By Mark W. Christy, PhD
(This series has been adapted from several sermons that covered verses relied upon by Arminians to defend their stance. In order to properly undergird their position, the Arminians are tasked with finding clear biblical support for the human will being an active part (and therefore, completely free and beyond the control of God’s sovereign will) of the salvation process. If this can be accomplished, then they must, of necessity, engage the verses that appear to directly support the Calvinistic position that salvation is wholly based upon sovereign, elective will. These verses include (but are not limited to) Matthew 11:25-27, John 5:21 and 12:37-40, Romans 8:28-9:33, and Ephesians 1:4-7.)
John 3:16-17 – “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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
“God so loved the world,” and yet Arminians and Calvinists would both agree that His love has not led to everyone being saved. While both sides affirm that God’s love for the world is in some way limited (either by God according to the Calvinists or humanity as the Arminians argue), one should carefully consider the constraints that John offers when discussing God’s love for the world. In v.16, John immediately limits the love of God, which he is addressing, to that which is associated with His giving of “His only begotten Son.” At this point, those who would be willing to simply prooftext and strip these verses out of their context could easily support a case for universalism (the idea that all are saved through Christ), but since this unbiblical stance also resolutely opposes both the Arminian and Calvinistic positions (and not to mention God’s Word), both sides should immediately consider the larger context of vv.16-17 to determine the extent of God’s love as understood by John.
Thankfully, John begins this chapter of his gospel with some extended discussion on the spiritual rebirth. This process, also known as ‘being born again,’ is affirmed by both Arminians and Calvinists. For the Arminians, they would argue that those who are born again must first respond savingly to the gospel for “God so loved the world” that Jesus died for all people, so that all may respond to the gospel solely by the power of their own freely apart from any regenerational work performed by the Holy Spirit. Calvinists, on the other hand, disagree and believe that “God so loved the world” that Jesus died only for the Elect (the chosen people of God), and so His Spirit will perform a regenerational work in their inner being such that they become divinely enabled to freely and savingly respond to the gospel.
In context, Jesus says in v.3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” From this rather direct statement by the Lord Himself, it seems clear that a saved person must of necessity be born again. To be born again, a person must be “born of water and the Spirit” (v.5). Being born of water symbolizes repentance in the process of being born again, but this repentance along with being born of the Spirit must either be sourced in God or humanity. To proclaim the source of all facets of being born again, Jesus declares in v.6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” With this affirmation, Jesus has limited the entire process of spiritual rebirth to the working of the Spirit and excludes all activities that may arise from the flesh. To further support this, He adds, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (v.8).
With a more informed understanding of spiritual rebirth provided by John, those who come to vv.16-17 would already be aware that whatever salvific love that God has for the world is limited by the constraints of His willingness to enable a person to be born of the Spirit. Since John begins v.16 by apparently discussing God’s love for the world in more broader terms, they could simply accept that John is speaking about God’s non-salvific love (i.e., His common grace) for the world. This, however, would only be possible if context is ignored since John immediately states how God loved the world by giving His purpose behind giving His only begotten son. Specifically, using the word translated as “might” which in Greek can symbolize a purpose statement, Scripture records God’s purpose: “that the world might be saved through Him” (v.17).
At this point, those who uphold a universalistic view, may still insist that God savingly loves the world such that all are born of the Spirit. This stance, in general, hinges entirely upon the meaning of “world” in v.16. Before demonstrating the problem with this interpretation, one should note that John uses “world” in at least 10 to 14 different ways in his writings. At times, John even uses “world” to refer solely to those who are not believers. For example, in John 17:9, Jesus announces, “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours.” Here, Jesus is praying on behalf “all whom [God has] given Him” (v.2). As opposed to these, He is not praying for the “world.” Obviously, “world,” as used in this verse, excludes those who are saved.
Given that “world” can mean strictly those who are non-believers, those who quickly seek to affirm a universalistic interpretation of John 3:16-17 should be more careful when trying to establish a particular theological stance from general language. Furthermore, they should look beyond words and phrases in one verse and allow context to further establish whatever point the original writer is making. To this end, John limits God’s saving love for the world to “whoever believes in Him” (v.16).
For the universalist, this limitation proves their stance to be wholly unsupported by vv.16-17. While they argue that God has savingly loved such that all are saved, John limits God’s love for the world only to this select group who manifest belief. With the universalist position of vv.16-17 debunked, one should again reconsider whether or not these verses offer support for Calvinism or Arminianism. As has been noted, John has already placed salvation firmly in the hands of the Holy Spirit, so looking to vv.16-17 to uphold an Arminian view should be seen as contextually futile. Nonetheless, a few points can still be made to help those who would try.
In vv.16-17, John simply does not describe the salvation process of “whoever believes.” He does not articulate whether or not their belief arises from an inner work of the Spirit (the Calvinist position) or the freewill response of the believer (the Arminian position). For this reason, the Arminians would be wise to look elsewhere to seek support for their stance, but then again, Scripture never offers any direct evidence, as it does for Calvinism, to support the idea that salvation has been made available pending man’s freewill response.