16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
I looked up “world” in several Greek lexicons. The Greek word is kosmos and has several definitions. It can mean the earth, the universe, or the inhabitants of the world or even a smaller subset of people. An interesting side note is that the word didn’t always have these various definitions. According to Homer and Plato it meant “order” or “ornament or adornment.” Plato in later writings and other later uses started using it as world in the sense of an ordered system. 1 Peter 3:3 “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes” is the only place it is not translated as world but uses the older definition or adornment.[1]
· Did God love the world i.e., the planet so much that he sent Jesus?
· Did God love the world i.e., the orders of society or other institutions so much that he sent Jesus?
· Did God love the world i.e., all the people on the planet so much that he sent Jesus?
· Did God love the world i.e., all unbelievers so much that he sent Jesus? (Redundant with the previous because we were all unbelievers at one time or another.)
· Did God love the world i.e., a subset of the unbelievers so much that he sent Jesus?
How are you going to decide which of these options fit when you find a verse like John 3:16? You can look at different commentaries or books on theology. However, if you want to really know, you only need to look at the Bible and find other versed to find the correct theology. Doing so reveals that the last option is the correct one. This is supported by the following verses, note the emphasis added in each:
· Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (NASU).
· Romans 5:8 – But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (ESV).
· 2 Corinthians 5:19 – That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (ESV).
· 1 Timothy 1:15-16 – The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life (ESV).
All these verses emphasize that Jesus came to save sinners. But the question is whether or not this means all sinners, everyone, everywhere. That would be the casual reading of the verse. But Acts clearly defines who out of all the sinners in the world will believe. And it is only those who believe who will have eternal life so it is obvious that many do not believe and in fact refuse to believe.
· Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. NIV
In addition to Acts, we have the testimony in Luke that God gives peace to those with whom he is pleased. God is certainly not pleased with everyone. If that were so would not have passages that show evil people are enemies of God.
· Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" ESV Jesus did not say he came to the earth to bring peace to everyone. Matt 10:34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ESV
Peace with God comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t come from our trying to be good or performing some sort of liturgical practices.
· Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ESV
We only have peace with God when we are justified by faith. The question has to be raised, is everyone justified by faith?
God gave his one and only Son. This is the will of the Father. It is a sacrifice, and it is one the Jesus fully accepted both as human and divine. The Father didn’t force Jesus to the cross. He willingly went even though he dreaded it. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2 NIV).
I could go on about the one and only Son, but that was covered in chapter 1. We should be aware at this time that Jesus is God incarnate and the second member of the Trinity. We don’t have to keep working through that.
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 16 explains some vital facts. It indicates that salvation is secure. One you are saved, you will not perish. A believer has eternal life. They don’t have one-year life or ten-year life but eternal life. Every word in God’s word is important. You can’t call it eternal life if you are saved for a few years then fall away and perish. Jesus repeats this in John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (NIV). Have you ever seen anywhere in Scripture where Jesus didn’t tell the truth?
Verses 16 and 18 elaborate on who is saved, for whom Jesus’ sacrifice is effective. It is effective for everyone who believes. It is not effective for those who do not believe. If it were, then they too would believe. Now if world in verse 16 means all people, then his sacrifice would cover everyone for it would be unjust for God to punish anyone who doesn’t believe. But Jesus also says that unbelievers are already condemned in verse 18.
World is repeated twice in Verse 17. It may be confusing to say that Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. He didn’t have to and the reason he doesn’t have to is made clear in the following verses. Everyone who doesn’t believe is already condemned. Since they are condemned, he doesn’t have to rub their noses in it.
Based on this rather loopy analysis, the world cannot be interpreted to mean everyone on the earth.
· Verse 16 – it must mean those whom God has called to eternal life – a subset of all sinners.
· Vs 17 – the first occurrence could be all people or all who are called to eternal life.
· Vs 17 – the second occurrence must be only those who are called to eternal life.
19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
Why is it that some don’t believe, and others do? Because Jesus is the light; he has come into the world. His light exposes the deeds of darkness. Evil people don’t just ignore Jesus; they actually hate him. They hate him because his very presence exposes their sinfulness as it did with Peter. “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (Luke 5:8 ESV).
Peter was exposed to Jesus and recognized his sin. If he had not been called by God for salvation, he would have expressed his hatred for Jesus just as the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders did.
On the opposite side of the Jesus haters are those who live by the truth. “What is truth,” Pilate asked (John 18:38). Jesus has told us he is the truth. So those who live by Jesus, those who have him living in them, who are born again by his Spirt are the only ones who can come to the light. Note carefully that verse 21 does not promote salvation by works. It promotes that salvation brings about good works as God works in a person.
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