John 3:12-18English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[a] 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[b]
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world,[c] that
he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
New International Application Commentary.
The
statement that God loves the world is surprising on two counts (3:16). (1)
Judaism rarely (or never) spoke of God’s loving the world outside of Israel.
God desires to reach this world through Israel, his child. It is a uniquely
Christian idea to say that God’s love extends beyond the limits of race and
nation. (2) John tells his readers elsewhere that they are not to love the
world (1 John 2:15–17) because it is a place of disbelief and hostility (cf.
John 15:18–19; 16:8). Carson comments effectively, “There is no contradiction
between this prohibition and the fact that God does love it [the world].
Christians are not to love the world with the selfish love of participation;
God loves the world with the selfless, costly love of redemption.”
Reformation
Study Bible
3:16
God so loved the world. Some have insisted that God sent Jesus to die for the
purpose of bringing salvation to everyone without exception, but only as a
possibility. However, Jesus makes clear that the salvation of those whom the
Father “gives me,” and only those, is not a mere possibility but an absolute
certainty; “will come to me” (6:37–40; 10:14–18; 17:9). The point made by “the
world” is that Christ’s saving work is not limited to one time or place but
applies to the elect from all over the world. Those who do not receive the
remedy God has provided in Christ will perish. It remains true that anyone who
believes will not die (be separated from God) but live in God’s presence
forever. See “God Is Love: Divine Goodness and Faithfulness” at Ps. 136:1.
Dictionary
of Bible Themes
2324
Jesus Christ, as Saviour
God’s
work of salvation is accomplished supremely through the cross and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Through faith, the believer is able to share in all the saving
benefits won by Jesus Christ through his obedience to God.
Jesus
Christ is the Saviour
Jesus
Christ is called Saviour Tit 1:4 See also Lk 2:11; Tit 3:6; 2Pe 1:1; 2Pe 3:2,18
Jesus
Christ is the promised Saviour Ac 13:23 See also Lk 1:69-75; Lk 2:28-30
Jesus
Christ’s purpose is to save Lk 19:10 See also Mt 1:21; 1Ti 1:15
Jesus
Christ’s qualities as Saviour
Jesus
Christ is the unique Saviour Ac 4:12 See also Jn 6:68-69; Jn 10:9; Jn 14:6; Ac
10:42-43
Jesus
Christ is the complete Saviour Heb 7:25 See also Jn 19:30; Php 3:21; Col
1:19-20; Heb 5:9; Heb 9:26-28; 1Jn 1:9; Jude 24
Jesus
Christ is the Saviour of the world Jn 4:42 See also Lk 2:30-32; 1Ti 2:5-6; 1Ti
4:10; 1Jn 4:14
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