Inductive Study: 3 John 1:12

Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.

3 John 1:12

Dear Heavenly Father, we have family struggling.  They need you desperately.  Please show Your face.  Bring them closer to You.  Lord save them.  Continue to be with me as I study tonight.  I praise and glorify Your name!  In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.

We are in the Conclusion/Farewell portion of the letter.  To bring deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.

"Demetrius" in the Greek is Demetrius which means devoted to Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment.  "Good Testimony" in the Greek is martureo which means witness, testify, give evidence, give a good report, attested, to utter honorable testimony, well reported of, accredited, commendation, speak well or highly of.  1 Timothy 3:7 states "Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."  John 21:24 states "This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true."  John contrasts the actions of Diotrephes with Demetrius.  John reminds his readers that Demetrius testimony is proved by tangible evidence.

"All" in the Greek is pas which means every kind of the whole, focusses on the parts making up the whole.  "Truth" in the Greek is aletheia which means not merely truth as spoken, truth of idea, reality, fact, not an illusion, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness, standard of God's word.  Demetrius is known for his Godly life as demonstrated by real facts and told by everyone.  It is undeniable.

"Know" in the Greek is eido which means remember, appreciate, I see what you mean, perceiving, seeing that becomes knowing, discern, behold.  "True" in the Greek is alethes which means unconcealed, true in fact, worthy of credit, what can't be hidden, an actual occurrence.  John points out that he and his disciples also have proven Demetrius' tested and true confession of his faith and obedience to God.

One of the companion verses for this text comes from 1 Timothy.  The citation is part of Paul's description of church leadership.  However, as Christians, we are all called to this standard.  In our Scripture tonight, John identifies Demetrius's walk as God honoring by comparing it to the truth spoken from him and his disciples along with God's standard that describes Demetrius.  

So, what is God's standard.  What is this good testimony that will keep us from reproach and the snare of the devil?  Our life needs to be innocent of wrongdoing, be committed to family, have self control over temptations, be logical, do the right thing, be welcoming, be a mentor, not love money, and be humble in all things.  Let me just say that is impossible!  Ah, but what did Demetrius have or how could he have this good testimony?  He has what all believers in Christ have, God's helper, the Holy Spirit.  When you cease control over your life and follow the Holy Spirit's direction, you will have a "good testimony."  We may fail, but we will never lose.

Demetrius has received a good testimony and commendation from everyone—and from the truth [the standard of God’s word] itself; and we add our testimony and speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

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Inductive Study: 3 John 1:11

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

3 John 1:11

Dear Heavenly Father, please be with me as I study tonight.  Help me grow in wisdom and be humble in all things.  Please with my daughter on her vacation.  Protect her and bring her back to campus safely.  Please be with my son as he prepares for college.  Continue to encourage and direct my wife.  In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.

We are beginning the conclusion of the letter.  After his rebuke of Diotrephes, John gives instructions to Gaius and summarizes his admonishment.  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 divinely loved, personally experiencing God’s agape love, esteemed, dear, favorite, bound together by mutual affection, fellow Christian.  Gaius, the recipient of this letter, is one who John highly esteems and is loved by God.

"Imitate" in the Greek is mimeomai which means follow, emulating a mentor or example. Psalm 34:14 states "Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 37:27 states "Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore." Isaiah 1:16-17 states "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow."  John instructs Gaius to emulate good not evil and to model his life and behavior on the good example.  But what is good and what is evil?

"Evil" in the Greek is kakos which means bad, evil in the widest sense, inner malice, inwardly foul, morally rotten, contrary to the law (divine or human),  wrong, wicked, commit sin.  In the previous verses in Psalms and Isaiah, "Evil" in the Hebrew is ra or rao which means adversity, disagreeable, unethical, wrong, badness, rottenness, sadness, ugliness, wickedness.  1 John 3:6 states "Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him."  John instructs Gaius to not live breaking God's law.  John instructs him not to sin.  Sin is evil.

"Good" in the Greek is agathos which means intrinsically good, good in nature, inherently good, describes what originated from God and is empowered by Him in their life through faith, exhibiting Godly character/moral character/integrity, upright, honorable, acceptable to God.  In the previous verses in Psalms and Isaiah, "Good" in the Hebrew is towb or yatab which means beautiful, pleasant, agreeable to the senses, well, pleasing, do well, right, ethically, absolute toward men.  1 John 2:29 states "If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him."  John instructs Gaius to do what is acceptable to God, upright, and honorable.  "Good" is the direct opposite to "evil."  Therefore, if what we do is not acceptable to God, the action is acceptable to Satan.  It is a question of morality.

In the Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy, "Morality" is defined "descriptively to refer to certain codes of conduct put forward by a society or a group (such as a religion), or accepted by an individual for her own behavior, or normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons."  God defines "morality" for us in the Bible.  If we venture from that "morality," in reality, our morals become of our own choosing subject to the whims of society at even given point in history.  Without God, there are no morals that are universally accepted by rational persons.  Put simply, being accepted or rational again depends on the whims of society at any given point in history, geographic location, and/or culture.  This is proven by the fact that the world has no universal government.  Every time the world strives for one government, it fails.  People are too full of their own wants, desires, and beliefs in what is right.  People sin.  That is also why the world cannot make peace.

"Seen" in the Greek is horao which means look upon, experience, perceive, discern, beware, to seek with mind, observe, give attention to, has no personal experience with Him, doesn’t know Him.  "God" in the Greek is theos which means God the creator and maker of all things, God the Father, the only true God.  A person who is upright and honorable shines God the Father.  A person who breaks God's law doesn't know God.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.   Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

In September 25, 2015, Scientific America published an article, "Morals, Not memories define who we are."  The scientists stated "Although Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases may powerfully impact the mental functioning of individuals, sufferers can find some solace in the fact that substantial memory deficits—when unaccompanied by changes in moral characteristics—seem to have no effect on how others perceive 'who you are.'"  They further stated "Analysis of the data revealed that participants perceived the greatest disruptions in patients’ identity when they observed changes in moral traits. Other cognitive deficits—like those seen with amnesia—had no measurable effect on the perception of identity. Consequently, those with frontotemporal dementia showed the greatest changes in perceived identity, since it specifically affects the frontal lobe functions underlying moral reasoning and behavior." 

Who we are is defined by our moral character. 

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].

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Inductive Study: 3 John 1:10

Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.

3 John 1:10

Dear Heavenly Father, please give me clarity today as I complete my study of this verse.  Please give me clear thought and understanding.  Please be with my son as he graduates from High School tonight.  Continue to encourage and lead him.  In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.

We are still in the body of this letter, specifically admonishment.  This verse continues the  ethical rebuke of Diotrephes.  To bring deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.

"Therefore" in the Greek is dia which means through, on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, successfully to the other side, for this cause, since this is so.  "Come" in the Greek is erchomai which means go, arrived, entered, to come from one place to the other.  Since Diotrephes desires to be famous and first in all things, John describes what he will do if he travels to Ephesus.

"Call to mind" in the Greek is hupomimnesko which means remind, remember, to remember because prompted, to cause to remember, recall to mind.  It is made up of the word hypo which means "under" and mimnesko which means "remember."  "Deeds" in the Greek is ergon which means work, labor, action, that which is wrought or made, action that completes an inner desire or purpose.  John will through prompting of everyone's mind cause rememberance of Diotrephes' actions that completes his inner desires.

"Prating" in the Greek is phuareo which means gossip against, talk idly, make empty charge against, talk nonsense, overflowing with speech.  Phuareo only appears once in the Bible.  It's root word is phylaros which means to bubble up, boil over, to bring forward idle accusations. Idle means pointless, frivolous, petty, shallow.  "Malicious" in the Greek is poneros which means evil, bad, wicked, slothful, inevitable agonies that go along with evil, pain-ridden.  John reminds them that Diotrephes loves gossiping about John and his fellow workers bringing forward frivolous and shallow accusations.

"Content" in the Greek is arkeo which means sufficient, satisfied, to be enough, suffice.  "Receive" in the Greek is epidechomai which means accept, admit, welcome, aptly welcome, receive hospitably, not reject.  It is made up of the word epi which means "on, fitting" and dexomai which means "welcome."  "Brethren" in the Greek is adelphos which means brother, member of the same religious community, fellow Christian, fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection.  Since his gossiping and idle charges against them aren't enough, Diotrephes doesn't hospitably welcome his fellow Christians.

"Forbids" in the Greek is koluo which means prevent, hinder, to cut off, to cut short, deny or refuse a thing, withhold a thing from anyone.  "Wish" in the Greek is boulomai which means will, intend, desire, to plan with full desire, have a purpose, to will deliberately.  Diotrephes prevents and denies his congregation from welcoming fellow believers.

"Putting" in the Greek is ekballo which means throw, cast, banish, expel a person from society, banish from family.  "Church" in the Greek is ekklesia which means assembly, congregation, whole body of Christian believers, people called out of the world to God, a company of Christians.  Ekklesia is made of the word iek (out from and to) and kaleo (to call).  Therefore, people called out of somewhere.  Diotrephes kicks out of his congregation anyone who would receive the brethren.  Diotrephes persecutes anyone who doesn't say or believe like he does.  These people are intolerant in Diotrephes' eyes. 

As the world's morals fade away from Christian teachings, our definition of words change or at least how we use them.  Intolerant is defined as NOT showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree or differs from one's own.  This word is now being used as a sledge hammer to people who don't conform to the world's morality.  If the world says, you must like ducks.  However, if you hate them because the quacking is annoying, you are intolerant.  Your opinion cannot exist.  It must be expunged from reality.  What makes this use of the word dangerous is that the world's morality changes.  Therefore one day, you can be on the right side of history and the next day be banished.

As we read in this verse, this use of intolerance is not new.  Diotrephes is systematically culling his congregation to conform to his ideas by not allowing the missionaries into his church and also by removing anyone that sympathizes with them.  Throughout history, this is Satan's convenient strategy that has been employed over and over again, most recently with Soviet communism.  We must hold onto the Truth and use the Truth to counter respectfully other people's ideas and opinions.  By being gracious and fair in our discussions, we can model Christ and continue to spread the Gospel.

For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and unjustified charges. And not satisfied with this, he refuses to receive the [missionary] brothers himself, and also forbids those who want to [welcome them] and puts them out of the church.

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