But there was a man from among the Pharisees, his name Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
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he came to him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God, for none can do these signs that thou doest unless God be with him.
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Jesus answered and said to him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God.
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Nicodemus says to him, How can a man be born being old? can he enter a second time into the womb of his mother and be born?
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Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
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That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
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Do not wonder that I said to thee, It is needful that *ye* should be born anew.
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The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes and where it goes thus is every one that is born of the Spirit.
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Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?
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Jesus answered and said to him, Thou art the teacher of Israel and knowest not these things!
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Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen, and ye receive not our witness.
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If I have said the earthly things to you, and ye believe not, how, if I say the heavenly things to you, will ye believe?
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And no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.
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And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up,
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that every one who believes on him may [not perish, but] have life eternal.
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal.
Spoken by the Lord Himself to Nicodemus by night, John 3:16 follows the figure of the brazen serpent (vv. 14–15) and unfolds, in a single sentence, the whole heart of the gospel — the love that gave, the gift that was given, and the life secured for every believer.
Commentators stress that this verse measures God's love by the magnitude of His gift. Nothing in us drew it out; everything was in Himself.
MagazinesNothing at all to commend us to God; but what God did for us then commends His love. How wonderful to witness the whole world lying in wickedness, not one righteous, no, not one, and then to see God outside it all acting in love towards sinners, and all because of what He is in Himself. "God so loved the world."
W. W. FeredayGod is not light only; He is also love. Light condemns sin, and demands judgement upon it; love seeks the salvation of the sinner; and has provided an all-sufficient sacrifice for sin… The cross declares God's love in all its fullness of meaning. What it cost Him to put the Son of His love in the sinner's place none of us will ever comprehend.
Verse 16 is paired with verses 14–15: the cross is the necessary ground, and the gift of the Son is the love that supplies it.
William KellyHence, after having first unmistakably laid down the necessity of the cross, He next shows the grace that was manifested in the gift of Jesus. Here He is not portrayed as the Son of man who must be lifted up, but as the Son of God who was given… The one, like the other, contributes to this great end, whether the Son of man necessarily lifted up, or the only begotten Son of God given in His love.
The very title "only begotten Son" gives the love its character — the dearest the Father had was not held back.
J. G. BellettCan the love of God be understood according to Scripture, if this Sonship be not owned? Does not that love get its character from that very doctrine?… "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
In John's Gospel "world" appears with overwhelming frequency, and 3:16 widens the scope of grace beyond any covenant boundary.
W. TrotterThus have we seen the life revealed in Christ, and bestowed by Him as the gift of the Father's love in Him, not to any class or nation privileged by descent, but to all to whom it is given to believe on Him throughout the wide world… Never, till at the moment of now perusing it, had it been noticed by the writer, that in this one verse all our four words are found — life, love, world, believing!
The "whosoever" leaves no one outside the reach of the offer, while faith is the appointed means of receiving the gift.
J T MawsonThere is no person, man or woman, rich or poor, ignorant or refined, who may not get into that most blessed "whosoever." The arms of God's love are stretched out to all. He does not will that any should perish, and yet all will perish who reject the way of life that He has provided.
To "perish" is not to cease to exist but to be lost forever to the only One who can satisfy the soul; "eternal life" is, in its very quality, the knowledge of God revealed in Christ.
Robert F. WallThe word translated 'perish' does not signify a loss of being, since every human being has an eternal existence, but points to an eternal loss of wellbeing. It is to be lost to God forever, the only one who can fill and satisfy the heart… It is 'everlasting' life but its primary quality is that God is known as He has now been fully revealed in Christ.
This life is presented as a free gift, resting wholly on the cross, never as a wage:
W. W. FeredayIt is not the reward of good works, or it would be a debt (Rom. 4:4); it is the gift of sovereign love to those who could neither do nor pay anything in order to secure it… His cross, the satisfaction of God's righteousness and the mighty expression of God's love, has made it possible for Him to confer eternal life on all who obey the Gospel.
- Love measured. God's love is proved by the size of His gift — His only begotten Son — not by anything good in us.
- Cross required. The Son of man "lifted up" (v. 14) and the Son of God "given" (v. 16) belong together; eternal life rests on the cross as its ground.
- World‑wide scope. Grace breaks out beyond Israel; "life, love, world, believing" all converge in this single verse.
- Whosoever. No class, race, or character is shut out; faith in Christ is the one open door, and rejection is the one fatal road.
- Eternal life, not wage. To "perish" is everlasting loss of God Himself; eternal life is the free gift of sovereign love, knowing God in His Son.
For God has not sent his Son into the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him.
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He that believes on him is not judged but he that believes not has been already judged, because he has not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
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And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil.
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For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shewn as they are;
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but he that practises the truth comes to the light, that his works may be manifested that they have been wrought in God.
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