking to align with himself, for Gaius, left on his own, might well succumb to Diotrephes.

There is our situation. We may have a good deal of sympathy with Diotrephes; we may well think that he was taking a stand which sooner or later had to be taken. But for all his strength of character he had one fault--he was lacking in charity. As C. H. Dodd has put it: "There is no real religious experience which does not express itself in charity." That is why, for all his powers of leadership and for all his dominance of character, Diotrephes was not a real Christian, as John saw it. The true Christian leader must always remember that strength and gentleness must go together and that leading and loving must go hand in hand. Diotrephes was like so many leaders in the church. He may well have been right, but he took the wrong way to achieve his end, for no amount of strength of mind can take the place of love of heart.

What the issue of all this was we do not know. But John comes to the end in love. Soon he will come and talk, when his presence will do what no letter can ever do; and for the present he sends his greetings and his blessing. And we may well believe that the "Peace be to you" of the aged Elder indeed brought calm to the troubled church to which he wrote.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

FURTHER READING

John

J. N. S. Alexander, The Epistles of John (Tch; E)

A. E. Brooke, The Johannine Epistles (ICC; G)

C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles (MC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

Tch: Torch Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

3 John 1:5

faithfully -- constant and untiring.

Question: What did Gaius do for brethren and strangers?

What is the difference between the "brethren" and the"strangers"? ["brethren" a reference to Christians, "strangers" to non-Christians, or outsiders.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Beloved, thou doest faithfully,.... Or a faithful thing, and as became a faithful man, a believer in Christ; in all his beneficence and charity he acted the upright part; he did not do it in an hypocritical way, to be seen of men, and gain applause from them, but from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God:

whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; which may design either different persons; and by "brethren" may be meant the poor brethren of the church that. Gaius belonged to, and others that were well known to him; and by "the strangers", not unconverted persons, but such of the saints as came from foreign parts, and travelled about to spread the Gospel, and enlarge the interest of Christ: or else the same persons may be intended, for the words may be read, as they are in the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and in the Vulgate Latin version, "what thou doest to the brethren, and this to strangers"; that is, as the Arabic version renders it, "to strange brethren"; or, as the Syriac version, "to the brethren, [and] especially [them] that are strangers"; so that Gaius was a very hospitable man, one that entertained and lodged strangers, and used them very civilly and courteously, with great liberality, and with much integrity and sincerity.

Mitchell's Commentary on Selected New Testament Books

WITNESSING TO THE TRUTH

3 John 1:5. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accom­plish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers;

3 John 1:6. and they bear witness to your love before the church; and you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

3 John 1:7. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting noth­ing from the Gentiles.

3 John 1:8. Therefore we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth.

Love for the people of God will be manifested in Christian courtesy and Christian hospitality and in encouraging other believers to bear tes­timony.

Apparently there were those brethren who trav­eled from place to place, preaching the Word of God. Gaius took them in, cared for them, mani­festing his love for God’s people because of his love for the Saviour.

These brethren would take nothing from the Gentile world but were trusting the Lord to meet their needs.

John says that such ones should be received into the fellowship so that we may be fellow-helpers to the truth. We are to take in and care for those who have sacrificed for the sake of the Gos­pel.

We are to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers to the truth. We become co-workers with them. We are workers together with God (2 Corin­thians 6:1 and 1 Corinthians 3:9). We are workers together with each other.

My friend, God will never be in your debt. We are all on God’s team. Each person is gifted to do a particular job, and some are told to go, some are told to stay. But we are all fellow-helpers to the truth; and, when God rewards His people, we will all share in the reward.

Some of us give all our time and strength to the study and the preaching of the Word.

Others pray for us and help support us, but they also are to be giving this message of the truth to their friends.

One of the greatest of all needs today is for God’s people to pray for His servants everywhere as they minister the Word of God and also to pray for each other.

We are all workers together, fellow-helpers to the truth.

Light of Israel Bible Commentary

JOHN'S INSTRUCTIONS

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 3 John 1:5-6

Ephesus was becoming a great center of Christianity in the ancient world. No doubt Christian workers regularly went back and forth from this center to many other places in the Roman Province of Asia and elsewhere. Wuest notes that the word "came" (Greek "coming") in verse 3 is a present participle that speaks of continuous action.<footnote>Ibid.</footnote>

In fact, this verse seems to verify that the group was about to be sent out once more by John and that they were planning to visit Gaius again. It was no doubt the proposed visit that made this letter necessary. Barnes says, "it would seem that they resolved to repeat their journey for the same purpose, and that the writer of the Epistle commended them now to the renewed hospitality of Gaius."<footnote>Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, Commentary on 3 John, 1870, v. 5. http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/3-john-1.html.</footnote>

In Second John and elsewhere we have mentioned the terrible state of hired lodging in the ancient world. Inns at this time were notoriously dirty and flea-infested and innkeepers had a universally bad reputation. Plato compared them to pirates, who almost held their guests at ransom.<footnote>Barclay, William Barclay's Daily Study Bible, Commentary on 3 John, v. 1:5.</footnote> On the other hand, hospitality in the home was a sacred duty at that

time. In the Christian world, hospitality was considered a blessing and a joy (cf. Romans 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9; Hebrews 13:2). Commentator and well-known Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe says, "Gaius not only opened his home, but he also opened his heart and his hand to give financial help to his guests."<footnote>Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 1017.</footnote>

It appears that Gaius was getting quite a reputation for his hospitality. Apparently the group had testified to the church (probably at Ephesus) about his liberality. John with full faith now sends the workers to Gaius once again. He charges Gaius to "…send them on their way in a manner that honors God." The Greek word for sending forth is propempsas, and it means, "Bring forward on their journey…to send forward, bring on the way, accompany or escort." Apparently it was customary in earlier Greek times to accompany a parting guest for a distance and sometimes to even provide money and food for the trip.<footnote>Wuest, In These Last Days, II Peter, I, II, III John, and Jude in the Greek New Testament, p. 220.</footnote>

Stott, citing C. H. Dodd, feels that money may have been involved. He feels propempsas is a technical term for early Christian missions and that it likely implies assumption of financial responsibility for the journey of these departing missionaries (cf. Romans 15:24; 1 Corinthians 16:6; 2 Corinthians 1:16). It was possible that this also included some provisions for the trip as they left (Titus 3:13; Acts 15:3).<footnote>Cited in Stott, The Letters of John, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Vol. 19, p. 229.</footnote>

"It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans" (1:7). Jesus' disciples and his later followers did not go out with their bag open to solicit from everyone like the later friars did. Jesus' disciples were not allowed to even carry a bag (Mark 6:8). Wiersbe thinks this reserve may have had roots all the way back to Abraham. Father Abraham turned down help from the pagan king of Sodom, though he did not force his associates to do so (Genesis 14:17-24).<footnote>Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT, p. 1017.</footnote> There was another principle about sending folks out. It is found in 1 Samuel 30:21-25. In this passage David made the rule that those who stayed with the baggage were rewarded equally with those who went out to fight.<footnote>Guzik, David Guzik Commentaries on the Bible, Commentary on 3 John, vs. 1:5-8.</footnote> This principle certainly applies to those who stay home but support missionaries abroad today.

In Greek times it was customary for many folks to go forth begging. Some of the philosophers begged for a living and became quite abusive if people were not forthwith in their donations. Christian workers were not to follow such a disgraceful pattern. Stott clarifies things saying, "There is no prohibition here of taking money from non-Christians who may be well disposed to the Christian cause…itinerant evangelists would not (as a matter of policy) seek their support form unbelievers and did not (as a matter of fact) receive their support from them."<footnote>Stott, The Letters of John, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Vol. 19, p. 230.</footnote>

We observe that these workers went out for the sake of the Name. The noted Scottish scholar F. F. Bruce thinks that the Name can be a synonym for Christ. He notes that it is also a surrogate for YHWH.<footnote>F. F. Bruce, The Epistles of John (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1970), p. 150.</footnote> Others disagree and think it is only a reference to God the Father.

It is certainly true that the Jewish people have often used the Hebrew expression "the Name" (ha Shem) in referring to God. This is due to the fact that Jewish people feel the name of God is too holy to be pronounced. They commonly substitute ha Shem in many of their conversations. Since the name of God was for centuries regarded as too holy to be spoken, as a result, the Jewish people have now forgotten how to pronounce it.

"We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth" (1:8). The Greek word for "ought" here is opheilo. It means to have a moral obligation. The next word for showing hospitality is hupolambano, and it is very descriptive. It means "to take," or "to catch hold from underneath and lift up" thus "to underwrite." Kenneth Wuest translates it, "to underwrite such as these, in order that we may become fellow-workers with the truth."<footnote>Wuest, In These Last Days, II Peter, I, II, III John, and Jude in the Greek New Testament, p. 221.</footnote> Long ago Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) said, "Whoever gives practical assistance to those who have spiritual gifts becomes a coworker with those people in their spiritual work."<footnote>Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Vol. XI, New Testament (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009), p. 241.</footnote>

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.   4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.   5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;   6 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:   7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.   8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

      In these verses we have,

      I. The good report that the apostle had received concerning this friend of his: The brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee (3 John 1:3; 3 John 1:3), who have borne witness of thy charity before the church,3 John 1:6; 3 John 1:6. Here we may see, 1. The testimony or thing testified concerning Gaius--the truth that was in him, the reality of his faith, the sincerity of his religion, and his devotedness to God; and this evinced by his charity, which includes his love to the brethren, kindness to the poor, hospitality to Christian strangers, and readiness to accommodate them for the service of the gospel. Faith should work by love; it gives a lustre in and by the offices of love, and induces others to commend its integrity. 2. The witnesses-brethren that came from Gaius testified and bore witness. A good report is due from those who have received good; though a good name is but a small reward for costly service, yet it is better than precious ointment, and will not be refused by the ingenuous and religious. 3. The auditory or judicatory before which the report and testimony were given--before the church. This seems to be the church at which the apostle now resided. What church this was we are not sure; what occasion they had thus to testify his faith and love before the church we cannot tell; possibly out of the fulness of the heart the mouth spoke; they could not but testify what they found and felt; possibly they would engage the church's prayer for the continued life and usefulness of such a patron, that he might prosper and be in health as his soul prospered.

      II. The report the apostle himself gives of him, introduced by an endearing appellation again: Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers,3 John 1:5; 3 John 1:5. 1. He was hospitable, good to the brethren, even to strangers; it was enough to recommend them to Gaius's house that they belonged to Christ. Or he was good to the brethren of the same church with himself, and to those who came from far; all who were of the household of faith were welcome to him. 2. He seems to have been of a catholic spirit; he could overlook the petty differences among serious Christians, and be communicative to all who bore the image and did the work of Christ. And, 3. He was conscientious in what he did: "Thou doest faithfully (thou makest faithful work of) whatsoever thou doest; thou doest it as a faithful servant, and from the Lord Christ mayest thou expect the reward of the inheritance." Such faithful souls can hear their own praises without being puffed up; the commendation of what is good in us is designed, not for our pride, but for our encouragement to continue therein, and should be accordingly improved.

      III. The apostle's joy therein, in the good report itself, and the good ground of it: I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified, c., 3 John 1:3; 3 John 1:3. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth, in the prescripts of the Christian religion. The best evidence of our having the truth is our walking in the truth. Good men will greatly rejoice in the soul-prosperity of others; and they are glad to hear of the grace and goodness of others. They glorified God in me. Love envieth not, but rejoiceth in the good name of other folks. As it is joy to good parents, it will be joy to good ministers, to see their children evidence their sincerity in religion, and adorn their profession.

      IV. The direction the apostle gives his friend concerning further treatment of the brethren that were with him: Whom if thou bring forward on their journey, after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. It seems to have been customary in those days of love to attend travelling ministers and Christians, at least some part of their road, 1 Corinthians 16:6. It is a kindness to a stranger to be guided in his way, and a pleasure to travellers to meet with suitable company: this is a work that may be done after a godly sort, in a manner worthy of God, or suitable to the deference and relation we bear to God. Christians should consider not only what they must do, but what they may do, what they may most honourably and laudably do: the liberal mind deviseth liberal generous things. Christians should do even the common actions of life and of good-will after a godly sort, as serving God therein, and designing his glory.

      V. The reasons of this directed conduct; these are two:-- 1. Because that for his name's sake these brethren went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. It appears thus that these were ministerial brethren, that they went forth to preach the gospel and propagate Christianity; possibly they might be sent out by this apostle himself: they went forth to convert the Gentiles; this was excellent service: they went forth for God and his name's sake; this is the minister's highest end, and should be his principal spring and motive, to gather and to build up a people for his name: they went forth also to carry a free gospel about with them, to publish it without charge wherever they came: Taking nothing of the Gentiles. These were worthy of double honour. There are those who are not called to preach the gospel themselves who may yet contribute to the progress of it. The gospel should be made without charge to those to whom it is first preached. Those who know it not cannot be expected to value it; churches and Christian patriots ought to concur to support the propagation of holy religion in the pagan countries; public spirits should concur according to their several capacities; those who are freely communicative of Christ's gospel should be assisted by those who are communicative of their purses. 2. We ought therefore to receive such, that we may be fellow-helpers to the truth, to true religion. The institution of Christ is the true religion; it has been attested by God. Those that are true in it and true to it will earnestly desire, and pray for, and contribute to, its propagation in the world. In many ways may the truth be befriended and assisted; those who cannot themselves proclaim it may yet receive, accompany, help, and countenance those who do.