3 John 11 KJV
[11] “Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”
Today’s verse causes us to reflect back on what we have read thus far in this epistle. Diotrephes had done evil. Gaius had done good. We know that Gaius is of God because he loved and walked in the truth. Diotrephes had no vision of God. He is standing against everything that God is standing for. He is against the preacher, the brethren and anyone who does not support his personal agenda.
John gives us another verse of warning not to follow this evil path. You might think that you would never go that way. I want to remind you that it has happened to the best of God’s children. Do not ever get so wrapped up in another member of the church that you are blinded by their ways. To stay an arm’s length of each other is a respectable distance. It allows us to be close, but not so close that we lose our focus.
Diotrephes must have had some influence. This means he probably was a likable person, with a good personality. He probably knew what to say, and when to say it, in order to flatter people. He purposely tried to build a coalition in the church against the apostle.
It raises the question, was he saved? Did he even know God? John says he that doeth evil hath not seen God. I’m about to make a statement that some may not agree with. I believe it to be true, but you will have to draw your own conclusion. I know a child of God can get crossed up with the church, or the preacher. However, the people who are known for causing trouble time and time again in a church, and never repent or reap the consequences of the divisions they have caused, are not saved. The reason they seemingly “get by” with it is because they are lost. One day they will face God in judgment. John warms us not to be fooled by them.