The Johannine Epistles
1st John
The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. It is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Johannine epistles. This epistle was probably written in Ephesus in AD 95–110. The work was written to counter docetism, which is the belief that Jesus did not come "in the flesh", but only as a spirit. It also defined how Christians are to discern true teachers: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love. It appears that John might have also been rebuking a proto-Gnostic named Cerinthus, who also denied the true humanity of Christ.
Structure
Structure
I. Prologue: The Reality of the Incarnation (1.1-4)
II. Fellowship: Motivated by God’s Dealings in the Past (1.5–2.17)
III. False Teachers: Recognition of Deception (2.18-27)
IV. Eschatological Hope: Motivation for Holy Living in the Present (2.28–3.10)
V. Love as Basis for Assurance: Definition and Discernment (3.11-24)
VI. False Teachers: Discernment of False Spirits (4.1-6)
VII. Love: Essential to Sanctification (4.7-21)
VIII. Faith: Assurance in our Hearts (5.1-12)
IX. The Advocacy of Christ: Basis for Present Confidence before God (5.13-21)
I. Prologue: The Reality of the Incarnation (1.1-4)
We proclaim this about the Word of Life - which was from the beginning, and which we have heard, seen, and touched.
We proclaim that we saw the life appear - the eternal life, which was with the Father - so that you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We write this to make our joy complete.
II. Fellowship: Motivated by God’s Dealings in the Past (1.5–2.17)
A. The Principles of Fellowship: Walking in the Light (1.5-10)
We declare the message we heard from him to you: God is light
We are liars if we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another
The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim we’ve never sinned, we’re fooling ourselves.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive and purify us.
If we claim we’ve not sinned, we’re calling him a liar and his word isn’t in us.
B. The Provision of Fellowship: The Death of Christ (2.1-2)
My dear children, I write this so that you won’t sin.
But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of us and the whole world.
C. The Imperatives of Fellowship: Obeying God’s Commands (2.3-11)
We can be sure that we know him if we keep his commands.
The truth is not in those who say “I know him” but ignore his commands.
But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Dear friends, this new command is really the old one that you’ve always known from the beginning.
Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still walking blindly and stumbling in the darkness.
Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light.
D. A Poem on the Prerequisites of Fellowship: The Status of the Believers (2.12-14)
I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
E. The Impulses against Fellowship: Loving the World (2.15-17)
Do not love the world or anything in the world – for those who love the lusts and prides of the world don’t have the Father’s love in them.
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
III. False Teachers: Recognition of Deception (2.18-27)
A. First Proof: Their Abandonment (2.18-19)
Dear children, this is the last hour
You’ve heard the antichrist is coming, but many antichrists have already come.
We know it’s the last hour because all these antichrists emerged from within us… but they didn’t really belong to us.
They’re exit proves that they didn’t truly belong to us.
B. Second Proof: Their Denial that Jesus is the Christ (2.20-23)
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth – that’s why I’m writing to you.
Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.
No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
C. Third Proof: Our Anointing of the Spirit (2.24-27)
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you so that you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
I’m writing this because of those who are trying to lead you astray and not because you needed to be taught. You have kept his real anointing which teaches you about all things - and it taught you to remain in him.
IV. Eschatological Hope: Motivation for Holy Living in the Present (2.28–3.10)
A. Hope Produces Holiness (2.28–3.3)
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed.
If you know that he is righteous, then you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
The reason the world doesn’t know us is because it didn’t know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
B. A Proleptic View of Sanctification (3.4-10)
Everyone who sins is a law-breaker.
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins – because there’s no sin in him.
If you live in Jesus, you no longer live in sin. If you continue living in sin, then you don’t really see or know him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.
The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them
They cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
This is how to tell the difference between the children of God and the devil: Those who don’t do right and who don’t love their brothers and sisters are not God’s children.
V. Love as Basis for Assurance: Definition and Discernment (3.11-24)
A. Definition (3.11-17)
1. Negatively Stated: The Example of Cain (3.11-15)
You heard from the beginning that we should love one another.
Don’t be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.
And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.
Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
2. Positively Stated: The Example of Christ (3.16-17)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
B. Discernment: The Witness of the Spirit (3.18-24)
1. The Condemnation by our Hearts (3.18-20)
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know it’s because God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
2. The Confidence we can have before God (3.21-24)
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them.
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
VI. False Teachers: Discernment of False Spirits (4.1-6)
A. Objective Test: Doctrine (4.1-3)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God and is the spirit of the antichrist, which you’ve heard is coming but is already in the world.
B. Subjective Test: The Witness of the Spirit (4.4-6)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them instead of to us.
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us.
This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
VII. Love: Essential to Sanctification (4.7-21)
A. Love Displayed in the Death of Christ (4.7-12)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God, but God lives in us and his love is made complete in us if we love one another.
B. The Death of Christ Witnessed by the Spirit (4.13-16a)
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
C. Love Removes Fear (4.16b-18)
God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love, because fear has to do with punishment.
D. Divine Love Prompts Brotherly Love (4.19-21)
We love because he first loved us.
Liars claim to love God while hating a brother or sister.
Those who don’t love their visible brothers and sisters cannot love an invisible God.
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
VIII. Faith: Assurance in our Hearts (5.1-12)
A. Faith and External Evidence: Overcoming (5.1-5)
All who believe that Jesus is Messiah are born of God
Everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands… which are not burdensome
This birth and faith is the victory that has overcome the world, even our.
Who overcomes the world? Only those who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
B. Faith and Internal Assurance: Witness of the Spirit (5.6-12)
Jesus is is the one who came by water and blood… and the Spirit of truth testifies it.
For there are three that testify in agreement: the Spirit, the water and the blood.
We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because he gave it about his son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God (those who don’t are calling God a liar) accepts this testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
If you have the Son, you have life; if you don’t, you don’t.
IX. The Advocacy of Christ: Basis for Present Confidence before God (5.13-21)
A. The Advocacy of Christ (5.13-17)
I write to believers in the Son’s name so that you may know you have eternal life.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us… and if he hears us we have it—whatever we ask.
If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I’m not talking about those sins that lead to death. But know that every wrong action is sin… and so not every sin leads to death.
B. Summary: Assurances Restated (5.18-21)
Anyone born of God does not continue to sin because the One who was born of God keeps them safe so the evil one cannot harm them.
We are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.
And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ, who is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols…
Context
The doctrines of Doceticm and Gnosticism had made inroads among the followers of Jesus in the latter half of the First Century. Some said that Jesus never assumed human flesh, but only had the appearance of flesh, because they were scandalized that Divinity would soil itself by associating so closely with matter. Others said that Christ was raised as a spirit only, and did not experience a bodily resurrection. In this epistle John condemns such doctrines in no uncertain terms with the statement that such persons were antichrist.
Structure
I. Salutation (1-3)
II. Maintaining the Truth in Love (4-11)
A. Practicing the Truth (4-6)
B. Protecting the Truth (7-11)
III. Final Greetings (12-13)
I. Salutation (1-3)
“The elder” greets “the lady chosen by God” and her children
All who know the truth love them because of the truth, which lives in them and will be with them forever.
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
II. Maintaining the Truth in Love (4-11)
A. Practicing the Truth (4-6)
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
Dear lady, I am not writing you a new command. From the beginning, he said to love one another.
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.
B. Protecting the Truth (7-11)
1. Guarding against Doubt and Defeat (7-8)
I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world.
They are the antichrist.
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
2. Guarding against Defection and Defectors (9-11)
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God
Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.
Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
III. Final Greetings (12-13)
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
Context
The Third Epistle of John is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John. The Third Epistle of John is a private letter composed to a man named Gaius, recommending to him a group of Christians led by Demetrius, which had come to preach the gospel in the area where Gaius lived. The purpose of the letter is to encourage and strengthen Gaius, and to warn him against Diotrephes, who refuses to cooperate with the author of the letter.
Early church literature contains no mention of the epistle, with the first reference to it appearing in the middle of the third century. This lack of documentation, though likely due to the extreme brevity of the epistle, caused early church writers to doubt its authenticity until the early 5th century, when it was accepted into the canon along with the other two epistles of John. The language of 3 John echoes that of the Gospel of John, which is conventionally dated to around AD 90, so the epistle was likely written near the end of the first century.
Structure
I. Salutation (1-2)
II. Body of the Letter (3-12)
A. Commendation of Gaius (3-8)
B. Condemnation of Diotrephes (9-10)
C. Recommendation of Demetrius (11-12)
III. Final Greetings (13-14)
I. Salutation (1-2)
“The elder” greets his “dear friend” Gaius, whom he loves in the truth.
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
II. Body of the Letter (3-12)
A. Commendation of Gaius (3-8)
1. Gaius’ Faithfulness (3-4)
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
2. Gaius’ Hospitality (5-8)
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.
It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.
We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
B. Condemnation of Diotrephes (9-10)
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.
So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us.
Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.
He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
C. Recommendation of Demetrius (11-12)
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.
Anyone who does what is good is from God.
Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself.
We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
III. Final Greetings (13-14)
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
If you live in Jesus, you no longer live in sin. If you continue living in sin, then you don’t really see or know him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.
The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them
They cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
This is how to tell the difference between the children of God and the devil: Those who don’t do right and who don’t love their brothers and sisters are not God’s children.
V. Love as Basis for Assurance: Definition and Discernment (3.11-24)
A. Definition (3.11-17)
1. Negatively Stated: The Example of Cain (3.11-15)
You heard from the beginning that we should love one another.
Don’t be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.
And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.
Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
2. Positively Stated: The Example of Christ (3.16-17)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
B. Discernment: The Witness of the Spirit (3.18-24)
1. The Condemnation by our Hearts (3.18-20)
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know it’s because God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
2. The Confidence we can have before God (3.21-24)
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them.
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
VI. False Teachers: Discernment of False Spirits (4.1-6)
A. Objective Test: Doctrine (4.1-3)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God and is the spirit of the antichrist, which you’ve heard is coming but is already in the world.
B. Subjective Test: The Witness of the Spirit (4.4-6)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them instead of to us.
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us.
This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
VII. Love: Essential to Sanctification (4.7-21)
A. Love Displayed in the Death of Christ (4.7-12)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God, but God lives in us and his love is made complete in us if we love one another.
B. The Death of Christ Witnessed by the Spirit (4.13-16a)
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
C. Love Removes Fear (4.16b-18)
God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love, because fear has to do with punishment.
D. Divine Love Prompts Brotherly Love (4.19-21)
We love because he first loved us.
Liars claim to love God while hating a brother or sister.
Those who don’t love their visible brothers and sisters cannot love an invisible God.
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
VIII. Faith: Assurance in our Hearts (5.1-12)
A. Faith and External Evidence: Overcoming (5.1-5)
All who believe that Jesus is Messiah are born of God
Everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands… which are not burdensome
This birth and faith is the victory that has overcome the world, even our.
Who overcomes the world? Only those who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
B. Faith and Internal Assurance: Witness of the Spirit (5.6-12)
Jesus is is the one who came by water and blood… and the Spirit of truth testifies it.
For there are three that testify in agreement: the Spirit, the water and the blood.
We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because he gave it about his son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God (those who don’t are calling God a liar) accepts this testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
If you have the Son, you have life; if you don’t, you don’t.
IX. The Advocacy of Christ: Basis for Present Confidence before God (5.13-21)
A. The Advocacy of Christ (5.13-17)
I write to believers in the Son’s name so that you may know you have eternal life.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us… and if he hears us we have it—whatever we ask.
If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I’m not talking about those sins that lead to death. But know that every wrong action is sin… and so not every sin leads to death.
B. Summary: Assurances Restated (5.18-21)
Anyone born of God does not continue to sin because the One who was born of God keeps them safe so the evil one cannot harm them.
We are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.
And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ, who is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols…
2nd John
The doctrines of Doceticm and Gnosticism had made inroads among the followers of Jesus in the latter half of the First Century. Some said that Jesus never assumed human flesh, but only had the appearance of flesh, because they were scandalized that Divinity would soil itself by associating so closely with matter. Others said that Christ was raised as a spirit only, and did not experience a bodily resurrection. In this epistle John condemns such doctrines in no uncertain terms with the statement that such persons were antichrist.
Structure
I. Salutation (1-3)
II. Maintaining the Truth in Love (4-11)
A. Practicing the Truth (4-6)
B. Protecting the Truth (7-11)
III. Final Greetings (12-13)
I. Salutation (1-3)
“The elder” greets “the lady chosen by God” and her children
All who know the truth love them because of the truth, which lives in them and will be with them forever.
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
II. Maintaining the Truth in Love (4-11)
A. Practicing the Truth (4-6)
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
Dear lady, I am not writing you a new command. From the beginning, he said to love one another.
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.
B. Protecting the Truth (7-11)
1. Guarding against Doubt and Defeat (7-8)
I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world.
They are the antichrist.
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
2. Guarding against Defection and Defectors (9-11)
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God
Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.
Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
III. Final Greetings (12-13)
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
3rd John
The Third Epistle of John is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John. The Third Epistle of John is a private letter composed to a man named Gaius, recommending to him a group of Christians led by Demetrius, which had come to preach the gospel in the area where Gaius lived. The purpose of the letter is to encourage and strengthen Gaius, and to warn him against Diotrephes, who refuses to cooperate with the author of the letter.
Early church literature contains no mention of the epistle, with the first reference to it appearing in the middle of the third century. This lack of documentation, though likely due to the extreme brevity of the epistle, caused early church writers to doubt its authenticity until the early 5th century, when it was accepted into the canon along with the other two epistles of John. The language of 3 John echoes that of the Gospel of John, which is conventionally dated to around AD 90, so the epistle was likely written near the end of the first century.
Structure
I. Salutation (1-2)
II. Body of the Letter (3-12)
A. Commendation of Gaius (3-8)
B. Condemnation of Diotrephes (9-10)
C. Recommendation of Demetrius (11-12)
III. Final Greetings (13-14)
I. Salutation (1-2)
“The elder” greets his “dear friend” Gaius, whom he loves in the truth.
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
II. Body of the Letter (3-12)
A. Commendation of Gaius (3-8)
1. Gaius’ Faithfulness (3-4)
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
2. Gaius’ Hospitality (5-8)
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.
It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.
We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.
B. Condemnation of Diotrephes (9-10)
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.
So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us.
Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.
He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
C. Recommendation of Demetrius (11-12)
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.
Anyone who does what is good is from God.
Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself.
We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
III. Final Greetings (13-14)
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
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