John 3:16...It's NOT a small world after all

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   

Question: 

Does the word "world" in John 3:16 mean "the world of the elect" as Calvinists, such as A.W. Pink, have said? They argue that it unequivocally means this because other passages in the New Testament speak of God's love only towards believers and not towards unbelievers.  Moreover, they assert that because the word "world" has many different meanings in the New Testament, it is difficult to ascertain the meaning within it.  Specifically, the way John employs the word "world" leads them to interpret it to mean "the world of the elect" in this passage. 

Answer: 

The  word "world" in John 3:16 clearly means what the natural reading begs:  all humanity.  And this is proven simply by looking at the immediate and near context of John but also at the wider context of the entire Bible.

The immediate context: 

1)      The model on which Jesus bases God's means of salvation (Moses holding up the bronze snake in the desert- John 3:14), was one of offering the salvation to a wider audience than actually believed and looked at the serpent.  In the OT passage, the offer was clearly made to all the Israelites who were there and was intended for all of them.  The limited response on the part of the Israelites does not diminish the intent on God's part, nor does it indicate a lack of power on God's part to save those who did not believe.  He loved them all and intended for all to be saved, but not all accepted the offer by looking to the means of salvation. Never in the Bible does it suggest that God chose and empowered only certain Israelites to believe and others not to. 

Furthermore, in v. 19, it says the "light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light …"   This use of "world" cannot mean the elect, can it?  It cannot because, if it did, it would be saying that the "world of the elect" loved darkness instead of light.  Nobody would agree to this meaning.  So why would Jesus have used "world" in v. 16 one way and then in a different way in v. 19?

2)      The word "whoever" also in John 3:16, is a clear indication that the offer is open to anyone.  Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines "whoever" to be "whatever person, no matter who".  In Greek, the word is "pas", which, when appearing without a noun, means "every one; any one", which equally renders as "whoever" or "whosoever".  In other words it is unqualified and means any one out of all humanity.  What it does not say is "anyone of the elect".  This undercuts the Calvinist argument.  If Jesus had meant only anyone of the elect who believed, he could have said so. But because the word "pas" was unqualified, it shows the intention of the giving of God's Son was for all humanity, such that any of them who will believe would be given eternal life. 

The way "pas" is used in the subsequent verses in John 3 further supports this interpretation.  In v. 20 it says "everyone who does evil hates the light".  Similar to this use are the words spoken in John 1:7, which says John the Baptist "came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all men might believe."  The word used here is a variant of "pas":  "pantes".  It is not exclusive of any person.  This emphasizes the purpose of the light God was shining through his Son: to draw all men by this light to faith in his Son so they could be saved.  The purpose was not to draw only some smaller number of people God had predetermined should be saved and intentionally omit the rest. 

Continue reading in John 1 to verse 9, where it says this true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  The Calvinist says a study of how John uses the word "world" leads you to conclude in John 3:16 that God only loves the elect.  Here we see Jesus was coming into the "world".  Let's keep reading to see if this helps us arrive at the same conclusion as the Calvinist.  In v.10 it says he was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He reiterates it in verse 11: "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."  Here, "world" clearly does not signify the elect as Calvinists define "world" in John 3:16, since this "world" did not recognize Jesus to be the Christ.  Perhaps they would argue that this is a case where John uses "world" to mean the non-elect.  If so, this does not support the argument that he uses it to mean "elect" in John 3:16.  It supports the argument that "world" means "all humanity".  The next verse again displays God's intended recipients of his grace:  "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…"  Out of all the men in the world—God wanted them all to believe-- in verse 7, to those who did believe, God made his children.  Verse 13 is often confused by Calvinists to mean that God sovereignly elected them and that he gave them the faith he required. This is a failure to understand the essence of the gospel.  The point in v. 13 is understood by what it is contrasting:  works salvation—that is, the means of salvation pursued by the Jews:  self-established righteousness through observing the Law, as Paul speaks of in Romans 2-4, wherein Paul says faith is the intended means by which the promise is fulfilled.  For through faith, we become children of Abraham, a fulfillment of the promise God made to him in Gen 15, and are thus called "children of promise" in Gal 4:28. 

Wider context:

3)      If God does not love the entire world…then his love would be less than what he requires of us.  In Mark 12:31 he says to "love your neighbor as yourself".  In Matthew 5:44-48, he tells us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your Father is perfect."  If the Calvinist says God only loves those whom he has chosen—and not all—then he would be guilty of doing only what pagans do and not what he requires of us.  The Calvinist may answer, "God does love many who don't love him; he loves all the non-believing elect—those whom he has chosen but he hasn't regenerated yet."  If that were true, it would mean he only causes his sun to rise on the elect rather than all humanity.  No, in this statement in Matthew 5, by saying he causes his sun to shine on the evil and sends rain to them, he is proving the statement that God loves all humanity. And why wouldn’t he? He created each in his own image.  Who would put their image on something and then reject it before it had done anything good or bad?  Any parent can relate to this.  Which of your children do you not love?  Would you reject your infant and hate them?  If so, even the world would think you a monster.  How much more would God himself. 

4)      Hebrews 2:9b "…so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."  (pantos in Greek) The word "everyone" here is unqualified and must mean every person in all humanity.  Sadly, a beloved professor of mine in seminary, taught this interpretation and yet maintained that Christ only died for the elect, although he admitted that this verse was troublesome for him.  Romans 5:6-8 says the same thing in different words, when it says Christ died for his enemies.  Ephesians 2:3b says the same:  "Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."  Would God have wrath against one he has chosen?  This would mean, according to Calvinist belief that God only loves the elect, that his wrath is stored up against those he loves.  Clearly, his wrath is not against his elect, for he has not chosen us for wrath but for salvation.  God is not a God of favoritism that would make him only love certain individuals and not others.  (Romans 2:11)

5)      1 Timothy 2:3-4 God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Greek words are: "pantas anthropous" and in v. 5 it is "anthropon".  In both cases, this refers to all men universally. 

6)      Acts 17:24-30, culminating with this:  "God commands all people everywhere to repent".  God commands all to repent because he desires that they all come to salvation. 

7)      The word "elect" is never actually used to refer to someone who is not already a believer. It always refers to those who currently are believing in Jesus.  The only exception to this is the national election of Israel, who was chosen because of its father Abraham's faith. And yet, Romans 9 makes it clear that all Israel's people are not elect; only the believing Jews are.  Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on this topic. 

The Calvinist may feel the need to limit the meaning of "world" in John 3:16 to "the world of the elect" because he must reconcile it to his doctrine, and he knows that if God loved someone and yet did not choose them for salvation (election), then it compromises the character of God, specifically his love and faithfulness.  Thus the Calvinist, in his attempt to reconcile his interpretation of other scriptural texts, ends up contorting scripture to fit the mold of his dogmatic hermeneutic.  This is what I discovered I was guilty of while attending a seminary led by a mix of Calvinists and non-Calvinists.  When we do this, we set up our systematic theology as the authority and Scripture has to bow to and be molded by it.  Yet, thankfully, my heart's objection was not fully suppressed by it.  In the honesty of my heart, I had to listen to my conscience and the Holy Spirit, who was impressing upon me the contradiction between the idea that God chooses only certain individuals for salvation and the belief that God is loving and faithful to his creatures, not showing favoritism to any.  If you are reading this as a Calvinist, I beg you to listen to your heart's objection.  Don't quench the Holy Spirit's voice, which helps us rightly divide the word of truth that He inspired. 

Comments are welcome.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Ephesians 1:4…God did NOT choose you unconditionally

Question:

Does God unconditionally elect people for salvation?  Does he choose only certain people for Heaven based on nothing they do?  Even more specifically, does he choose some for Heaven-- and not others (or possibly even choose these others for Hell)-- simply based on an undefined “good pleasure of his will”, as Calvinists claim?  Calvinists read Ephesians 1:4 to mean that God chose each believer in Christ before they put their faith in him—in fact before the earth was created.  However, although it is in his power to choose all people-- for no reason given other than “his good pleasure”-- he did not choose all people but only a few.  This doctrine is represented by the "U" for "Unconditional Election" in the Calvinist's TULIP acronym.  Calvinists tout this doctrine as a great comfort to their hearts.  If there is nothing they can do to gain their salvation, they reason, there is nothing they can do to lose it.  Is this a biblical view of God?  Ephesians 1:4 says:

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love..."

Answer:
Conditional Election - There are at least two ways “election” (Greek root word eklego) is used in the NewTestament: 1) eklexamenos- to describe Jesus’ choosing of the apostles; and 2) exelexato- God’schoosing based on Christ and his merits, followed by the words that describe the purpose of God's choosing:  "to be holy and blameless in his sight".  Thus this election has to do with God's choosing those who have merit based on their faith in Christ alone, who God now sets apart to be his special possession and reflect his holy character.  First we will look at the first of these meanings:

Meaning 1:  God chooses specific people for an office.  God handpicked twelve followers to become his apostles, or inner cabinet.  This choosing was described in the gospels.  In Luke 6:13 the event is described: "When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designatedapostles…” In John 15:16 he reminds them of this choosing when he says,“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…” He is not referring to salvation here but a calling of those (who already were saved by their faith) to a specific kind of office and service. This verse is often cited by Calvinists to support their doctrine of election because they don't consider that he is speaking solely to his apostles here in the private Upper Room discourse on Passover shortly before he was betrayed and crucified.  Jesus is reminding them of the fact that they were part of the select few that were chosen for the special ministry of apostleship, the men he would use to lay the foundation for the church (Eph 2:20) and that he expected them to bear fruit for him once his earthly mission was complete. 

Meaning 2:  God chooses people to salvation conditionally.  The condition is "in Him":  belief in his Chosen One, his Son.  In Luke 9:35, which says, "A voice came from the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.'”  Jesus was the Chosen One, and he was the only one who existed before the foundation of the world.  God only vicariously chooses us when we place our faith in Jesus.  In other words, he will choose anyone who is in his Son by faith.  And although it may be obvious to you, I will state it for emphasis: You can't be in his Son by faith unless you place your faith in him.  So the choosing does not occur until this faith-event for each human being.  And we are chosen to become co-heirs with Christ only when we place our faith in him, because he is THE chosen One.  Nobody who has not put their faith in Christ can be considered "in Christ", according to the Scriptures.  Thus the Calvinistic belief that there is some secret group of chosen that are already secretly included "in Christ" is not biblical.  

The words "before the creation of the world" can mean one of two things:  
1) It describes the phrase "in Him" (i.e. Jesus), (which immediately precede these words in the Greek)  since he is the only One who has existed before the world was created (we didn't).  Thus it conveys the idea that Jesus, who was from the foundation of the world, is the One God chose from the beginning through which salvation would come, when any place their faith in Him.  It conveys the plan of saving all who would put their faith in Christ.    
2) It describes the verb "chose".  This would mean that the act of choosing took place before the world was created.  The pre-creation choosing could refer to:
    a)  the objects (us); or
    b)  the plan of choosing all who accept God's provided means of salvation in Christ. 

The possible meaning in 2a is problematic because it would necessitate that God's choosing was based on nothing and was capricious.  God does nothing capriciously or without reason.  Secondly, it is problematic because it would mean God chooses people who are born under and remain under his wrath until they are "regenerated".  This betrays the point Eph 1:4 gives for the choosing-- to be holy and blameless.  They would not be holy and blameless, even positionally, until they put their faith in Christ.  So I reject this 2a  meaning and choose meaning 1 or 2b because they align with the wider context of Ephesians I explain further below, and cause no doctrinal inconsistencies.  

While Jesus handpicked the twelve to become his apostles, or inner cabinet, he did not unconditionally choose them to salvation, as the Calvinist asserts.  He chose them for salvation because they believed in Him.  God could not be just if he was to credit Christ’s righteousness to one who did not believe in his Son.  In Romans 3:26, Paul describes this justice only achieved through faith in Jesus: "…he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."  Just as Abraham’s righteousness was credited only after he placed his faith in God’s promise, so also our righteousness is credited only after we place our faith in God’s promised One (Rom 4:23-24).  And this faith is our own—it is not a gift we must receive from God (see blog #1).

The Calvinist claims that faith is a gift we receive from God.  What the Bible says is a gift from God is actually the object of our faith—his Son.  That is the gift (i.e. grace).  Contrary to Calvinist doctrine, God demands faith and commends it throughout the New Testament—a faith that comes from us.  As Hebrews 11:6 says, God “...rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Nobody rewards someone for something that did not come from him or herself.  No, we reward someone for what they did themselves. *  Since God demands perfect obedience to his Law and we can't fulfill that ourselves, we can never establish our own righteousness before God.  Christ is the only one who has done that.  This is what Paul calls "works".  He contrasts this with "faith".  Faith is not a work in and of itself. Its "work" is simply the humble admission that we cannot be accepted based on our works or behavior and that we accept Jesus' works on our behalf.  While the works don't come from us, this faith does.  And it is commended and rewarded by God. 

God demands perfect obedience to his commands.  If we were to perfectly obey them, we would not need to be saved from the condemnation of disobeying them; we would have established our own righteousness through our right behavior and received God’s commendation, which God as a righteous judge would be obligated to give us because we earned it ourselves.  However, since we do not obey perfectly and have not earned our own righteousness, we must be given it as a gift.  What is that gift?  Not the faith.   Faith is the vehicle.  But the righteous behavior of Christ in his full obedience to God’s commands is the gift.  In fact, faith could be considered an “unwork”.  It is our humble admission that our works do not establish a righteous standing before God.  Our faith is simply the acceptance of that gift of righteousness and is our appropriate response to the gift God has offered.  Because faith is the necessary response of humility—which God rewards with grace (for God gives grace to the humble)—in recognizing our failure to obey God and our need for a Savior—it is the one thing we must exercise in order to receive the true gift.  And again, what is that gift?  Christ’s righteousness itself.  Calvinists fear that if faith comes from people, it is something that we do to earn salvation.

Faith is not something we do to earn our salvation.  It is the act of receiving the salvation that Christ has earned for us.  In a nutshell, God commends those who recognize the inadequacy of their own works and instead trust in Christ’s work on their behalf.  And God chooses those who accept this gift of salvation (i.e. place their faith in it and not in their own works).  As a God of justice, he cannot choose someone who is not righteous.  He would be unjust to choose someone who has not yet received the righteousness of Christ or who is attempting to establish his or her own righteousness.  Since righteousness cannot be attained before someone is created, God cannot choose an individual for salvation before they are created. 

Again, the latter holds true for every believer, including you and me.  God chooses us and calls us out from the world ONLY because of our faith in His Son Jesus Christ.  That is why in Eph 1:4 it is written, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”  The condition for God’s choosing is “in Him”, that is, in Christ by faith.  This is clarified a few verses later in v.13, when Paul writes, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal . . .” So we see that “having believed” is the condition for being both “included in” and being “marked in” Christ, which is the condition for being chosen in v. 4.  Why does it say, “before the creation of the world”?  Because Christ is the only one who existed and “was chosen before the creation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20), we

are chosen only vicariously through Christ, the Chosen One.  The phrase “in Him” or “in Christ” or “through Christ” or “under Christ” is used eleven times in Ephesians 1:3-14.  This repetition tells us that God’s emphasis is that these things he describes are not ours on our own; they are only ours vicariously through Christ.  Everything hinges on verse 13’s “Having believed”.

God, therefore, decided before the world was created, that he was going to redeem EVERYONE he possibly could make righteous.  The only way he could make them righteous was by giving his only Son to die for their sins and to convince people to accept this precious sacrifice, notwithstanding their evil hearts.  Therefore, God chooses everyone who chooses His Son Jesus.  His election is completely conditioned on our faith.  This does not mitigate God’s sovereignty because God still reigns as the king whether his subjects submit to him or not.  He will have the final say so and so “rule over” (sover-reign) all.  His power is not mitigated because he cannot save all.  Salvation is predicated on our choosing to love His son.  Love is a choice and cannot be coerced.  God’s love, rather than cold absolute power, is magnified by his unconditional act of love, which is unchanged based on man’s response.  All that is changed based on man’s response is man’s salvation status.  Is he saved or not from God’s coming wrath?

*Note:  Some will argue that nothing comes from you.  Everything you have is from God.  Therefore, God always commends us for something that originates from him-- not ourselves.  To that I say, it makes sense then for God to commend (and not commend another) if they both had equal opportunity.  That is, if both were given faith and one chose to exercise it and another did not, it would be just for God to commend the one but chastise the other.  However, if one was given faith and the other not, they did not have equal opportunity and God would not be just to commend the one and chastise the other.  He would not do what is unjust; so he would not give faith to one and not the other. 

Note that in Hebrews 12:2, when it speaks of Jesus being the author and perfecter of our faith, it means that he is the one who provided the means of our salvation—his work on the cross and his ongoing work of sanctification; that is, the object of our faith—not the faith itself.  For faith itself is nothing apart from the object in which it is placed.

No, God gives faith to all people.  This is a generic faith that can be placed in anything.  They are commended only if they exercise that faith in Christ.

Comments are welcome.  I would love to hear your thoughts.