BIBLE STUDY-32

 

Peace Methodist Church 2021. 12. 26.

 

God’s Way of Love

 

◎ John 3:16~21 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world [or For this is how God loved the world], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

◎ Explanatory Notes

Verse 16.

For God so loved the world: This was the very design of God’s love in sending him into the world. (Wesley)

“So loved” does not mean “loved so much” but “loved in this way” that is, God’s love is giving and purposeful - to rescue and give life. (WSB)

That is, all men under heaven; even those that despise his love, and will for that cause finally perish. (Wesley)

 

that he gave his only Son: God’s way of love, salvation for the world[the Gentiles], was clearly revealed through Jesus Christ. (George R. Beasley-Murray)

 

whoever believes in: With that faith which works by love, and hold fast the beginning of his confidence steadfast to the end. (Wesley)

How can belief, in the Johannine sense, be distinguished from mere credulity or mere acceptance of a doctrine? “Believing” for John has been identified as involving participation “in Christ.”(Leon Morris)

“To believe” is the same as “to come”(5:40; 6:35; 7:37) or “to follow”(8:12) or “to enter”(10:9) or “to drink” of the water Jesus provides(4:13) or “to accept”(1:12). (George A. Turner)

 

eternal life: A new quality of life (RSB)

 

Verse 17.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world: It was the opinion of the Jews that the Gentiles, whom they often term the world, were to be destroyed in the days of the Messiah. Christ corrects this false opinion and teaches here a contrary doctrine. God, by giving his Son, and publishing his design in giving him, shows that he purposes the salvation, not the destruction, of the world - the Gentile people: nevertheless, those who will not receive the salvation he had provided for them, whether Jews or Gentiles, must necessarily perish. (Adam Clarke)

 

Verse 18.

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God: [It] is guilty of the grossest insult to the Divine majesty, in neglecting, slighting, and despising the salvation which the infinite mercy of God had provided for him. (Adam Clarke)

 

Verse 19.

The light has come: That is, Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, the fountain of light and life; diffusing his benign influences every where, and favouring men with a clear and full revelation of the Divine will. (Adam Clarke)

 

Verse 20.

lest his works should be exposed: lest his deeds should be reproved(KJV).

Or manifested or discovered. (Adam Clarke)

 

Verse 21.

But whoever does what is true: Those who walk by the Word of God. (Park)

That is, true religion. (Wesley)

 

◎ Summary

[A] God loves all people.(16)

[B] The problem is that people do not accept the light.(19)

[C] We should participate in the activity of the light.(21)

[D] Those who practice truth have eternal life.(16)

 

[Resources]

The Wesley Study Bible CEB, 2012.

Park Rohsoo’s Commentary on the New Testament, 2008.

George R. Beasley-Murray, WBC John: 1-21, 1987.

George A. Turner’s “Soteriology in the Gospel of John” in Salvation,

edited by John E. Hartley and R. Larry Shelton, 1981.

The Ryrie Study Bible NAS, 1977.

Adam Clarke’s Commentary, 1817.

John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, 1755.