Volume 26, Issue 2
W is c onsin Ch ristian N e w s .c om
Pa g e 13
A Closer Look At John 3:16 (Part 2)
By Marion Sailing May 2025
the Bible is a book of confusion and mistakes and contradictions. Then Christ contradicts Himself when He said to the Pharisees, “Ye believe not because ye are not of My sheep.” John 10:26. Also in John 8:24, “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” If He took away the sin of the world under the wrath of God (unbeliever), note Colossians 3:13, “Who had delivered us from the power (world) of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” Note 2 Peter 2:5, “God spared not the old world but saved Noah, etc.” The same word
(mankind) knew Him not.”
than the person wants to hear after- wards when being careful to re-ex- amine it. Back to I John 2:2, for Christ is the propitiation the believ- ers sins are atoned for and par- doned and they are justified from all sin and so eventually will be glori- fied — which certainly isn’t true of every Tom, Dick and Harry who ever lived on this earth. It would mean Christ atoned for the sins of a mur- derer so even though he is going to hell, Christ still atoned for his sins. I John 3:15…. “and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Strange words that would contradict themselves. Romans 3:25 says that “Christ is set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.” Since when has the whole universe had faith? The benefit of Christ’s propitiation sacrifice is only received and en- joyed through faith. Doesn’t 2 Thessalonians 3:2 say, “For all men have not faith!” So it is incorrect to believe in John 3:16 as do most preachers today, that Christ died for everybody. This is “Universalism” and universalism isn’t biblical. By nature, all men are Arminian (free willers) and refuse to accept the word “world” as God’s chosen or elect ones. It goes against their natural mind. The Scripture is very clear on the doctrine of election even though we find it hard to believe. We must accept it by faith like the trinity or virgin birth, flood, the ark, crossing of the Red Sea, etc. Now let us re-read John 3:16 “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish.” Already the verse shows a limitation on whom God gave His Son. What if a man or woman does not believe? John 17:9, “I pray not for the world.” Strange that is in the Bible, Mr. Modernist. Read the verse again. Does the Father elect a people, the Son dies for everybody, and the Holy Spirit tries to get as many as possible saved? Never! The Trinity is not at odds in the Scripture but in perfect accord and agreement on everything. Psalm 65:4 says, “Blessed (happy) is the man whom Thou chooseth, (here again is your limited atone- ment) and causeth to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.” (Continued in the next edition of Wisconsin Christian News)
If God loved all sinners we are tak- ing His deity, divinity and glory away from Him and reducing God to a mere man. God can not look at sin. Did He not turn His face from Christ on the cross when Christ hung there with our dirty, rotten sin upon Him? And darkness was over all the land, Matthew 27:45. Let us not twist the scriptures to suit ourselves. The greatest thing about God’s love is it is effectual. We, as believers, don’t take time to stop and realize the great love He had for us. He was willing to suffer terrible pain and agony, die on a cruel old piece of wood, the death (shameful) of crucifixion, that His people might have eternal life. The Father so loved the world that He actually gave His Son the beautiful name, “Savior.” The statement made by the angel to Joseph, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save HIS people (all believers) from their sins. “No, not just believ- ing Jews but all born again ones. No wonder the Holy Spirit informs us seven times in John 17 that the Father gave believers to the Son and not one of them will be lost. It was very hard for me years ago when I was a Premillennialist and strong Arminian to believe in eter- nal security. But the moment the Lord took me out of the “isms,” the eternal security of the believer first made sense to me since I then real- ized it was the Lord who chose me, saved me, kept me and not any- thing that I had done or was doing. What a beautiful teaching is the Predestination, Election. Eternal security, (Perseverance of the saints) or the doctrines of grace and how well it fits into the Scripture and no contradictions compared to what I had before. Praise God! Check out John 17. Note verses 2, 6, 7,9,11,12 and 24 and you will see 7 times the believers are given by the Father to the Son and not one of them will be lost. No, not one! Not one soul for whom Christ died will be in hell. He didn’t do a half job on the cross. The Bible says,the Father so loved, and the Son shall see His suf- fering and shall be satisfied and the Holy Spirit declares none will be lost. We believe on the Son and only those whom He chose will believe. Explain it. I can’t. God’s Word has to be accepted by faith. How effec- tual is the Trinity (so denied by our modernists) worked out in our sal- vation! Now let us go to the second ques- tion we started with in the begin- ning. For whom did God give His Son? We already touched on it, but let’s continue. If we say “every- body,” then the Bible teaches Uni- versalism. If John 3:16 means everybody then John 1:29 means everybody. For the same Greek word is used there, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” If Jesus Christ took away everybody’s sin, why are so many now going to hell? Then
Some might say, “but John 3:16 means world of the godly” and also quote I John 2:2 to give themselves some support. John is a Jew and the Gentiles and Jews were distin- guished from one another and the Gentiles were commonly called “the world.” Read Jewish writings. Again if Christ was the propitia- tion for the sins of the whole world as they like to say of I John 2; then Christ is allowing folks to go to hell for whom He died. The very word
“world” is “Kosmos” here, the same as in John 3:16. So there is a world of godly souls and a world of un- godly souls. Note John 6:30, “the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Even many liberal minded people will admit not everybody in the world will receive eternal life. I Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their tres- passes unto them and hath commit- ted unto us the word of reconciliation.” See what follows the word “world?” So even though we can’t explain everything the Bible has down, when truth is presented we must accept it or call God “the author of confusion.” Paul is speaking of two worlds here, believe it or reject it. The truth is stronger and will be final. What John 12:47-48 says at the end, “If any man hear My words, and be- lieve not…” vs. 48. “He that rejected Me, receiveth not My words….the same shall judge him in the last day.” It makes a big difference what we do with truth after it has been expounded to us. In the Bible, the word “world” is used for world system or order, the earth, the general public, followers of Christ, the universe, the whole human race, etc. Check it out and see. I John 5:19, “and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” Even though the word “whole” is used in front of the word “world,” it can’t mean everybody in the world lies in wickedness or it would take into conclusion the writer of I John. In John 1:10, the word “world” is used three different times or ways in one verse. “He was in the world (one earth) and the world (universe) was made by Him, and the world
“propitiation” means to atone and satisfy the demands made upon me. If Christ died on Calvary for the sins of the whole world then He never completed the Father’s demands. The Father’s demands for our re- demption have not been completed, the job is not finished. He needs to die again to pay the propitiation de- mands the Father requests so the whole world can escape the damna- tion of hell. Many are on the road to hell today. Matthew 7:13-14 says “few there be that find it.” Many are on the broad way. “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall see the king- dom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21. Only the believers will do God’s will. Only the sheep will hear His voice and obey. John 10:27, John 10:11, 15. God laid down His life for the SHEEP. Yes, Christ definitely satis- fied the Father’s demands. He said on the cross, “It is finished!” In I John 4:10 we read, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (believers or elect ones) and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our (believer’s) sin.”
We read
of the Greek word “kosmos” in Romans 11, 12 & 15. If one tears a verse out of context, as folks do with so many in- c l ud i ng John 3:16, it usually r e a d s much more
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