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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: Are we ever "worthy" of God's love? |
Bible Note: Dear Hank, Please bear with me a bit longer. I want to explain some of the questions you have concerning my reasoning. I would hate for you to think I was merely a thick-headed ideolog. Would you concede that the tradition we adhere to has a strong bearing on how we understand particular verses? I believe it does. When we read 2 Peter 3:9 or John 3:16 for instance we assume whatever we previously learned and believed about that verse to be the correct interpretation. We barely give it a 2nd thought! Lets look at John 3:16 "For God so loved the world...". We understand it as saying "God sooo loved the world...". That is perhaps the most natural way to interpret it. But is it the correct way. Did the Holy Spirit mean that God loved the world so much or is there another possible understanding. I believe there is. The word so is from the greek adverb "houto" which means "in this manner" or "to this extent". "Verse 16 begins with the assertion that God’s love is the basis of His redemptive work in Jesus Christ. God’s love for the world comes to expression in the sending of His unique Son into the world, and in the provision of eternal life for a specific and limited group. The same delineation and particularity that is found in the last phrase of v. 15 is repeated here...The text’s meaning is transparent, though again, the challenge is hearing the text outside of pre-existing traditions. “So” is best understood as “in this manner” or “to this extent” rather than the common “sooooo much.” His love is shown, illustrated, or revealed in His giving of His Son. The Incarnation is an act of grace, but that Incarnation is never seen separately from the purpose of Christ in coming into the world, specifically, providing redemption through faith in Him. Hence, the love of God is demonstrated in the giving of Christ so as to bring about the eternal life of believers." (James White in an Open Letter to Dave Hunt) You may read the entire letter on www.aomin.org I said all of that to say this. If it is an assumption on the part of calvinists to read "the elect" into 2 Peter 3:9, why is it not an assumption for anyone else to read "every single individual" into the same verse. John |