For I rejoiced very much when brothers came and bore witness to the truth you hold, just as you go on walking in the truth. No greater cause for thankfulness do I have than these things, that I should be hearing that my children go on walking in the truth.”​—3 John 2-4.

 6, 7. (a) What reason did John have to ‘rejoice very much’? (b) Like Gaius, what must all faithful witnesses of Jehovah do as regards “the truth”?

⁶ From spiritual brothers who had come to Ephesus, John had received heartening news that caused him to ‘rejoice very much.’ The apostle could be joyful because his friend Gaius was faring well spiritually and holding to the truth. (Proverbs 15:30; 25:25) The “brothers” may have been part of the congregation with which Gaius was associated or those who may have gone from Ephesus to visit that congregation, perhaps even carrying an earlier letter the apostle had written to it.​—3 John 9.

⁷ These brothers ‘bore witness to the truth Gaius held.’ He had fully accepted the truth as it related to Christ and was abiding by Jehovah’s requirements. Gaius was “walking in the truth,” loyally holding to the entire body of Christian teachings.