One Hope Church

In Monday’s reading (3 John 1:3 Part 2) we return to the verse where we learned how John knew that Gaius was spiritually healthy. In verse 2, John’s prayer-wish was that his health & all other areas of his life would be doing as well as his spiritual health. So, the spiritual health of Gaius was the standard for all the other areas to meet. John learned this as other believers had spent time with Gaius & later informed John of these things. So, his spiritual walk had been witnessed by these believers, and he was walking in the truth. In other words, his life matched the faith that he professed. Gaius was the real deal. Gaius was a faithful, ever-growing believer. His creed & conduct matched. And all of this brought John joy.

So, Gaius has a wonderful testimony. The language indicates that this happened on several occasions – so, this was the consistent testimony John heard about Gaius. As such, he represents Christianity & the Christ of Christianity quite well. Gaius did not have one foot in the world & the other in his faith. Wherever he went, he lived as a Christ-follower. This quality is often lacking today. There are too many “Chameleon Christians” – changing with their environment. That was not Gaius. He lived out the truth he professed. This is now the 2nd & 3rd time that John uses “truth” in these opening verses. He will use it again in verse 4. We cannot emphasize enough how important “truth” is to the Christian life. God’s truth is foundational for our lives. And that means that a person must first know the truth in order to be able to walk in it.

One person likened the Christian life to that of a fish. As a fish is meant to swim in the “atmosphere” of water, and as we know, a fish out of water is in trouble. “Similarly, a Christian not walking in the sphere of truth is potentially heading for trouble!” What would define the “atmosphere” of your existence? In this verse, John shows the importance of orthodoxy (right beliefs) and orthopraxy (right living). “We should not only hold the truth but allow the truth to hold us.” Gaius exemplified this, and that news brought John great joy. So, how do you get to be a Gaius? Well, first, it is something that you become – it involves time & consistency. And you get there by reading God’s Word, meditating on it, delighting in it, & practicing in your daily life. You get there by spending time with godly believers, who challenge & encourage you to grow in your faith. You get there by being intentional about how you live & being diligent in your pursuit of that. The truth must be in you before it can come out of you in your daily life.

Last week, we began to explore 2 Peter 2:1, where Peter confronts his readers with an uncomfortable but essential truth: false prophets existed in Israel's past, and false teachers walk among us today. And their threat is very real.

The focus was on Old Testament passages where such warnings or such men were abundant. From Deuteronomy's warnings about prophets who perform signs yet lead people away from God to Elijah's confrontation with hundreds of false prophets, as well as from the writings in both the Major & Minor Prophets where either the character of such prophets or their motivation was described – it’s all over the Old Testament.

And the warning is as true today, if not more. What makes this message particularly relevant for our digital age is the recognition that false teaching now has unprecedented access to our lives through social media, podcasts, and streaming platforms.

The key question becomes: How well can we discern truth from error when we're consuming content from teachers whose lives and fruits we cannot observe? The call here isn't to become suspicious of everyone, but to become biblically literate.

We need to know God's Word deeply enough to test what we hear, to distinguish between essential doctrines worth defending and secondary matters where grace-filled disagreement is acceptable. The path forward requires both wisdom and balance—holding firmly to core truths while avoiding the extremes of either accepting everything or rejecting everyone who differs from us on minor points.

Your best defense against deception isn't skepticism of everyone—it's intimate knowledge of Scripture. When you know the truth, lies become obvious.

Come join us today as we examine the many New Testament passages that give similar warnings and slowly make our way through this most important section of 2 Peter.

Let's get this Lord's Day started with these words from 1 John 1:1-4. Have a blessed day!

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

Come see us today at Fam Jam at Mack Park from 12-4💙