John 3:16-

Bible Study

We now pick up at the most quoted verse in all the Bible, John 3:16. Probably all of our first memory verses. But it is not just verse 16 that is so important. John does a great job laying out the full context. But it must be said, John has summarized the message of the Gospel inn one sentence. Yet, Verses 16-20 are so important to us today. John 3:16-20

John 3:16–20 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

How is God’s love expressed in John 3:16? John uses the word “So” to communicate the vastness of God’s love. There are multiple applications but we will just use 2. “So” communicates the vastness of God’s love by first expressing it is not an ordinary love. What kind of love is it? Well, the Greek word for love used here is Agapao. This is the love which is always attributed to God and His love. God’s love is never used at Phileo (brotherly love) or Storge (family love). This word “So” even more so communicates a probing question. Elsewhere in Scripture when “so” is used it is essentially done with a question in mind, “In what way?” How can this help us as we begin to read the text? It focuses our attention on the proof. God does not just say, “I love you.” He always follows it up. In the same way John writes, “In what way did God love the world?” By the giving of the second person of the Trinity to atone for the sins of mankind. God gave His only begotten son. “There was nothing in man that attracted God’s Love.” John MacArthur. Skeptics might ask this question, how is this different from the child sacrifice found in the Pagan cultures whose fathers also sacrificed their children? Jesus submitted to God’s will.

Philippians 2:5-7 “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

John 10:17-18 “17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.””

Luke 22:41-42 “41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Jesus was not an unwilling victim. The Triune God was all in accord and each persons submitted to their role. The Father as Judge of sin, The son as the sacrifice, God the Holy Spirit as the seal of ones salvation. In one accord God fulfilled all requirements for His justice, Holiness, and wrath to not conflict with His Love, Grace, and Mercy. He is able to forgive us our sins because our sins have already been paid by the perfect obedience of Christ.

Verse 17-18:

These verses might seem confusing or contradictory at face value but that is only our culture which blurs it. Do we have a grasp on these verses due to our 21st century American lenses? The issue we find, looking at Scripture through the lens of 21st century America, is this word “Judge.” We clump Judge and Condemn together always and every time (at least that’s what the world does when it pertains to sin). What is also interesting is this word in Greek means to judge and it can also mean to condemn. So how do we know what it means here? Context! This same word is used in both 17 and 18 but I do not think they should be the same usage of the word, at least for our ability to understand it. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world,” is an important statement for 2 reasons. First reason, to the Jew, this thought that when the Messiah came He would take over politically, restore Israel, and judge all the filthy sinners was common thought. Acts 1:6 “6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” That incorrect view of the Messiah is ruined, why? Because Jesus did not come to bring His final judgement on the world. This is why I believe we better understand verse 17 and 18 with “condemn” rather than “judge.” The second reason, Jesus clearly judges people. The context of judgement is to separate or pick out. Jesus judged the sins of people whether it was confrontational with the pharisee’s or gentle but direct like with the woman at the well. Jesus judged people, and He judged them rightly to be sinners. But He did not bring His holy judgement or condemnation upon sinners.

Verse 19: Gives us such a clear image of what we still see in our world today. When I read this verse I want you to tell me what you saw play through in your mind. John 3:19 “19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” The light can be more terrifying than the dark. Interesting how when we were younger it was the darkness which brought to us more fear. Walking in the dark, we would think, “There is something I don’t see that might make me trip.” Or, “There is someone or something following me.” But now as adults our fears is, “What is that comes to the light?” or, “What if someone finds out?” Why have we seen that shift? John 3:20 “20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

Verse 21 I think is so important to us to understand. I think a lot of times we read through Scripture and we overlook a verse which can be a very edifying verse or passage. I believe verse 21 is one of those. John 3:21 “21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been performed in God.” What does verse 21 speak to? What makes verse 21 so important to us?

The human condition, Romans 3:10-12 “10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

The Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Assurance of salvation, 1 John 5:12-13 “12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

What else are you seeing here? Do you know what I mean by that? What other texts of Scripture come to mind as we read John 3:20-21 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”