emulate Christ

The Good News Should Produce Good Behavior

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11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

13 I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, each by name. – 3 John 1:11-15 ESV

John has managed to pack a lot of information into the closing verses of his third and final letter. After portraying the actions of Diotrephes in stark contrast to those of Gaius, John turns his attention back to his dear friend. He reminds Gaius to model his life after those who do good, not evil. John clearly establishes Diotrephes as someone whose actions are evil, but he does not declare Diotrephes to be an unbeliever. The Greek word John used is kakos, which can refer to someone behaving in an unacceptable manner or not as it should be. Their actions are wrong and, therefore, harmful.

Diotrephes’ habit of putting himself first was unacceptable because it was antithetical to what Jesus taught. He regularly instructed His disciples to pursue a life of humility and service and provided His own life as a model.

“Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” – John 13:34 NLT

“Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:12-13 NLT

Jesus did that which is good (agathos), making His life an example of all that was admirable, pleasant, upright, and honorable. Jesus was the consummate servant, giving His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). The apostle Paul provides a sobering reminder to followers of Christ to share His mindset and way of life.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. – Philippians 2:3-5 NLT

That is what John means when he tells Gaius to imitate that which is good. Jesus, though God, displayed no delusions of grandeur and refused to flaunt His divine glory in the face of sinful men. Instead, He willingly took the status of a slave, laying aside His divine privileges to serve the needs of humanity. Paul explains the mindset that motivated Jesus’ behavior.

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
   he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross. – Philippians 2:6-8 NLT

John desired his dear friend to emulate Jesus rather than Diotrephes who was following the leadership model promoted by the culture in which he lived. The apostle Paul knew that transformed behavior began with a transformed mind. He reminded the believers in Rome that compromise with the culture was not an option for them. Following the ways of the world would be detrimental to their spiritual lives and in conflict with the will of God.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 NLT

Only God can produce in His children behavior that is good, pleasing, and perfect in His sight. He does so through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. Diotrephes’ behavior was the normal and natural outflow of a heart influenced by his sinful nature rather than the Spirit of God. The apostle Paul provides an extensive, yet not exhaustive list of the “evil” actions that flow from a flesh-influenced heart.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. – Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

Notice his mention of jealousy, selfish ambition, dissension, and division. These were the very traits that characterized Diotrephes’ life. But Paul also provides a list of the characteristics that mark the life of one living in the power and under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. – Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

John told Gaius, “Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God” (3 John 1:11 NLT). It appears that John had the following teaching of Jesus in mind.

“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” – Luke 6:43-44 NLT

A tree is known for its fruit and the same is true of the human heart. Only a good heart can produce good fruit. Again, John does not seem to be insinuating that Diotrephes was unsaved but that his behavior was evidence of a flawed relationship with God. Diotrephes claimed to know God but failed to live in obedience to His commands. John addressed this problem in his very first letter.

If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. – 1 John 2:4-6 NLT

As far as John was concerned, the only way to truly know God was through a relationship with Jesus Christ. John opens his gospel account with the bold and exclusionary claim: “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us” (John 1:18 NLT). But this was not something John fabricated on his own; he had heard it from the lips of Jesus.

“Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.).” – John 6:45-46 NLT

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” – John 14:6-7 NLT

Jesus made it clear: No one could truly know God the Father without coming to know Jesus the Son as their Savior. Jesus was the conduit of divine grace that provided a way for sinful men and women to be restored to a right relationship with their Heavenly Father. The “good” actions of Gaius were evidence of his newly restored relationship with God. His changed behavior was proof that he had seen God, and it was because he had believed in the one whom God had sent.

John wraps up his letter to Gaius by encouraging him to extend hospitality to Demetrius. We have no idea who this individual was, but it is clear that John held him in high regard, noting that he had “received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself” (3 John 1:12 ESV). In other words, Demetrius, like Gaius, walked the talk. He lived his life according to the truth of the Gospel, allowing his behavior to flow from his beliefs.

John closed his letter by declaring his desire to see Gaius face-to-face. While writing a letter of encouragement was helpful, he preferred an up-close and personal visit with his brothers and sisters in Christ. A growing number of faith communities were springing up all over Asia Minor and the rest of the world making personal visits by the apostles nearly impossible. Travel in those days was expensive, arduous, and often dangerous. Driven by their desire to shepherd the flock of God, these men longed to visit each congregation but it was physically impossible. So, they wrote, encouraged, admonished, and prayed. When they couldn’t go, they sent heartfelt letters “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12 NLT).

While this letter was addressed to Gaius, it reflects John’s attitude toward all believers who struggled to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Lord while living in a godless environment. His words echo those of Paul written to the believers in Philippi.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. – Philippians 2:15 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Live to Righteousness

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21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:21-25 ESV

In His incarnation, Jesus Christ became one of us and became one with us. As the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, He humbled Himself by taking on the very nature of a man, being born as a helpless baby and subjecting Himself to the care and protection of human parents. We know little about His childhood, but in his gospel, Luke records a scene that provides some insights into Jesus’ character, even at the age of 12. Mary and Joseph had traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem to attend the annual Feast of Passover. But when the festival was over and they had begun their long journey home, they discovered that Jesus was nowhere to be found. They had assumed he had been traveling with other family members, but soon discovered He was missing. So, they quickly made their way back to Jerusalem and for three anxiety filled days they searched for him, and “finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions” (Luke 2:46 NLT).

And Luke records that “All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:47 NLT). But his parents were perplexed by his actions and expressed their concern to him: “Son,…why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere” (Luke 2:48 NLT). Yet Jesus calmly and confidently responded, “But why did you need to search? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49 NLT). That last line could be translated, “Didn’t you realize that I should be involved with my Father’s affairs?” He expressed surprise that his parents had not immediately assumed He would be exactly where His Heavenly Father was to be found: In the temple. Even at the age of 12, Jesus was wired to do the will of His Father and to seek fellowship with Him. And Luke records that Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people” (Luke 2:52 NLT).

As we’ve already discussed, the humanity of Jesus allowed Him to relate to us on an intimate level, exposing Himself to the circumstances and experiences common to the human condition. As a boy and as a man, Jesus knew what it was like to experience pain, to grow hungry and tired, to work, endure temptation, face rejection, laugh, cry, celebrate, age, witness the effects of disease and death, and watch the endless examples of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man.

For 30-plus years, Jesus lived on this planet; eating, drinking, working, relating, loving, caring, and growing in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and all the people. Then, one day, led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus made His way to the River Jordan, where He would begin His earthly ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist. But John was reticent, and Matthew records in his gospel:

John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:14-17 ESV

Look closely to what Jesus said to John. “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus was telling John that this was in keeping with the will of God and by obeying that will they would fulfill the moral requirements of God. This is not the same kind of righteousness that Paul speaks of in his letters. Jesus did not need to be made right with God. His baptism was not a form of sanctification, making Him fit for duty. It was a step of obedience, a sign of His willingness to do all that God had set out for Him to do. His baptism was not one of repentance, but of obedience. By allowing Himself to be baptized by John, Jesus aligned Himself with all those who had followed John’s call to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2 ESV). Jesus validated John’s ministry, and visibly gave His approval to what John was calling the people to do.

Matthew tells us that “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5-6 ESV). Even the Pharisees and Sadducees showed up, seeking to be baptized by John, but he responded to their efforts with scorn.

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” – Matthew 3:7-10 ESV

John saw these men as what they were: Self-righteous religious charlatans who had no intention of changing the way they lived. Unlike the common people who were confessing their sins, these pride-filled religious leaders saw themselves as already righteous because of their strict adherence to the Mosaic law and their status as sons of Abraham.

But John let them know that their self-righteousness was going to be inadequate and their legal status as Jews would prove insufficient. Jesus had come to usher in a new and better way for men to be made right with God. And John differentiated between his ministry and that of Jesus by saying, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11 ESV).

Some years later, after Jesus had completed His earthly ministry by sacrificing His life on the cross, rising again from the dead, and returning to His Father’s side in heaven, Peter wrote his first letter to a group of Jesus’ followers. And he challenged them to “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:16-17 ESV). These people, as followers of Jesus, were to live as He lived. They were to emulate His life. As Paul told the Colossian church, “you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead” (Colossians 2:12 NLT). They had a new power available to them, made possible through the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. They were new creations who were filled with the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:11) and fully capable of living new lives in keeping with the will of God, even if that will included suffering.

Which is why Peter tells his audience, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21 ESV). And Jesus had warned His disciples that things would not be easy for them. Following Christ is not for the faint of heart, but it comes with a personal assurance from the Savior Himself: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 ESV). But how did Jesus overcome the world? Peter explains that Jesus conquered the world, the evil domain under the rule of Satan, by sacrificing His life on the cross. Jesus “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:22-23 ESV). Jesus spent His life being about His Father’s business, doing what He had been called to do. He trusted His Father’s will for Him. He knew that God’s ways were just and right, and was willing to subject Himself to trials, tribulations, and troubles of all kinds because He had confidence in God.

Peter summarizes the actions of Jesus with the simple, yet profound statement: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). From His baptism by John to His death at the hands of the Romans, all that Jesus did was done so that we might live to righteousness. From His incarnation to His resurrection, the obedience of Jesus was displayed in full, providing a means by which sinful men and women might be made right with God. His fully righteous actions, from start to finish, made Him the perfect, unblemished sacrifice for the sins of man. He suffered and died, bearing our sins on His body so that we might be made righteous in the eyes of God. And not only are we considered or reckoned righteous by God, but we are also capable of living righteously, bearing the fruit of righteousness.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson