11 Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God. 12 Demetrius hath the witness of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, we also bear witness; and thou knowest that our witness is true.

To counteract the influence of Diotrephes which is imperiling the belief and order of the Church, John is sending a messenger, by the name of Demetrius. He is the bearer of this letter, and is strongly commended to Gaius, to whom the letter is written and by whom he is to be entertained. This commendation is threefold: first, "Demetrius hath the witness of all men," that is his work in the Church is widely known and is everwhere approved; secondly, he has the witness "of the truth itself," that is, the manifestation in life and word of the effect of accepted truth, shows him to be worthy of trust and affection; thirdly, the aged and inspired apostle, John, adds his word of personal testimony to the character of this loyal and popular minister of the early Church: "Yea, w^e also bear witness; and thou knowest that our witness is true."

This commendation is introduced by a precept of wide-reaching application, and by a statement of deep significance: "Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good." Thus Gaius is warned against the example and influence of Diotrephes whose character has just been sketched, and is exhorted to emulate the zeal and fidelity of Demetrius who is now to be introduced. However, John first adds the characteristic words: "He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God." That Is to say, one whose habit of life Is right, one who practices what is good, shows that he has been "born of God"; but one whose life is evil has not caught that transforming vision of God, In the face of Jesus Christ, which Is possible to the eye of faith. No matter what one may profess or what power he may possess in the Church, words and deeds are the infallible proofs of the real but hidden springs of life.