Walking by Means of Truth: Doctrine of
Walking; 3 John 3
3 John 1:3, 4 NASB
“For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, {that is,}
how you are walking in truth.
The translators of the New
American Standard version have reversed the impact of the Greek here. There is
no article in front of the noun “truth” in verse 3, but there is the article
with the noun in verse 4. The reason a writer would mention something in one
verse and then come back in the next verse and include the article with it is
to show that he is talking about the same truth in verse 4 that he just
mentioned previously in verse 3. The phrase “walk in truth” shows up in vv. 3
& 4 as the main emphasis of the two verses. John is saying how excited he
was when brethren came and gave him a report on what was going on with Gaius
and what was going on in the church in whatever location it was. He writes, as
we will see in vv. 5-8, to praise the congregation because of the way they are
supporting missionaries that come through and the way they are taking care of
them logistically. But the problem he is addressing is the problem of vv. 9-12
which is a problem with one of the leaders in the church, probably the man who
became the pastor, Diotrephes, because he loved to
have the pre-eminence among them.
The greatest threat to a
pastor is arrogance. Pastors get up and handle the Word of God and are told all
kinds of things and given all sorts of compliments from people, and when
pastors lose humility and start taking all of that very seriously they begin to
think that they have a corner on the truth and that they are God’s gift to the
church. This sword cuts both ways because there are congregations that fall in
love with their pastor, which is not a problem, but they begin to think that
their pastor has a corner on truth. So that pastor suddenly becomes the
benchmark for all truth and no pastor has the gift of infallibility or
inerrancy. That is not what the filling of the Holy Spirit is all about. The
filling of the Holy Spirit in relationship to a pastor teaching guides and
directs the pastor in his study of the Word, but it is not an ex cathedra infallibility like the pope claims
to have. The pastor is to study hard but he can still make mistakes. No pastor
has the time or energy to become an expert in every area of biblical truth.
Diotrephes’ problem was that he loved to be in the spotlight and
wanted to get all of the approbation from the congregation. This is why
churches need to be careful about the approbation that they give to pastors.
There will always be pastors who begin to live off of that approbation and
attention and before long they have an ego problem. The congregation
participates in that by giving them that pre-eminence. There have been great
men in the past who have given tremendous doctrine to the church but there will
be men in the future who stand on the shoulders of them who came before them.
So we have to avoid that problem. Them issue is not the pastor, the issue is
not who the teacher is, or the personality, the issue is truth. That is what
John is emphasising in this epistle. There are six times in this epistle where
John mentions the truth. The issue is always doctrine. It is always, What does the Word of God say? The issue is never what some
theological system says or what some theologian or pastor says, but what the
Scriptures say. So people in the pew have to learn how to think,
and part of what a pastor should do is teach the congregation how to think with
discernment. John emphasises truth as the key issue for Gaius.
The phrase “walking in the
truth” should be translated “walking by means of the truth.” The dative case in
the Greek indicates the indirect object of the verb, and there are various ways
a dative case can be understood. The first is in a locative sense and a second
is in an instrumental sense. The locative case is the case of sphere and the
instrumental case has the idea of means—by means of—and it indicates the
instrument by which something is accomplished. A locative sense has a more
passive idea to it. If I am walking in the sphere of truth means I am just
living within the context of truth, whereas walking by means of truth indicates
that this is that which enables one to walk. It is very important to understand
that distinction.
The doctrine of walking
There are four different
words for walking used in the Greek New Testament. 1) peripateo [peripatew]which is
used literally for the forward step-by-step motion as someone propels himself
forward. The figurative or metaphorical meaning has to do with how one lives
one’s life, how one conducts himself, or how he behaves. It is a metaphor for
how you live your life. In fact, all of these metaphors are used for how we
conduct ourselves in life, the principles by which we govern our lives, how we
think, how we live our lives overtly. As we walk in the spiritual life we work
all the muscles of the spiritual life, i.e., all of the stress-busters or
problem-solving devices. Furthermore, as we walk we will increase the
circulation of doctrine in the mentality of our soul so that it will become
second nature to us to think in terms of divine viewpoint and of what the Bible
says about a particular situation. It will improve the inhale and exhale of
doctrine. The more we walk the more it will enable us to discern, understand
and assimilate doctrine in our soul. Furthermore, it will help eliminate the
waste of human viewpoint that has accumulated in the soul and has spiritually
constipated our life. As we walk it strengthens the soul and builds the soul
fortress that protects and defends the soul. 2) stocheo
[stoixew], used in Galatians 5:26 to refer to walking in a
straight line. It refers metaphorically to marching in step, marching in ranks,
to walk in agreement with, or to walk forward in an orderly manner. It has the
idea of following a set path, a straight line. The set path is set down by the
objective revelation of God’s Word. This is the word that is used for advancing
in relation to the mandates given in the Word of God under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit. 3) orthopodeo [o)rqopodew],
which means to walk straight, to walk in a straight path. It is used in
Galatians 2:14 to refer to a source of conduct, how well we live our life,
walking a straight path according to God’s revelation. 4) A more general word
is poreuo [poreuw], which means to walk, to proceed, to travel, go
about business, to live the life. These four words can all be translated
“walking” and each one brings out a slightly different emphasis and dynamic in
walking.
Walking is a crucial term
used to describe the characteristics of a believer’s life. The overall mandate
for walking is to walk worthy, because it is repeated three times in the
Scriptures. Ephesians 4:1 NASB “Therefore I, the prisoner of the
Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have
been called.” Colossians 1:10 NASB “so that you
will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please {Him} in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
1 Thessalonians 2:12 NASB “so that you would walk
in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
So what does Paul mean by the term “worthy”? This doesn’t mean walking to gain
God’s approval or God’s approbation. That is legalism. People get the idea that
legalism is emphasising a mandate, a command, and therefore emphasising
obedience. Obedience to the Word is not really an option,
it is a command of Scripture to obey the Word. The problem is that some people
want to say that by obeying the Word you get the blessing and approval of God.
That is not true; that is legalism. Legalism is the idea that anything you say
or do is done to gain the approval or blessing of God. We get the blessing or
approval of God solely on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Christ
which is imputed to us at the instant of salvation. Everything that God gives
us is based not on what we do but it is based on the possession of Christ’s
righteousness. We obey Him in order to grow and advance spiritually. Obedience
must be in the framework of walking by the Spirit and the filling of the
Spirit, and that is the second overall command. Walking in Scripture is
classified in three different ways, and each is defined by the use of a
different preposition. For example, we have walking where the dative is a
dative of sphere or location, where we walk in a sphere or realm. Romans 13:13 NASB
“Let us behave [peripatew]
properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual
promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.” “As in the day” is
talking about a sphere or realm. It is also called “in the light” in Ephesians
5:8 NASB “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in
the Lord; walk as children of Light.” It is also described that way in 1 John
1:6, 7 NASB “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and {yet}
walk in the darkness [sphere of darkness; carnality], we lie and do not
practice the truth;
There are some negatives
to keep in mind. Ephesians 4:17 NASB “So this I say, and affirm
together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk,
in the futility of their mind.” That is, do not walk or live life in the sphere
of the emptiness of the pagan thinking, human viewpoint thinking, that
characterises the Gentiles. 2 Corinthians 4:2 NASB “but we have
renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness [deceitful
cunning] or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
Then we are to walk by
means of certain things. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NASB “for we walk by [means
of] faith, not by sight.” Sight refers to all of the human viewpoint systems of
knowledge where we on the basis of empiricism or rationalism come up with truth
and our experience then becomes more real to us than what the Word of God says.
The second category of means is walking by means of the Holy Spirit. Galatians
5:16 NASB “But I say, walk by [means of] the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh… [25] If we live by [means
of] the Spirit [regeneration], let us also walk by [means of] the Spirit.” That
is our day-to-day progress in the spiritual life. The third means given is
emphasised both in 2 John 6 and 3 John 3 & 4, “by means of truth.” So we
have by means of faith, by means of the Holy Spirit, and by means of truth. These
three elements work together; we don’t have one and not the other. Then we come
to a third phrase which we have in the Greek which uses a different preposition,
the preposition kata [kata] plus the accusative which means “according to a norm
or standard.” Once again this brings in the idea of obedience to something. This
is used in Romans 8:4 NASB “so that the requirement of the Law might
be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh [the standard of the
sin nature and human viewpoint thinking] but according to the Spirit.” So we are
to walk according to a certain standard, and that is the standard revealed by
God the Holy Spirit and according to the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:15
NASB “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer
walking according to love…” That is the standard, to love one another as Christ
loved the church. There are certain negative associated with this phraseology
as well. We are not to walk according to the norms or standards of the sin
nature, Romans 8:4. This is further described in 1 Corinthians 3:3 NASB
“for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you,
are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” Ephesians 2:2 NASB
“in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the
sons of disobedience.” That describes the lifestyle of the unbeliever—human viewpoint
thinking. Human viewpoint thinking is tantamount to the thinking of Satan and
is evil. All of this is to show the different ways that walking is modified in
the Scripture.
In Galatians
The basis for the believers
walk is in Romans 6:1-6. This addresses obedience again. The goal is not to
sin. The purpose is to log maximum time in fellowship so that we can grow and
advance in the spiritual life.
Another key verse is to
walk as a child of light. Ephesians 5:8 NASB “for you were formerly
darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.” This
is a present active imperative which means this is to be the general
characteristic and standard operating procedure for living our life. [9] “(for
the fruit of the Light [Spirit: majority text] {consists} in all goodness and
righteousness and truth).” We don’t get the fruit of the Spirit unless we are
walking in the Light. Light in Scripture represents absolute perfection. It
reflects all that God is in His absolute righteousness and walking in a manner
which ism consistent with that. 1 Timothy 6:16 NASB “who alone
possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen
or can see. To Him {be} honor and eternal dominion!
Amen.” 1 John 1:5 NASB “…that God is Light, and in Him there is no
darkness at all.” So at salvation we positionally
become the sons of light. This is a description of our basic character; we now
have positional righteousness. John 12:36 NASB “While you have the
Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” That is
what happens at salvation. At salvation we are transferred positionally
into light. 1 Peter 2:9 NASB “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A
royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE
FOR {God’s} OWN POSSESSION, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Acts 26:18
NASB “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to
light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” Our new position in Christ means that we are children
of light and we are to live as children of light. Romans 13:12 NASB “The
night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds
of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
The precedent for walking
in the light is found in 1 John 2:6 NASB “the one who says he abides
in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” The precedent is
Jesus Christ. He walked in light; He is light; we are to walk in the same
manner.
Walking leads to living in
the sphere of the love triplex: personal love for God the Father, impersonal
love for all mankind, and occupation with Christ.
The Christian walk is
based on the faith-rest drill. The faith-rest drill is not faith in faith, it
is faith in truth. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NASB “for we walk by faith, not
by sight.”
Conclusion: the three
means work together, and these three means that work together are the
foundation for understanding how to live the Christian life, or how to walk the
Christian walk. It is under the filling of the Holy Spirit; it is a moment by
moment dependence on the Holy Spirit. While we are walking by the Spirit we
have the action of faith that is trusting, relying upon what He has revealed in
His Word which is the truth. That is how these three means clauses all work
together. This is the means by which we grow and mature as believers.