BiblicalInsights.net

It’s time for a spiritual check-up.  Health and fitness are important.  However, they are not more important than the heath of the soul.  “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (I Tim. 4:8).  In III John 1-14, we have three tests to determine the health of the soul:  the test of truth, the test of love and the test of righteousness.  In III John 2, John writes, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”  John ties physical health to spiritual health.  We can have joy and peace only by being right with God.
The Test of Truth
Truth matters!  What is truth?  In John 17:17, Jesus stated, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”  Many today believe that truth is subjective and so is a construct of one’s own mind.  However, Jesus makes it plain that truth comes from God and is synonymous with His Word.  The doctrine of Christ (II John 9) is the truth.  Truth is objective (stands outside of the individual person) and is knowable (John 8:32, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”). The truth contains facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed and promises to be received.  Peter declares, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (I Pet. 1:22).  The well-being of our souls depends upon our obedience to the truth.  The truth is livable.  The Holy Spirit declares through the pen of John, “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee (they had received the truth and it abode in their hearts by faith-DS), even as thou walkest in the truth” (III John 3).  To walk in the truth is to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles.  The identity of a Christian is manifested by conformity to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.  Paul makes a strong declaration of presence of Christ in his life, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).  The well-being of the soul depends upon integrity in Christian living.
The Test of Love
John mentions the display of love (charity-KJV) by Gaius in the manifestation of hospitality in the furtherance of the gospel.  “Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well” (III John 5-6). The test of love is a vitally important one.  First, the well-being of the soul depends on loving God supremely.  “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with al thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30).  Notice that this commandment is first in rank and importance.  If we fail to keep this commandment, then, obedience to any of the other commandments is a mockery.  Consider also that the whole person is involved in the obedience to this command.  This involves fullness of consecration to God and means that we hold nothing back in our commitment to Him.  The command is to love God.  This love for God means that we hold Him in the highest regard with the utmost of respect and reverence for Him.  It manifests itself in actions that express our adoration for Him, our veneration of Him, and our allegiance to Him.  Our love for God and His love for us forms a bond that makes us inseparable (Rom. 8:35-39).  Love for neighbor is also commanded by the Lord. “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31).  Love for neighbor means seeking his/her highest good.  This love is undefeatable, benevolent, goodwill.  Love for brothers and sisters in Christ is also taught by Jesus (John 13:34-35).  Gaius demonstrates this love in showing hospitality to those who preached the gospel of Christ.  John mentions Diotrephes in contrast to Gaius who, “prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church” (III John 10).  Gaius demonstrates the well-being of the soul while Diotrephes shows the corruption of the soul.  Gaius loved.  Diotrephes did not.  Love always acts for the good of others.  Gaius did this while Diotrephes failed miserably.
The Test of Righteousness
John declares, “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.  He that doth good is of God but he that doth evil hath not seen God” (III John 11).  Righteousness is right living or living that fulfills God’s precepts and purposes.  The well-being of the soul depends upon moral integrity.  Intrinsic evil is sinful conduct or behavior that transgresses God’s Will.  Demetrius is mentioned by John as having a good report among men and the truth.  He is a Christian whose soul is prospering.  Christians must display moral integrity.  A list of sinful conduct is given by Paul in Gal. 5:19-20 and involves:  adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditious, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like.  This list is not exhaustive, but it is representative of the type of behavior that is morally reprehensible in the sight of God.  When these sins are present in the human heart, the soul is sin sick and corrupted.  Righteous living is an outgrowth of walking in the truth.  Righteous living reflects holiness which is a characteristic of the nature of God (I Peter 1:15-16).
Three tests provide a quick check-up for your soul: the test of truth, the test of love and the test of righteousness.  Is it well with your soul?  What if your prosperity were tied to the health of your soul?