Eternal Life
3:16-21
It is actually best to start reading this passage in verse 14, where Jesus said the Son of Man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Verse 16 is connected to verse 15 by the word “for”. So, verse 16 is an explanation of verses 14-15.
In fact, may commentators believe the words of Jesus end with verse 15 and that verses 16-21 are John’s commentary, or explanation of Jesus’ words. This is for several reasons, such as the narrative stops using the first person pronoun “I” and Jesus’ title changes for “Son of Man”, the most common way he referred to himself, to “Son of God”. This change of narrative to commentary also occurs in the following passage where John the Baptist speak of Christs, then John follows in verses 31-36 with his commentary on John’s words. This does not change the importance of the words, because all scripture is inspired by God. But it helps us understand what is going on.
John 3:16 is likely the best known verse in the Bible among Christians and the most likely to be memorized. It is easy to pass over it because it is well known, but it is worth studying.
Jesus has just alluded to the story of the bronze serpent to give Nicodemus an Old Testament reference. This is the story from the book of Numbers where God sent serpents among the people because of their grumbling. When they repented, God had Moses make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. If the Israelites looked upon the serpent, they would be healed of the snakebite. Jesus ended his words to Nicodemus by saying he must also be lifted up, or crucified, so that those who believe in him may have eternal life.
So, John goes on in verse 16 to explain why this is true. First, he tells us the reason for this is that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son”. The motivation for God’s action is his love for the world. This statement would shock the Jews. They would be comfortable with the statement “because God loved the Jews, he sent a Messiah”. Jews of his time did not really see God as loving the Gentiles. The word “world” implies peoples of all nations and, certainly, Gentiles.
But John’s Greek readers would be encouraged to be part of the group God loved. Even though a God fearing Gentile could participate in some of the activities of the Jews, they were always second class citizens, as shown by their exclusion from all but the outer court of the Temple. But now John is making sure they understand that the lifting up of Jesus may benefit them also if they believe, and benefit them on an equal basis with the Jews.
Additionally shocking in this expression “the world” is the common meaning in John. The world is wicked and sinful, in opposition to God. In the prologue, John portrayed the world as a place of spiritual and moral darkness (1:5), the world system that does to know God or obey him. (1:10) God’s love for the world is remarkable because the world is so bad.
In fact, the world is so bad, God warned us from loving it. John wrote:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
Paul wrote:
“do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”. (Romans 12:2)
Is it a contradiction for God to love the world and then tell us not to? It is not, for God loves the world redemptively. He does not participate in the wickedness of the world. He provides a way for the world to be reconciled to himself. When we love the world, we tend to love it as something we want to participate in. And that we cannot do if we belong to the Lord. We are called out of the world to live for God.
The word “so” in verse 16 causes some misinterpretation these days, mostly to our exposure to popular music. It is common in pop music and culture to say “I love you so”, meaning “I love you so much”. You may have even heard someone read this word into the text. But that is not what it means here and the word “much” is not in the text.
Rather, the Greek word translated “so” means “in this way”. For example, an attorney tells the judge I move we postpone this trial until the witness can be found. The judge responds “so ordered”. It does not mean that the judge wants to order so much, but that he orders in this way, the way the attorney asked.
An example from church life would be at the end of a business meeting, the pastor might say “I would entertain a motion to adjourn”, in response to which a deacon says “so move”. He does not mean he will move so much. He means he makes a motion in this way, the way suggested by the pastor.
Most translations have not wanted to update the word “so” because people know it from the King James Version. The Christian Study Bible, though, renders this clause as “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only son”.
Why is this important? It is because it speaks to the exclusiveness of salvation through Jesus. God loved the world in this way: he provided one way of salvation by sending his only Son. Connecting verse 16 to verse 15, we understand that God sent his Son to die for us. It is more fun to think of God’s love than his demands, but the New Testament is clear that they only way to God, to eternal life, is through his son, Jesus. And Jesus accomplished our salvation by dying for us, paying the penalty for our sins.
The door to eternal life for us if belief. God sent his Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. If we believe, we are born again into eternal life. If we do not believe, we perish in that we face the final judgment and eternity under that judgment. Those are the only two options.
Thus, the mission of the Son sent and given by the Father is to bring salvation to the world. Verse 17 tells us that the first coming of Jesus was not to condemn the world, but to bring salvation to the world.
Verse 18 then tells us that those who believe are not condemned. They do not face the final judgment or eternity in punishment. Remember the picture shown to us in Revelation 20, that as the books are open that will reveal the deeds of the people for the judgment, the Book of Life is opened, and those whose names are written in it are not judged by sinful deeds, but by their faith in Jesus. All others are consigned to the lake of fire.
Verse 18 also tells us that Jesus did not come to condemn because those who do not believe are condemned already. There is no neutral zone between saved and condemned. The only way out from under condemnation is to come to Jesus in belief.
Ephesians 2:1-5 tells us that before we believed in Jesus we were children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Romans 9:22 refers to those who do not believe as vessels of wrath. That is what we all were before coming to Christ. Once we have come to Christ in faith, as John 1:12 tells us, we move from being children of wrath to become children of God.
In verses 19-21, John returned to his themes of darkness and light that he used in chapter 1. He used this metaphor to drive home his point. The world was spiritually dark, having abandoned the knowledge of God. Romans 1:21 tells us that people rejected God, which resulted in their foolish hearts being darkened.
Light came into the world with the birth of Jesus. (John 1:9) Jesus revealed God to the world. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says:
For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness”, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”.
In the face of the light of Jesus Christ, many chose darkness instead. (19) They did this because their works were evil and they did not want them exposed.
You will often see this if you debate Christ with non-believers. They will argue with you, but you eventually see that the real issue is they do not want to give up their sin. They may not even want to acknowledge that their deeds are sinful. They may even start a church that allows them to claim Christ while validating their sin.
In contrast, those who believe become those who “do what is true” (ESV) or “lives by the truth” (NIV) (21) This is a a Jewish expression meaning “acts faithfully”. The person who acts faithfully toward Jesus happily and eagerly comes to the light. He or she does not come to the light to boast or brag, but that they may show that their works have been carried out in God, in his power. (21)
The purpose of these verses is to show the unbeliever the imminence of their danger. They stand condemned and await the judgment. Once death has come, or the return of Jesus, there is no second chance. They can only be saved if they look to the Son of God who was lifted up for their sin and believe in him.
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