The Elder, To the
beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
3 John 1:1
Dear Heavenly Father
as I begin my study today,
I'm humbled by Your grace and Your majesty.
I pray that I will continually grow in the love and knowledge of You. Please help me to understand and apply Your
Word. Please be with my family, support them when they are hurting, and when
they loose sight of You in their lives.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
The book of 3 John
is a letter to the church. Most letters written in the New Testament are in the Epistle style. This style
is structured in the following format:
- Sender
- Recipient
- Opening
- Formulaic Greeting
- Thanksgiving
- Body (focuses on doctrine, encouragement)
- Initial Exhortation
- Thesis statement
- Ethical Admonition
- Conclusion/Farewell
- Practical Matters
- Individual greetings
- Personal postscript
- Doxology (prayer)
Not all letters have
every part of this format, but it is a good guide on how they created their
letters. These epistles were personal
correspondence between the writer and his audience. They were an opportunity to educate the
audience, convey information, answer a problem, and/or provide
encouragement. This verse details the
sender and the recipient of the letter.
To bring deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key
words and their companion or similar verses.
"Elder" in
the Greek is presbuteros which means
elder of the Christian assembly, mature man having seasoned judgement, old men,
rank or office of those who preside over assemblies. In the New Living Translation (NLT), the
verse reads "From John, the elder."
2 John 1:1 states "The Elder, To the
elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all
those who have known the truth."
This letter is written by the Apostle John, a mature man having seasoned
judgement that presides over the Christian assembly.
"Beloved"
in the Greek is agapetos which means
beloved by Christ/God/one another, divinely loved, personally experiencing
God's "agape-love," divinely loved ones, esteemed, favorite. "Gaius" isn't defined directly in
the Greek. It is from the Latin which
means happy, jolly, bright, merry. Gaius, the recipient of this letter, is one
whom John highly esteems and is loved by God.
"Love" in
the Greek is agapao which means wish
well to, take pleasure in, long for, denotes love of reason, esteem, prefer to
live like Christ, embracing God's will, what God prefers, doing what God
prefers. "Truth" in the Greek
is alethia which means not merely truth
as spoken, truth of an idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere,
divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness, opposite of illusion
(synonymous with reality), what is true under any matter of consideration, sincerity
of mind and integrity of character, mode of life in harmony with divine
truth. 1 John 3:18 states "My
little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in
truth." John esteems Gaius who
embraces God's will in his life in the sincerity of mind and character.
We should all strive
to be loved by God because of our deeds that follows God's will in our
lives. We need to be sincere, free of
false displays of feelings, deceit, and hypocrisy. We need to stand in moral uprightness in the honest, strong principles of Christ. Don't be discouraged by the people of this world who show false displays of feelings. Don't feel alone. If you are one of God's children, you are never alone. Live for Christ and the rest will all work itself out in the end.
The elder [of the
church addresses this letter] to the beloved and esteemed Gaius, whom I love in
truth.
Amplified Bible
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