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.
These words are among the best known in the Bible, yet they sit inside an argument that begins with a cross and ends with a choice. The verse names four things: a love, a gift, a condition, and two outcomes.
The verse starts with the word "For". One writer insists we must not cut it loose from the verse just before, which speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up as Moses lifted the snake in the wilderness.
J. T. MawsonIn this same Gospel we read that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. But we cannot separate those words from what goes before them. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Must is a strong word. No word in any language says more forcefully that something cannot be avoided.
Another writer makes the same point against those who treat this verse as the whole story:
J. N. DarbyBesides, it is not only said "God so loved the world," but "the Son of Man must be lifted up." There was a necessity laid on Him which He had to bear. It is completely untrue that Scripture says nothing more about it than "God so loved the world."
The word "so" is not vague. Writers measure the love by the gift.
William John HockingThis verse also declares how strong that love is: "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son." We measure God's love for the world by His gift. He gave the One who alone was the object of His affection — His Only-begotten Son.
Because that gift is the point, the identity of the One given carries weight. The old phrase "only-begotten Son" means the one and only Son. Some say it describes Jesus only as a man. One writer answers that this shrinks the very thing the verse shows:
E. C. HadleySome say the term "only-begotten Son" here applies to Christ as Man only, with no reference to the Son's relation to the Father before He came into the world. That view at once dims the greatness of God's love to a guilty world.
A common misreading turns the cross into the thing that persuaded God to love. One writer pushes back. He points to Israel's escape from Egypt, when they put blood on the doorposts of their homes.
C StanleyThe cause was the unfathomable, eternal love of God. For God so loved. Do not suppose that God loved us because Jesus died for us — that He only then began to love us. Did He love Israel in Egypt because they shed the blood and sprinkled it on the doorposts? No, they sprinkled the blood as the token of His love.
This love is not limited to one nation.
L. M. GrantNor does this apply only to Israel. "For God so loved the world." This love is so marvellous that the Father gave His beloved, only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for the whole world. Yet only those who believe in Him can know its value, since it applies to "whoever believes in Him." No one, Jew or Gentile, is shut out except by his own unbelief.
Writers also press for exactness on which relationship is named here. One notes that the verse says God loved the world, and that a different bond is described elsewhere:
J. N. DarbyIt is never said that Christ loved the world, while we have seen that God loved the world; John 3:16.
"Whoever" leaves no one out. Yet one thing is still required.
C StanleyNotice, this was no longer limited to Israel as a nation. No, "whoever believes in Him." This is a message for you, to you, because it is to everyone who believes. The only limit or distinction is faith — "who believes in Him."
The closing words describe something the believer owns now. The verse also falls into two halves.
W. T. P. WolstonIn this verse you have God's side of the action, and man's side too. God's side — loving and giving; and man's side, my side and yours — believing and having. Really, my dear friends, the gospel is wonderfully simple. God loving and giving; man believing and having.
One writer describes the moment he saw four words meet in this one sentence:
W. TrotterUntil this moment of reading it, the writer had never noticed that this one verse holds all four of our words — life, love, world, believing!
- Cause. Love did not begin at the cross; the cross was love's proof — the blood was "the token of His love," as it was in Egypt.
- Cost. The gift measures the love: God gave the One who alone was the object of His affection.
- Compulsion. "Must" stands beside "so loved" — the Son of Man had to be lifted up, and this verse should not be quoted apart from that cross.
- Compass. "World" reaches past one nation; no one is shut out except by unbelief.
- Condition. Faith is the only limit — and its outcome is present tense: God loving and giving, man believing and having.
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.
God did not send His Son on a mission of judgment. This verse gives the reason for the sending. It raises two questions: what was God's purpose in sending Christ, and how wide is the offer?
The nature of the messenger tells you the nature of the message. One writer asks what lesser messenger would have been enough, if warning or punishment had been the point:
J T MawsonBut for what purpose was God among men? There could be only one reason for this great event. Suppose He had wanted to send a message of warning, appeal, or command. A servant like the prophets would have been enough. He spoke to the fathers of old that way many times, and in many ways. Suppose He had meant to make an example of sinners by carrying out His righteous judgment on them. An angel or two would have been enough. That is what happened to the guilty cities of the plain. But when Emmanuel appears, men and angels must be silent and stand aside. Every ear must listen to Him. He comes to reveal the eternal purposes of God, and to declare and carry out the intentions of divine and infinite love.
The same Person who will one day judge came ahead of that day in a different character:
J. N. DarbyHe has visited men before the day of judgment. We find Him giving, not judging. He deals with them in quite another way. The One who is to be the Judge came first to be the Saviour. He came in grace, seeking worshippers. He came to visit the hearts of men where they were — bad hearts. He came to such men not to judge them at all, but to deal with our souls about the very sins for which He would have had to judge us... Instead of coming to claim the debt, He comes to pay it. Both ways prove the debt was there, but the dealing is quite different.
Set this verse beside His return, and the difference between the two comings stands out:
Edward DennettGrace marked His first appearing in this world. Righteousness, and so judgment, will mark the second... God will then test everyone by the sure standard of what He righteously requires from man. The day of grace will have closed. The age of righteous government will have begun.
Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, yet Jesus speaks to him of "the world." That word marks a change of scale:
William KellyGod had before Him a far deeper work, one with everlasting consequences. So the people His grace reaches are no longer held inside the narrow limits of the land of Israel. If He is to show Himself now as a Saviour God in His Son, it suits His love to send out the good news to the world as a whole.
The verse says the world "might be saved." Writers are careful not to stretch that into a claim that everyone is saved:
The Bible TreasuryWhen the apostle John brings in "the world," he shows this salvation is not for Jews only. It is world-wide. Not that all the world is saved, but He is the propitiation.
Judgment did fall on the world — but as the consequence of refusing Him, not as the reason He came:
An Outline of Sound WordsThe world's rejection of the Son of God does mean judgment. But that is the result of the Lord's coming, not the purpose of it... How solemn it is. The world, in rejecting the Son of God, has refused His great salvation and brought His judgment on itself. Despite the world's rejection of the Son of God, His salvation is still open to anyone who will come to the Lord. For He said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."
- Purpose — Judgment needed no more than an angel. Warning needed no more than a prophet. Sending the Son shows the errand was love, not condemnation.
- Person — The One appointed to judge arrived first as Saviour, not to collect the debt but to pay it.
- Period — Grace marks His first coming. Righteousness and judgment mark His return, after the day of grace has closed.
- Reach — The purpose runs past the borders of Israel to the world as a whole, so the good news goes out to all.
- Response — "Might be saved" is a real offer, not a promise that all are saved. Judgment falls only where men refuse that offer. The door still stands open to anyone who enters by Him.
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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