The
Third Epistle of John, often referred to as
Third John and written
3 John, is the antepenultimate book of the
New Testament and attributed to
John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the
Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John. The Third Epistle of John is a private letter composed to a man named
Gaius, recommending to him a group of Christians led by
Demetrius, which had come to preach the gospel in the area where Gaius lived. The purpose of the letter is to encourage and strengthen Gaius, and to warn him against Diotrephes, who refuses to cooperate with the author of the letter.