This letter was written to instruct the church about the responsibilities of genuine hospitality.
3 John 1:1 - The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
He says, the elder (PRESBUTEROS), which is where we get our word Presbyterian from. But PRESBUS means an older person, an elderly person. And it was used to designate both age and position. I would emphasize to you that an elder in the church is somebody who is older in the Lord.
There are church committees that vote in new elders, and some of the elders who get voted in are new believers. In one religious group, there are elders who are 16 years of age. It's like "Hey, you want to take a shot at it for a year? Okay, you're in."
That is not what the scriptures teach about elders. We know from 1 Timothy Chapter 3, all of the maturity and the standing testimony that a person must have in order to be an elder, and even a deacon. But an elder is somebody who is older. John is both. He is an elder in age because he's probably in his 90's at this point. I believe there's a document that tells us that he died at about 98 years of age.
And he's also an elder in the church. He is the last surviving apostle in the church. All he says is the elder. And everybody knows who the elder is. There's only one left of the group. So, the elder, unto the wellbeloved Gaius, and wellbeloved is the word AGAPE in adjective form. This is to Gaius, the beloved brother. And beloved has to do with being the object of God's love.
Now here's the literal translation: even as your soul is prospering.
The tense of the verb in that last phrase tells you that he is prospering in his soul. But he's praying for his circumstances and his health to hold up, to support the good that he's already doing in the Spirit realm for Christ. So, it's not a health and wealth gospel thing. It's John saying that God's people have been so blessed by your hospitality, and I can only pray that your journey and your health will hold up so that you can continue to minister to God's people.
It's just the opposite of how the "health and wealth" people take this verse. His soul is already prospering. He's praying his journey and his health, that it would hold up, as his soul is already prospering.
3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
He says, beloved, again the word AGAPE, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. This verse alone has been taken out of context, and it has been a springboard for the "health and wealth" teachings, that your physical circumstances act as a barometer as to your spiritual condition.
That is to say, that if you are sick, or if you're in hard difficult circumstances, that means that you have sinned, and you need to repent and get yourself right with God, because John prayed "Above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.
They are making the connection there that the material realm displays your spiritual condition, because God wants you to be healthy, and God wants you to be wealthy. So, if you're not healthy and wealthy, then you're sinning against God and being disobedient.
Well, as you could imagine, that's not what the verse says! He says I wish. In fact, that's the word for prayer. I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. The word prosper is not associated with material gain, such as money or material objects. It means to have a good journey. And that you be in health. This is where we get our word hygiene from. That you be sound, wholesome, and your health holds up.
God's love in John was directed towards Gaius. And you can understand why, if indeed he has been kicked out of his church because he showed genuine hospitality to the traveling Christians. And the testimony of him said that he took care of you if you stayed at his place. He was genuinely generous and hospitable.
So, you can understand why John would write him a letter and say to the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, just like he said in 2 John. And again, John's emphasis is that love and truth are inseparable. When I say love, I mean AGAPE love. There are other forms of love that we're all familiar with. But God's love is not separated from the truth. You cannot compromise with love for the truth, and you also cannot with truth for love. You just can't do it. They go hand in hand.
So, when I take into consideration that if I tell the truth to the people around me, that they are going to reject me, so I will not tell them, that's not love, that's compromise! But we sometimes cannot come to the point where we can accept the fact that God would put us in a position that if we obeyed Him, somebody's feelings might get hurt, or somebody might get angry.
(3 John Part 1a):
This letter was written to instruct the church about the responsibilities of genuine hospitality.
3 John 1:1 - The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
He says, the elder (PRESBUTEROS), which is where we get our word Presbyterian from. But PRESBUS means an older person, an elderly person. And it was used to designate both age and position. I would emphasize to you that an elder in the church is somebody who is older in the Lord.
There are church committees that vote in new elders, and some of the elders who get voted in are new believers. In one religious group, there are elders who are 16 years of age. It's like "Hey, you want to take a shot at it for a year? Okay, you're in."
That is not what the scriptures teach about elders. We know from 1 Timothy Chapter 3, all of the maturity and the standing testimony that a person must have in order to be an elder, and even a deacon. But an elder is somebody who is older. John is both. He is an elder in age because he's probably in his 90's at this point. I believe there's a document that tells us that he died at about 98 years of age.
And he's also an elder in the church. He is the last surviving apostle in the church. All he says is the elder. And everybody knows who the elder is. There's only one left of the group. So, the elder, unto the wellbeloved Gaius, and wellbeloved is the word AGAPE in adjective form. This is to Gaius, the beloved brother. And beloved has to do with being the object of God's love.
3 John 1:2 Continued...
Now here's the literal translation: even as your soul is prospering.
The tense of the verb in that last phrase tells you that he is prospering in his soul. But he's praying for his circumstances and his health to hold up, to support the good that he's already doing in the Spirit realm for Christ. So, it's not a health and wealth gospel thing. It's John saying that God's people have been so blessed by your hospitality, and I can only pray that your journey and your health will hold up so that you can continue to minister to God's people.
It's just the opposite of how the "health and wealth" people take this verse. His soul is already prospering. He's praying his journey and his health, that it would hold up, as his soul is already prospering.
The reason is given to us in Verse 3.
3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
He says, beloved, again the word AGAPE, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers. This verse alone has been taken out of context, and it has been a springboard for the "health and wealth" teachings, that your physical circumstances act as a barometer as to your spiritual condition.
That is to say, that if you are sick, or if you're in hard difficult circumstances, that means that you have sinned, and you need to repent and get yourself right with God, because John prayed "Above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.
They are making the connection there that the material realm displays your spiritual condition, because God wants you to be healthy, and God wants you to be wealthy. So, if you're not healthy and wealthy, then you're sinning against God and being disobedient.
Well, as you could imagine, that's not what the verse says! He says I wish. In fact, that's the word for prayer. I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper. The word prosper is not associated with material gain, such as money or material objects. It means to have a good journey. And that you be in health. This is where we get our word hygiene from. That you be sound, wholesome, and your health holds up.
3 John 1:1 Continued
God's love in John was directed towards Gaius. And you can understand why, if indeed he has been kicked out of his church because he showed genuine hospitality to the traveling Christians. And the testimony of him said that he took care of you if you stayed at his place. He was genuinely generous and hospitable.
So, you can understand why John would write him a letter and say to the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, just like he said in 2 John. And again, John's emphasis is that love and truth are inseparable. When I say love, I mean AGAPE love. There are other forms of love that we're all familiar with. But God's love is not separated from the truth. You cannot compromise with love for the truth, and you also cannot with truth for love. You just can't do it. They go hand in hand.
So, when I take into consideration that if I tell the truth to the people around me, that they are going to reject me, so I will not tell them, that's not love, that's compromise! But we sometimes cannot come to the point where we can accept the fact that God would put us in a position that if we obeyed Him, somebody's feelings might get hurt, or somebody might get angry.
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