Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers,
3 John 1:5
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to concentrate on your Word today. Please remove the distractions of life and of people. Help me to be your faithful servant. In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.
In verse 5, John begins the body of the letter which focusing on doctrine (Christian set of beliefs) and encouragement. The first part of the body is the initial exhortation, or an emotional plea to inspire people to act. To bring deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.
"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, reconciled by God and judged worthy of eternal life. John is once again repeating his love of his fellow Christian, Gaius.
"Do" in the Greek is poieo which means make, manufacture, construct, act, cause, to perform something worthy of a Christian. "Faithfully" in the Greek is pistos which means trustworthy, believing, loyalty to faith, fullness of faith, believing faith that God imparts, to do something harmonizing with Christian faith. "Whatever" in the Greek is hos which means who, which, what, that, also demonstrates this. According to John, whenever Gaius acts, he performs it in a manner worthy of being called a Christian loyal to God.
"Brethren" in the Greek is adelphos which means member of the same religious community, fellow Christian, fellow believer. Galatians 6:10 states "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Hebrews 13:1 states "Let brotherly love continue." "Strangers" in the Greek is xenos which means new, novel, foreigner, alien, guest. Matthew 25:35 states " for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in." These activities that Gaius does, he does them not only for fellow believers but also for people who he doesn't know and/or who aren't Christians.
Gaius, divinely loved by God who has been judged worthy of eternal life, performs acts worthy of a Christian loyally and faithfully for fellow Christians, guests, foreigners, aliens, and strangers. "Worthy" in the Greek is either axioo which means matching value to actual substance or axios which means God's balance scale of truth. A worthy person is honorable, meritorious. Specifically, the person has credible (worthy of belief, esteem, and praise) conduct, good reputation, deserving of respect, integrity, and a keen sense of duty. Am I worthy of being called a Christian?
Romans 7:18 states "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." It is not me who is worthy but Christ who lives within me as a believer. Romans 8:1 states "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." However, that doesn't mean I can neglect the brethren or the strangers. For James 2:14 states "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?"
How do people know that I'm a Christian, by the fruit of my works. How am I able to do these works, only by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Am I worthy? Christ makes me worthy and the Holy Spirit enables me to live worthy.
Beloved, you are acting faithfully in what you are providing for the brothers, and especially when they are strangers;
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