Particular Redemption in John iii.16

Instead of John iii.16 being the often championed verse (i.e. proof text) for Arminianism, this verse is quite the supporter for Particular Redemption, aka Definite Atonement, Limited Atonement. First, of course, let us have a look at the text (be sure to switch your Character Encoding to Unicode in your View menu):

For God so (ουτως) loved the world, that (ωστε) He gave His only begotten Son, that (ινα) all who believe (πας ο πιστευων) in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The usual translation that comes to mind when you hear "John 3:16" or see the sign at a football game is the KJV's

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The KJV translation is problematic if you are trying to grasp what the passage is saying here. Not that the KJV is wrong, but the words used are misunderstood in today's American English. Again, this is a great opportunity to use a tool for studying and knowing the Scriptures of our Lord: reading the Greek New Testament. Do you need to know Greek to rightly understand Christ's words here? Of course not. This is only an additional tool. However, if you can only read English, you need to have at least three different translations to lead you in the right direction, along with at least three commentaries coming from different theological backgrounds. That seems to be a good guideline.

Arminians, or generally those who hold to libertarian free will (e.g. Dave Hunt, Hank Hanegraaff), are very quick to jump to this verse when challenged with the idea that Christ died only for the elect. Funny thing is this verse more strongly promotes the case of the Reformed follower than it does the free-willer. Those who think a Calvinist cannot show Limited Atonement from the Scriptures should a look at this verse again. The Greek will help us; not put the nail in the coffin (of Arminianism), but be an aid.

"For God so loved the world" should not be interpreted like the Rock Church (here in San Diego) commercial I hear sometimes saying "God loves you so much." Nor should those words be understood like The Message has paraphrased: "This is how much God loved the world." The word for "so," ουτως (houtos), is not that sort of "so." ουτως refers to the manner in which God loved, or how God loved. With that understanding, "For God so loved the world," or "For God loved the world in this way" can be viewed as a setup clause of Christ, giving the motivation God had for what He did.

"that He gave His only begotten Son" should be understood in reference to the prior clause, "For God so loved the world." Christ is describing up the way God loved the world: He gave His only Son. "That" is ωστε (hoste) in the Greek, representing the start of a new clause dependent on the prior one. The idea is the action based on the motivation: God loved so He gave.

"that all who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life" is the reason, the ultimate goal God had in mind when He gave. "That" in this final clause is not the same as "that" in the prior one. Here, the Greek word is ινα (hina) which denotes a purpose or aim. The purpose or aim of the giving of the Son, the reason God gave His Son, was not directly His love for the world, but "in order that all who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

God gave His only begotten Son in order that all who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. This is because of God's underlying motivation: His love for His creation. He did not give because He loved. He gave because He wanted to save those who believed in Him.

But we are not done with the text yet. While we can readily see the definite atonement in this passage, a portion of this that is far too often misunderstood has to be clarified. "all who believe" is typically a new phrase for Bible readers. The phrase most everyone is used to, "whosoever believeth," causes far too many struggles when interpreting this passage. The dominant reason for the struggle is that the English language has no good equivalent to the grammar here in Greek.

The Greek construction is a participle. Literally, the translation of πας ο πιστευων (pas ho pisteuon) is either "everyone who is believing" or "all the believing ones" or "all the ones believing." Notice, this is difficult to say in English. The idea being conveyed (like in verse 15, and similarly in verse 18) is that Christ speaks about all of the people who believe in the God who gave His Son to save them. The KJV used the word "whosoever" to try and convey the message. In our American English we tend to see "whosoever" as an indefinite designation of people. On the contrary, πας ο πιστευων, "all the believing ones," is very definite indeed. Christ was not giving an invitation to whosoever would listen. There is no invitation involved. To Nicodemus, Christ made the declaration that God gave His Son in order that all who believe in Him (again notice how definite that is) should have eternal life.

Those like myself who believe in a definite atonement (limited atonement) see this verse as another link in the chain. The sweet doctrine of salvation by grace through faith is purely grounded in Scripture. This verse is part of a passage, which is part of a Gospel letter. Remember the whole when you look at the parts.

As simple a text as so many make this one out to be, there sure is a lot packed in there if you stop and take a look around. My hope is that more and more people realize this verse is not a solid foundation of salvation by free will. If you still believe that, if you believe this verse contains a open invitation to all people, let me know and show me how you arrive at your conclusion. I enjoy a quality dialogue over the text. This happens to be a great text to discuss.

Filed in: Calvinism, Grace