3 John INTRO1 - King James Version with Apocrypha - American EditionIntroduction The Third Epistle of John is a very brief personal letter of only fifteen verses written from “the elder” (Greek presbyteros, meaning “senior” or “elder”) to “the well-beloved Gaius,” a friend of the writer and a leader of an unnamed church. Gaius is praised for his strong faith and for his example of welcoming strangers at his church, particularly the hospitality shown to a traveling group of Christians who were sharing the good news in the region. A certain church leader named Diotrephes is mentioned (verse 9) as someone who has been the opposite: inhospitable, unduly restrictive, unfaithful, and disdainful of the writer. A certain Demetrius, by contrast, is named as someone who holds to the true faith and sets the right example (verse 12). Outline Greetings (1-4) Praise for Gaius' Welcoming Hospitality (5-8) The Unhelpful Example of Diotrephes (9,10) The Helpful Model of Demetrius (11,12) Final Greetings and Peace (13,14) |
King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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