2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
After John's greeting he expresses his good wishes for Gaius with a brief prayer which was very typical of Greek letter writing. To pray for one's health and prosperity was a common way to greet a loved one in the Greco-Roman world during the first century and it should not be misquoted to support the preaching of the health, wealth and prosperity gospel. The word prosper literally translates to have a good journey with it metaphorically meaning to prosper or succeed. It is the same as saying I hope everything goes well with you in our current language. The phrase was so common in letter writing that it was often condensed into initials and everyone knew what the writer meant by that. (SVBEEV Si vales, bene est; ego valeo - “If you are well, it is good; I am well.”) Perpetual health and wealth of the Christian is not promised by God, and He will at times allow His children to struggle financially if it is for their ultimate spiritual benefit. It must be noted on the other hand, if we continually disobey God's will we can easily end up hurting ourselves both financially and physically.
What is clear from the context of this epistle is that Gaius was a man who was given a clean bill of spiritual health. We can't say for certain whether this was true of his physical health, but the prayer-wish that John made should be examined. Gaius' soul or who he essentially was as a person, was in such a good condition that John could only hope that the condition of his body would match. Is this a prayer request that we would be comfortable making for ourselves, or have someone else make for us on our behalf? Some Christians would be quite ill if their spiritual health matched their physical health.
After John's greeting he expresses his good wishes for Gaius with a brief prayer which was very typical of Greek letter writing. To pray for one's health and prosperity was a common way to greet a loved one in the Greco-Roman world during the first century and it should not be misquoted to support the preaching of the health, wealth and prosperity gospel. The word prosper literally translates to have a good journey with it metaphorically meaning to prosper or succeed. It is the same as saying I hope everything goes well with you in our current language. The phrase was so common in letter writing that it was often condensed into initials and everyone knew what the writer meant by that. (SVBEEV Si vales, bene est; ego valeo - “If you are well, it is good; I am well.”) Perpetual health and wealth of the Christian is not promised by God, and He will at times allow His children to struggle financially if it is for their ultimate spiritual benefit. It must be noted on the other hand, if we continually disobey God's will we can easily end up hurting ourselves both financially and physically.
What is clear from the context of this epistle is that Gaius was a man who was given a clean bill of spiritual health. We can't say for certain whether this was true of his physical health, but the prayer-wish that John made should be examined. Gaius' soul or who he essentially was as a person, was in such a good condition that John could only hope that the condition of his body would match. Is this a prayer request that we would be comfortable making for ourselves, or have someone else make for us on our behalf? Some Christians would be quite ill if their spiritual health matched their physical health.
