When was 3 John written?

It is very evident that the Apostle John wrote this epistle late in the first century, when the other Apostles were gone and antichristian teachers were appearing, doing their utmost to seduce and corrupt the saints, particularly those more recently converted, whom he calls "little children," or "babes."

The similarity of the outer form (especially so at the beginning and end) would not only indicate the same author but also the same time of writing. As the contents presupposes the knowledge of 1 John they have probably been written a little later, that is after 90 AC.

This was doubtless written after the epistles of Peter and Paul. Morally John's writings have their place when the church as a testimony had failed, and the 'last time' had arrived. The three Epistles come in between the Gospel of John and the Revelation. The real remedy for the evils spoken of is the coming in of the Lord as the faithful witness.

When these words were penned the first century was nearing its end. The apostle Paul had foretold how that men, speaking perverted things with the object of making themselves a centre of attraction, should arise from amongst the very elders of the church (see Acts 20:30). This had now come to pass and Diotrephes was evidently a man of this kind. The apostles, save John himself, had now disappeared and, in view of the defection visible amongst elders and leaders, the Spirit of God was raising up, energizing and thrusting forth into service others, who were possibly men of much smaller calibre, yet not to be despised on that account.

2 Under Domitian about A.D. 95.

Ephesus, A.D. 67 (?) — Date uncertain.