The big picture
Truth in 3 John is something people can report seeing. Gaius receives praise because brethren have watched him “walk in the truth,” and that walk becomes tangible when he welcomes traveling believers, including strangers, and helps them continue their journey. The letter calls such support becoming “fellowhelpers to the truth,” giving a quiet household a share in work happening on the road. Diotrephes turns the same issue of reception in the opposite direction. His love of preeminence becomes malicious speech, refusal of the brethren, interference with willing hosts, and expulsion from the church. Demetrius then appears with a good report resting on witnesses beyond himself. The chapter closes by refusing to let correspondence replace presence: the elder has more to say “face to face,” sends peace, and asks that the friends be greeted “by name.”
Central truth
3 John 1–8 commends Gaius because his walk in the truth becomes concrete hospitality toward traveling believers, making those who receive and send such workers forward fellowhelpers to the truth. 3 John 9–10 exposes Diotrephes not merely as an unpleasant personality but as a man who loves first place, refuses apostolic coworkers, speaks maliciously, blocks hospitality, and expels believers who resist his control. 3 John 11–15 closes by commanding imitation of good, commending Demetrius through multiple witnesses, and preferring face-to-face fellowship as the elder sends peace and personal greetings.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
3 John 1:1: “The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”
Slow down at the turning point
3 John 1:14: “But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.”
Keep this word trail visible
truth, Beloved, brethren, church, doeth, good
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
3 John 1–8
3 John 1:1-2
The wellbeloved Gaius
Begin with the warmth. The elder writes to "the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth", and calls him Beloved three more times in this short letter. Gaius was a common name, and the letter does not say which Gaius this is. Then read verse 2 as a real prayer for his health and wellbeing, "even as thy soul prospereth". Explain it as a warm wish of the kind common in letters of the time, not a promise that faith brings wealth. Teach this first because the letter is written to a friend, and its counsel comes out of love.
3 John 1:3-4
No greater joy
Read the report the brethren brought: the truth is in Gaius, and he walks in it. Then the elder's sentence, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth". Explain my children as the elder's spiritual children, believers he brought to faith or cares for as a father. Notice that the joy came by report: travelers carried news of Gaius's life. Teach this before the hospitality because it shows the class where the hospitality comes from. Walking in truth is the root, and the open house is the fruit.
3 John 1:5-6
Faithful to brethren and strangers
Now the work itself. Gaius acts "faithfully" toward "the brethren, and to strangers": believers he had never met. Explain strangers here as fellow Christians unknown to him, not unbelievers. The travelers reported his love "before the church". Then the request: bring them forward "after a godly sort", in a way worthy of God. Explain bringing forward as equipping them for the next stage of the road. Teach this so the class sees hospitality as faithful, costly work that God's people notice, not an extra for those with large homes.
3 John 1:7
Gone out for the name
Explain why these travelers need help. They "went forth" for the sake of the name, the name of Christ, and they took "nothing of the Gentiles", meaning they did not ask unbelievers to pay for the mission. That protected the gospel from looking like one more paid religion on the roads of the empire. Teach this step on its own because it gives the reason for verse 8. If the workers will not take from outsiders, someone inside must carry them, and the question becomes who will.
3 John 1:8
Fellowhelpers to the truth
Finish with the conclusion: "We therefore ought to receive such". Ought is obligation, not suggestion. Then the purpose: "that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth". Fellowhelpers means co-workers; those who stay home and open their doors work alongside those who travel. Set this beside 2 John 10-11, where the same elder forbids hosting deceivers. Teach this last because it gives every learner a share in the mission, whether or not they ever leave their own town.
3 John 9–10
3 John 1:9
A man who loves to be first
Begin with the motive, because the elder does. Diotrephes "loveth to have the preeminence among them": he loves first place. Point out that the text names a desire before any deed, and the desire explains everything that follows. Set it beside Mark 10:42-45, where Jesus says the one who would be first must be servant of all. Teach this first so the class sees that the problem is not a difficult personality but a heart that wants rank in the church of the one who came to serve.
3 John 1:9
Refusing the elder
Read "I wrote unto the church". The elder had written, perhaps commending the travelers, and Diotrephes "receiveth us not". Explain that us includes the elder and those who come in his name; refusing them is refusing fellowship with the apostolic witness. Contrast Gaius in verses 5 to 8, who receives such people and becomes a fellowhelper to the truth. Teach this so the class hears the letter's question again: who will receive faithful workers, and who will shut the door on them?
3 John 1:10
Words and doors
Now the deeds. Diotrephes is "prating against us with malicious words": explain prating as idle, foolish talk, empty in content but harmful in purpose. Then trace the three steps of the second half of the verse: he refuses the brethren himself, forbids others who want to receive them, and casts those people out of the church. Put the steps on the board as a staircase. Teach this so the class sees how a love of preeminence works itself out, from speech, to control of homes, to control of membership.
3 John 1:10
If I come
Finish with the elder's response: "if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth". Explain remember as bringing into the light, calling attention before the church. Note what the elder does not do. He does not answer slander with slander, and he does not ask Gaius to fight Diotrephes on his behalf. He plans to deal with it openly and in person. Teach this last because it gives the class a pattern for facing abuse of power in a church: name the deeds, bring them into the open, and do it face to face.
3 John 11–15
3 John 1:11
Imitate the good
Begin with the command, "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good". Explain follow as imitate, copy a pattern. Place it right after verses 9 and 10: Gaius has just read about Diotrephes and is being told not to copy him. Then read the two short sentences that follow, about the one who "is of God" and the one who "hath not seen God". Teach this first because it turns the letter from description to decision. Gaius must choose whom to imitate, and so must the class.
3 John 1:12
Demetrius and his three witnesses
Now the good example. Demetrius has a good report from everyone, from the truth itself, and from the elder: "ye know that our record is true". Explain that this is a commendation, probably written because Demetrius was arriving, perhaps carrying the letter, and needed the welcome Diotrephes would refuse. Teach this so the class sees how the letter's argument lands. Gaius has been told to receive faithful workers, and here is one, vouched for three ways. Imitate the good, and receive it when it knocks at the door.
3 John 1:13-14
Ink and pen, then face to face
Read verses 13 and 14. The elder has "many things to write" but will not use "ink and pen"; he hopes to see Gaius shortly. Compare 2 John 12, almost the same words, and show that the elder is not tired of writing but wants to handle hard matters in person. The visit promised in verse 10 is in view. Teach this so the class sees that the elder's correction of Diotrephes will come with his presence, not from a safe distance, and that Gaius will not be left to face it alone.
3 John 1:14
Greet the friends by name
Finish with the greeting: "Peace be to thee", after a letter full of conflict. "Our friends salute thee": the elder's circle sends its love. Then "Greet the friends by name": one by one, each person known. Contrast this with Diotrephes, who shut people out and expelled them. Teach this last because it leaves the class with the shape of a healthy church: peace spoken, friends greeting friends, and every person known by name rather than managed as a crowd.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
3 John 1–8
"Verse 2 promises that if my soul is right with God, I will be healthy and wealthy."
Verse 2 is a prayer, "I wish above all things", not a promise, and wishes for good health were a normal opening in letters of the time. The elder wants Gaius to do well in body as he already does in soul. Elsewhere the New Testament shows faithful believers who were sick, like Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:27) and Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20), and poor, like the Macedonian churches (2 Corinthians 8:2). Pray for one another's health freely, but do not turn this greeting into a guarantee.
"Hospitality means having friends round for dinner."
In verses 5 to 8 hospitality means receiving "strangers", believers you have never met, and sending them on equipped for the work of the gospel. It costs food, space, time and money, and the elder calls it faithful work and a share in the truth. Meals with friends are good, but this passage asks for more: open doors for people whose only claim on us is that they serve Christ. Let the class feel the difference before applying it.
"Missionaries should not accept help from anyone, because verse 7 says they took nothing."
Verse 7 says they took "nothing of the Gentiles", that is, from unbelievers, and verse 8 immediately says believers "ought to receive such". The point is the reverse of refusing help: because the workers will not seek money from outsiders, the church must support them. Paul makes a similar case in 1 Corinthians 9:14. The passage is a call to give, not a rule that ministers must never receive.
"We should welcome every traveling teacher, because Gaius did."
Gaius welcomed brethren who went out for the name of Christ, and the elder vouches for them. In 2 John 10-11 the same elder forbids welcoming a teacher who does not bring the doctrine of Christ. Hospitality in these letters is generous but not blind: it supports true workers and refuses to bless deceivers. Teach the two letters together, so the class learns to open the door gladly and with discernment.
3 John 9–10
"Diotrephes was a false teacher like the deceivers in 2 John."
The letter never says that. It charges him with loving "the preeminence", refusing the elder, "prating against us with malicious words", and expelling hosts (verses 9-10). His problem as described is pride and control, not a denial of Christ. That is a sobering lesson: a person can hold sound doctrine and still do great harm in a church. Keep the class on what the text says rather than adding a heresy to make him easier to dismiss.
"Any leader who exercises authority is a Diotrephes."
The elder himself exercises authority in this very passage: he wrote to the church, and he will remember Diotrephes' deeds when he comes (verses 9-10). Authority is not the fault. The fault is loving "the preeminence" and using power to shut out faithful workers and punish those who help them. Hebrews 13:17 still asks believers to honor faithful leaders. Teach the class to test leadership by its fruit, not to suspect every leader.
"Being put out of a church means being put out of God's family."
Diotrephes "casteth them out of the church" (verse 10), and the elder plainly regards it as wrong. The people expelled were faithful hosts, the very people verse 8 calls fellowhelpers to the truth. A human act of exclusion is not the same as God's verdict. This matters pastorally for anyone driven from a congregation by a controlling leader. The letter sides with them, while still calling the church to proper order and discernment.
"The elder should have let it go to keep the peace."
The elder chooses neither revenge nor silence. He says, "if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth" (verse 10): he will bring the matter into the open. Keeping quiet would leave workers unsheltered and hosts expelled. Matthew 18:15-17 and Galatians 2:11-14 show that some wrongs must be named in front of the church. Peace that protects a bully at the expense of the weak is not the peace of Christ.
3 John 11–15
"Verse 11 means that anyone who ever does evil has never known God."
John is contrasting two patterns of life, not weighing single acts. In 1 John 1:8-9 he says believers do sin and must confess it. The words "he that doeth evil hath not seen God" (verse 11) describe someone whose settled way is evil, like the repeated deeds of Diotrephes in verse 10. Keep the warning sharp, but do not let it tell a struggling believer that one failure proves they never knew God.
"Demetrius's good report means everyone liked him, so being popular is a sign of godliness."
The first witness is "all men", but the elder does not stop there. He adds "the truth itself" and his own record (verse 12). Reputation alone can be wrong; Jesus warned of the woe when all men speak well of you (Luke 6:26). What makes Demetrius trustworthy is that his reputation, his life measured against the truth, and the elder's knowledge of him all agree. Teach the class to look for that agreement rather than for popularity.
"Greeting the friends by name is just a polite formula."
Letters did end with greetings, but this one is chosen with care. After Diotrephes "casteth them out of the church" (verse 10), the elder's last words are about peace and about knowing each friend by name (verse 14). Jesus calls his own sheep by name (John 10:3). In a church where people were being pushed out, being known by name is a small act of protection. Encourage the class to learn and use the names of people they usually overlook.
Learning objectives
- Identify what reports about Gaius give the elder joy.
- Explain the difference between knowing truth and walking in truth here.
- Describe what Gaius does for brethren who are strangers to him.
- Explain what 'after a godly sort' asks of the church's help.
- Identify why the traveling workers accept nothing from the Gentiles.
- Explain how hospitality makes believers fellowhelpers to the truth.
- Identify the motive explicitly named for Diotrephes.
- List each action attributed to him in verses 9–10.
- Explain how refusal of the elder differs from a mere personality conflict.
- Trace how Diotrephes extends his refusal to other believers.
- Explain why hospitality becomes a church-order issue in this unit.
- Describe what the elder says he will do when he comes.
- Explain the command to follow good rather than evil.
- Identify the threefold testimony supporting Demetrius.
- Connect doing good with being of God in verse 11.
- Explain why the elder stops writing despite having more to say.
- Describe the relational force of 'face to face' and 'friends.'
- Recognize the KJV verse-numbering difference at the letter's close.
Teacher preparation
- Read the whole letter first because Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius are contrasted across only a few verses.
- Prepare to explain first-century itinerant Christian workers without assuming every traveler claiming religious authority deserved support.
- Mark every occurrence of 'truth,' 'faithfully,' 'love,' 'receive,' and 'fellowhelpers' in verses 1–8.
- Explain that the health wish in verse 2 is a greeting and prayer, not a formula promising material prosperity.
- Keep the movement practical: testimony about Gaius, hospitality shown, workers sent forward, participation in their mission.
- Read verses 5–8 first so Diotrephes's refusal is heard as direct opposition to the hospitality just commended in Gaius.
- Write the five actions of verse 10 on the board before class: prating, not receiving, forbidding, casting out, and the elder's promised remembrance.
- Prepare to explain 'prating against us with malicious words' as harmful speech, not harmless chatter.
- Do not diagnose Diotrephes psychologically beyond the motive the text gives: he loves to have the preeminence.
- Keep the institutional effect visible. One man's desire for first place changes who is received, who may receive others, and who remains in the church.
- Read verses 9–10 first so verse 11 stands beside Diotrephes's conduct.
- Mark the three witnesses in verse 12: all men, the truth itself, and the elder.
- Confirm the study page's numbering. The KJV commonly combines the final peace and greetings in verse 14, while some editions number verse 15 separately.
- Explain ink and pen versus face to face as written communication contrasted with preferred personal presence.
- Keep Demetrius's commendation restrained; the letter gives testimony, not a biography or office.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 3–4 explicitly say brethren testified of the truth in Gaius and of his walking in truth; verses 5–6 commend his faithful work toward brethren and strangers who testified of his love before the church. Verse 9 explicitly says Diotrephes loves to have the preeminence and does not receive the elder; verse 10 adds malicious words, refusal of brethren, prohibition of would-be hosts, and expulsion from the church. Verse 11 commands imitation of good and connects doing good with being of God; verse 12 gives Demetrius testimony from all, the truth, and the elder.
Scripture-supported
Verses 6–8 connect practical support with mission: send the workers forward after a godly sort, recognize that they went forth for the Name taking nothing from the Gentiles, and receive such people as fellowhelpers. The contrast with Gaius in verses 5–8 supports reading hospitality as a truth issue. Receiving faithful workers advances the truth; blocking them and punishing hosts obstructs that work. The closing lines value embodied fellowship: the elder has more to write but prefers face-to-face conversation.
Strong inference
The fact that the travelers are both brethren and strangers to Gaius strongly suggests that his hospitality is not favoritism toward friends but support based on shared truth and mission. Because Diotrephes combines status-seeking with speech control, gatekeeping, and expulsion, the passage strongly suggests that his desire for first place is being exercised through institutional power rather than private vanity alone. Demetrius's placement after the command to imitate good strongly suggests that he serves as the positive example opposite Diotrephes, though the letter does not say this explicitly.
Possible or traditional reading
Tradition has proposed identifications for Gaius with other New Testament men of that name, but 3 John does not identify him beyond the relationship and conduct described here. Some traditions attempt to assign Diotrephes a formal office such as bishop or elder. The letter does not give his title, so use only the authority his actions demonstrate. Some traditions identify Demetrius with other early Christian figures, but 3 John supplies no basis for those identifications.
Limit
The passage does not define every screening process for itinerant teachers, give a universal financial formula, or promise physical health in proportion to spiritual health. The passage does not tell us Diotrephes's background, doctrinal system, motives beyond loving preeminence, or what final disciplinary action occurs after the elder's visit. The letter does not tell why Demetrius needs commendation, what task he carries, or exactly when the elder will visit.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What exactly makes the elder rejoice in verses 3–4?
What a good answer contains
The brethren "testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth" (verse 3), and the elder adds, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (verse 4). The joy is not that Gaius holds correct views but that the truth is in him and shows in how he walks. A good answer keeps both, the truth within and the walk without. A weak answer stops at belief, or turns verse 4 into a saying about natural children rather than the elder's spiritual children.
Show teacher guidance
Do not stop at Gaius believing the truth. The report is that truth is in him and that he walks in it, which becomes the elder's great joy.
2. Why does verse 5 stress that some brethren are strangers to Gaius?
What a good answer contains
Verse 5 says, "thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers". Some of the travelers were people Gaius had never met. His care was not a favor to friends but service to fellow believers because of the truth they shared. A good answer sees that faithfully describes the quality of the work: steady, trustworthy, done as to God. A weak answer reduces hospitality to entertaining people we already like.
Show teacher guidance
The phrase shows that his faithful care reaches beyond personal friendship. Hospitality is being extended because of shared allegiance to the truth.
3. What have the traveling brethren already done before the church according to verse 6?
What a good answer contains
They "have borne witness of thy charity before the church" (verse 6). Explain charity as love, as the King James often uses the word. Gaius's quiet hospitality had been reported publicly in the elder's congregation. A good answer sees that private kindness had become public testimony, and that love here took the form of food, beds and help on the road. A weak answer treats the report as flattery rather than as evidence of a faithful life.
Show teacher guidance
They have borne witness of Gaius's love. His hospitality is not private sentiment; other believers have seen and reported it.
4. What does it mean to bring them forward 'after a godly sort'?
What a good answer contains
To bring them forward means to send them on equipped: food, money for the road, perhaps company for the first stretch. The phrase "after a godly sort" means in a manner worthy of God, the way God would send his own servants. A good answer keeps to that sense and connects it with verse 7: they are traveling for his name. A weak answer turns the phrase into a vague call to be nice, or into a fixed rule about amounts.
Show teacher guidance
Keep the answer within the context: give fitting help for their onward journey as servants who went forth for the Name.
5. Why does verse 7 mention taking nothing of the Gentiles?
What a good answer contains
Because "for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles" (verse 7). The workers did not fund their mission by asking unbelievers for support, so the gospel would not look like a religion for hire. That leaves their support to believers. A good answer sees the logic of the word therefore in verse 8. A weak answer turns verse 7 into a rule that churches may never accept any help from anyone outside them.
Show teacher guidance
The workers do not fund their mission by depending on those outside the faith, which makes the believing community's support particularly significant.
6. What remarkable title does verse 8 give people who receive such workers?
What a good answer contains
The title is in "We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth" (verse 8). Fellowhelpers means co-workers: the one who opens the house shares in the mission, though he never travels. A good answer sees that hospitality is gospel work, not a side activity. It may note the contrast with 2 John 10-11, where welcoming a deceiver makes the host a partaker of his evil deeds; hospitality always helps someone's message travel.
Show teacher guidance
They become 'fellowhelpers to the truth.' The host shares in the work by enabling faithful workers to continue.
7. What motive does verse 9 name before describing any behavior?
What a good answer contains
Verse 9 names him as "Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them". The motive comes first: he loves to be first. Everything else in verses 9 and 10 grows from that root. A good answer stays with the motive the text gives and connects it with Jesus' teaching that whoever would be first must be servant of all (Mark 10:43-44). A weak answer invents a full personality profile, guessing at his background, temperament or theology, none of which the letter supplies.
Show teacher guidance
The phrase is 'loveth to have the preeminence.' Use that explicit motive instead of inventing a personality profile.
8. What does Diotrephes refuse first in verse 9?
What a good answer contains
He "receiveth us not" (verse 9): he refuses the elder and those who come with him, apparently setting aside what the elder "wrote unto the church". A good answer connects this with the whole letter's concern for receiving faithful workers: Gaius receives, Diotrephes refuses. It may note that us includes the elder's coworkers, the brethren of verses 5 to 8. A weak answer treats it as a private snub between two leaders rather than a refusal of apostolic fellowship.
Show teacher guidance
He does not receive the elder or 'us.' Keep this connected to the letter's concern with receiving trustworthy coworkers.
9. What kind of speech does the elder promise to remember in verse 10?
What a good answer contains
The phrase is "prating against us with malicious words" (verse 10). Prating means babbling, idle talk; the charges were empty, but the intent was to harm. A good answer sees that the elder counts this among "his deeds which he doeth": words are actions with consequences. It notices that the elder does not answer with counter-gossip but with a plan to bring the matter into the open. A weak answer treats malicious talk as a minor fault beside the expulsions.
Show teacher guidance
The verse describes Diotrephes prating against them with malicious words. The issue is destructive speech attached to opposition.
10. How does Diotrephes move from personal refusal to controlling other people?
What a good answer contains
Verse 10 traces the steps: "neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church". First he refuses the travelers himself, then he forbids others from receiving them, then he expels those who do it anyway. A good answer sees the growth from personal refusal to control of other people's homes and finally to control of membership. A weak answer lists the actions without seeing how each step reaches further than the last.
Show teacher guidance
He refuses the brethren, forbids those who would receive them, and casts such people out of the church.
11. Why is this more serious than two leaders not getting along?
What a good answer contains
Because people beyond the two leaders are hurt. Traveling workers who went out for the name are left without shelter (verses 7-8); faithful hosts are threatened with expulsion (verse 10); and the church is cut off from the elder's fellowship (verse 9). The elder calls it "his deeds which he doeth", not a clash of styles. A good answer names who is hurt. A weak answer flattens the passage into two strong personalities who should simply learn to get along.
Show teacher guidance
Because hospitality, missionary cooperation, speech, and church membership are all being controlled. The effects fall on workers and hosts, not only on the elder.
12. What does the elder say he will do if he comes?
What a good answer contains
He says, "if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth" (verse 10). To remember here means to bring to mind publicly, to call attention to the deeds before the church. The elder does not say he will curse or retaliate. A good answer stays with the stated intention and notes its restraint: open exposure, in person, with the church present, much as Matthew 18:15-17 moves from private to public. A weak answer invents a dramatic showdown the letter never describes.
Show teacher guidance
He will remember or call attention to the deeds Diotrephes is doing. Do not invent the exact procedure beyond that stated intention.
13. What command follows the Diotrephes paragraph in verse 11?
What a good answer contains
The command is "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good" (verse 11). Follow here means imitate: copy a pattern. Coming straight after verses 9 and 10, the evil pattern is plainly Diotrephes, and the good pattern is about to be named in Demetrius. A good answer keeps the command tied to these concrete examples. A weak answer reads it as a general moral slogan and loses the point that Gaius is being asked whom to copy in a divided church.
Show teacher guidance
Follow not evil, but good. Keep verses 9–10 visible so the command has a concrete negative example.
14. What spiritual claims are attached to doing good or evil?
What a good answer contains
Verse 11 says, "He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God". Being of God means belonging to him and drawing life from him; having seen God means knowing him truly, as in 1 John 3:6 and 4:20. A good answer sees that conduct reveals relationship: a settled life of doing evil to the brethren shows that a person has not seen God. A weak answer turns the verse into a claim that one good deed proves salvation or one sin disproves it, which John does not say.
Show teacher guidance
The one doing good is of God; the one doing evil has not seen God.
15. How many sources of good testimony are named for Demetrius?
What a good answer contains
Three: "Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record" (verse 12). Everyone who knows him speaks well; his life fits the truth; and the elder adds his own witness, "ye know that our record is true". A good answer names all three and notes that this is a letter of recommendation, likely because Demetrius was arriving and needed a welcome. A weak answer names only the elder's testimony and misses the other two.
Show teacher guidance
Identify all three: everyone, the truth itself, and the elder's own witness.
16. What does it mean for 'the truth itself' to bear witness?
What a good answer contains
It means that Demetrius's life matches the truth so closely that the truth itself speaks for him: set the gospel beside the way he lives and the two agree. A good answer keeps that plain sense and connects it with the letter's language of walking in truth in verses 3 and 4. A weak answer adds something the verse does not need, such as a special revelation about Demetrius or a mysterious voice of truth speaking apart from his conduct.
Show teacher guidance
Treat it as conduct aligning with the truth confessed in the letter; avoid adding a meaning the verse does not require.
17. Why does the elder stop writing despite having more to say?
What a good answer contains
He says, "I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face" (verses 13-14). The limit is the medium, not a lack of material. Matters involving Diotrephes and the church are better handled in person. A good answer notices how close this is to 2 John 12 and that the elder expects to come soon. A weak answer suggests the elder had simply run out of things to say.
Show teacher guidance
He prefers to see Gaius and speak face to face. The limitation is medium, not lack of material.
18. How does the closing greeting reinforce the letter's relationships?
What a good answer contains
The closing is "Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name" (verse 14). Peace is spoken over Gaius after a letter about conflict. Friends is a warm word for fellow believers, as Jesus used it in John 15:15. By name means one by one, personally, not as a crowd. A good answer sees that the letter ends on individual care, the opposite of Diotrephes's habit of shutting people out. A weak answer treats the greeting as a stock formula.
Show teacher guidance
Peace is spoken, friends send greetings, and friends are greeted by name. The ending remains personal.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask what walking in truth looks like in this passage before defining it abstractly. The answer includes faithful, costly, practical welcome.
Relationships and community
Discuss how a church can honor people whose contribution is sending, housing, resourcing, and encouraging rather than public speaking.
Hospitality with a purpose
Trace the chain from receiving workers to helping their journey to becoming fellowhelpers. Let the mission logic of verses 6–8 drive the application.
Watch the verbs
Read verse 10 slowly and list what Diotrephes says, refuses, forbids, and expels. The accumulation is the lesson's weight.
By name
Notice that a letter about receiving and excluding people ends by greeting friends individually. Ask what that detail contributes.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
3 John 1–8
45 minutes
The wellbeloved Gaius
Read verses 1 and 2. Take confusion one briefly.
No greater joy
Read verses 3 and 4 and take question one.
Faithful to brethren and strangers
Read verses 5 and 6. Take questions two, three and four, then confusion two.
Gone out for the name
Read verse 7 and take question five with confusion three.
Fellowhelpers to the truth
Read verse 8 and take question six. Read 2 John 10-11 beside it and take confusion four.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for missionaries and traveling workers the church knows.
90 minutes
Who has stayed with you
Ask who has stayed in the group's homes in the last year, and whether any were strangers. Hold the answers for verse 5.
The wellbeloved Gaius
Read verses 1 and 2. Take confusion one, with Philippians 2:25-27 and 2 Timothy 4:20.
No greater joy
Read verses 3 and 4 with 2 John 4. Take question one.
Faithful to brethren and strangers
Read verses 5 and 6. Take questions two, three and four, then confusion two, and return to the opening question.
Gone out for the name
Read verse 7 with 1 Corinthians 9:14. Take question five and confusion three.
Fellowhelpers to the truth
Read verse 8 and 2 John 10-11. Take question six and confusion four.
A plan for hospitality
Name the missionaries, students or traveling workers your church knows, and decide one concrete way to bring someone forward after a godly sort.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse and the take-home line together, and pray for the workers named.
3 John 9–10
45 minutes
A man who loves to be first
Read verse 9. Take question one and read Mark 10:42-45.
Refusing the elder
Take question two. Recall Gaius in verses 5 to 8 as the contrast.
Words and doors
Read verse 10. Take questions three and four, and draw the staircase of refusing, forbidding and expelling on the board.
More than a personality clash
Take question five, then confusions one, two and three.
If I come
Take question six and confusion four.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for humble leaders and for anyone who has been driven out of a church.
90 minutes
Who wants the front seat
Ask the group where they see a love of first place in everyday life: at work, at school, in families. Keep the church out of it for now.
A man who loves to be first
Read verse 9 with Mark 10:42-45. Take question one.
Refusing the elder
Read verses 5 to 9 together so Gaius and Diotrephes stand side by side. Take question two.
Words and doors
Read verse 10. Take questions three and four, draw the staircase on the board, and read James 3:5-6 on the power of the tongue.
More than a personality clash
Take question five and confusion one, then confusion two with Hebrews 13:17.
Driven out
Take confusion three slowly, allowing for people in the room who have been hurt by church leaders.
If I come
Take question six and confusion four. Read Matthew 18:15-17.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse and the take-home line together. Pray for humble leaders and for anyone who has been driven out of a church.
3 John 11–15
45 minutes
Imitate the good
Read verse 11 right after verses 9 and 10. Take questions one and two, then confusion one.
Demetrius and his three witnesses
Read verse 12. Take questions three and four, then confusion two.
Ink and pen
Read verses 13 and 14 and take question five. Compare 2 John 12.
Greet the friends by name
Take question six and confusion three.
Whom will you imitate
Put Diotrephes and Demetrius side by side on the board and ask each person to name one quality to imitate this week.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for people in the church by name.
90 minutes
Whom did you copy
Ask the group whom they copied growing up, in speech, habits or faith. Hold the answers for verse 11.
Imitate the good
Read verses 9 to 11. Take questions one and two, and read 1 John 3:6-10 and 1 Corinthians 11:1.
Doing evil and seeing God
Take confusion one with 1 John 1:8-9, so the warning stays sharp and the struggling are not crushed.
Demetrius and his three witnesses
Read verse 12. Take questions three and four, then confusion two with Luke 6:26.
Ink and pen, then face to face
Read verses 13 and 14 with 2 John 12. Take question five.
Greet the friends by name
Take question six and confusion three. Read John 10:3 and John 15:15.
The whole letter in three people
Review Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius. Ask which one the church most needs, and which one each person most resembles.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse and the take-home line together. Pray for one another by name around the room.
Adapting the lesson
3 John 1–8
Children
Tell the children that Gaius opened his home to Christians traveling to tell others about Jesus, even ones he had never met. Act out a knock at the door, a welcome, a meal, and a packed lunch for the road. Read verse 8 and explain that helping the helpers makes us part of God's work too. Suggest something children can do themselves, such as making a card for a missionary family.
Youth
Ask what it would cost them to host a stranger for a week, and what it would cost their family. Read verses 5 to 8 and let them see that the elder calls this faithful work and a share in the truth. Connect it to supporting mission trips, student workers or missionaries they follow online. Spend a moment on verse 2 if prosperity teaching is familiar to them.
Adults
Discuss what bringing someone forward after a godly sort would mean for your church today: missionaries on leave, visiting preachers, students far from home, refugees who share the faith. Take confusion three seriously, since adults often feel awkward about giving to ministers. Compare verse 8 with 2 John 10-11 so that generosity and discernment are taught together.
One to one
Ask the person whether anyone has ever been a Gaius to them, opening a home when they were far from their own. Let that memory lead into verses 5 to 8. If they have little space or money, show that the elder praises faithfulness, not size. Help them name one fellow believer they could encourage or help on the road this month.
3 John 9–10
Children
Play a short game in which one child keeps pushing to the front of the line, and ask how the others feel. Read verse 9 and explain that Diotrephes loved to be first and would not let others be welcomed. Contrast him with Jesus, who came to serve. Keep the focus on the children's own wish to be first, not on adults at church, and never name anyone as a Diotrephes.
Youth
Ask how status works in their groups: who decides who is in and who is out. Read verses 9 and 10 and trace the steps from wanting first place to shutting people out. Talk about gossip, since prating with malicious words is very familiar to them online and in person. Then ask what a Gaius would look like in their school, and what it might cost him.
Adults
Discuss honestly how a love of preeminence can hide in committees, ministries and families, not only among pastors. Trace the staircase of verse 10 and ask where the early steps are tolerated. Take confusion three with care, since some adults carry wounds from being pushed out of a congregation. Consider what accountability helps a church do what the elder planned: bring deeds into the light, in person.
One to one
Ask whether the person has ever been on either side of this passage: wanting first place, or being shut out by someone who did. Let them speak first. If they were hurt, let verse 10 show that God's word calls such deeds wrong. If they recognize Diotrephes in themselves, point them to Mark 10:45 and pray together for a servant's heart.
3 John 11–15
Children
Play a copying game in which the children copy your actions, then ask what it means to copy good things. Read verse 11 and talk about choosing good people to copy, like Demetrius. End by having each child say the name of the person beside them and one kind thing about them, as the elder asked Gaius to greet the friends by name.
Youth
Ask whom they imitate online and offline, and how they choose. Read verses 11 and 12 and ask what it would take for someone to have a good report from everyone, from the truth, and from a trusted older believer. Take confusion two seriously, since popularity is easily mistaken for goodness. End by asking them to learn the name of someone at church they have never spoken to.
Adults
Spend time on the three people who shape the letter: Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius. Discuss how a church decides whom to trust and imitate, and what a commendation looks like today. Handle confusion one carefully, holding 1 John 1:8-9 beside verse 11. Ask how your congregation could make sure people are known by name, especially in a large church or after a time of conflict.
One to one
Ask the person whom they are imitating right now, and whether that example is leading them toward good or evil. Read verse 11 together. If they are fighting a particular sin, use 1 John 1:9 to keep verse 11 from crushing them. Close by praying for them by name, and for the people they will greet this week.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
3 John 1–8
The passage in brief
Third John is a short letter from the elder to his dear friend Gaius. The elder rejoices because travelers have reported that Gaius walks in the truth. Gaius has been faithfully welcoming believers on the road, even ones he had never met, and they have told the church about his love. The elder asks him to send them on in a manner worthy of God, because they went out for Christ's name and took nothing from unbelievers. Those who support such workers become fellow workers for the truth.
A verse to keep
We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
3 John 1:8 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What gave the elder his greatest joy, according to verse 4?
Why did Gaius's hospitality matter so much, according to verses 7 and 8?
Whom could you help on their way in a manner worthy of God?
This week
This week, do one practical thing to support a missionary or Christian worker: a meal, a gift, a bed, or a letter of encouragement.
3 John 9–10
The passage in brief
Third John names a leader called Diotrephes who loved to be first. He refused to welcome the elder and his coworkers, spread malicious nonsense about them, would not receive traveling believers himself, stopped others from receiving them, and threw out of the church those who tried. The elder does not respond with gossip of his own. He says that when he comes, he will bring these deeds into the open. Pride that wants first place hurts the whole church.
A verse to keep
I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3 John 1:9 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did Diotrephes love, according to verse 9?
List the things Diotrephes did in verse 10. Who was hurt by each one?
Where are you tempted to want first place?
This week
This week, choose one place where you usually want to be first, and deliberately put someone else forward.
3 John 11–15
The passage in brief
Third John ends with a clear command: do not copy what is evil, but what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does evil has not seen God. The elder then commends Demetrius, who has a good report from everyone, from the truth itself, and from the elder. He has more to say but hopes to see Gaius soon and speak face to face. He closes with peace, greetings from friends, and a request to greet each friend by name.
A verse to keep
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
3 John 1:11 · King James Version
Questions to take home
Whom does verse 11 tell Gaius to imitate, and whom not to imitate?
What three witnesses spoke well of Demetrius in verse 12?
Whose name will you learn or use this week to greet them personally?
This week
This week, greet three people at church by name, including one you do not yet know well.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
