Exegesis of John 3:16
God so loved the world”. Many suppose that this means, ‘The entire human race.’ But “the entire human race,” includes all mankind from Adam till the close of the earth’s history! Consider, the history of mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the Savior came to the earth,
Ephesians 2:12 “having no hope and without God in the world”, and therefore went to hell. If God “loved” them (or those today that have not heard the salvific gospel), where is the slightest proof? “
Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel till after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:16).
God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive (Romans 1:28). To Israel God said, “
You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2).(Aside: God speaks to KNOWING people, not plan or events). Thus, how can one insist that God in the past loved all mankind! Read the 20th chapter of the Revelation, the great white throne judgment, and see if you can discover there the slightest trace of
love (agape LOVE is defined as "a volition to favor". These people spend 99.9999999999% of their lives (pre and post death) in hell .. how could this be an illustration of God's volition to favor (love). (To put it in the vernacular, with friends like that, who needs enemies .)
John 3:16 and says, “World means world”. True, but that “
the world” does not mean the whole human family." The world” is used in a general way. When the brethren of Christ said, “Shew Thyself to the world” (John 7:4), did they mean “shew Thyself to all mankind” (ridiculous)? When the Pharisees said, “Behold, the world is gone after Him” (John 12:19), did they mean that “all the human family” were flocking after Him (ridiculous)? When the apostle wrote, “Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:8), did he mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child on the earth (ridiculous)? These, and other passages (
John 14:17;
John 15:19;
John 16:20;
John 17:14; etc.) which might be quoted, show that the term “the world” often has a relative rather than an absolute force. (In the vernacular ... when you assume you may an "butt" of "u" and "me". ("Butt" substituted for first syllable).
John 3:16 was Christ’s announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews. “God so loved the world”, then, signifies, God’s love is international in its scope (non-Jews also). But does this mean that God loves every individual among the Gentiles? Not necessarily, for as we have seen,
the term “world” is general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term “world” in itself is not conclusive. To figure out who are the objects of God’s love other passages where His love is mentioned must be consulted. In 2 Peter 2:5 we read of
“the world of the ungodly”.
If then, there is a world of the ungodly there must also be a world of the godly. It is the latter who are in view in the passages we shall now briefly consider. “For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and
giveth life unto the world” (John 6:33). Now mark it well, Christ did not say, “offereth life unto the world”, but “giveth”. What is the difference between the two terms? This: a thing which is “offered” may be refused, but a thing “given”, necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is not accepted, it is not “given”, it is simply proffered. Here, then, is a scripture that positively states Christ giveth life (spiritual, eternal life) “unto the world.” Now He does not give eternal life to the “world of the ungodly” for they will not have it, they do not want it. Hence, we are obliged to understand the reference in
John 6:33 as being to “the world of the godly”, i.e., God’s own people.
Romans 9:25 As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people’, and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved’.” [An example of a group of people who were not loved becoming loved which contradicts the thought that God loves everyone]
World is a nonspecific term for humanity in a general sense. The statement in verse 17, “that the world might be saved through Him,” proves that it does not mean everyone who has ever lived, since all will not be saved. Verse 16 clearly cannot be teaching universal salvation, since the context promises that unbelievers will perish in eternal judgment (vv. 16–18). John MacArthur – New Testament Commentary