Billboard Theology – Not so Simple – John 3:16
By Robert Garner
Rutherford County
“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”, John 3:16.
Does this verse enable everyone to love the world, if they believe in Jesus?
John 3:16 is extensively used to promote a false narrative that God loves all men and the world. His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross and took upon himself forgiveness of all the world’s sins. All of mankind now has to make a simple decision. Believe in Christ, accept his gift of eternal life, or refuse to believe and suffer eternal death.
Jesus prays Not for the World. If God loved the world, is it not valid for believers to love the world?
Again, the Lord Jesus commands, 1 John 2:15-17. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever”.
Praying to His Father in heaven, the disciples hear the Lord Jesus as He prays in John 17:8,9. “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine”.
John 17:9, Jesus prays for “them which thou [the Father] hast given me”. The elect (them) are chosen out of the world by the Father. The chosen are hated by the world. John 15:18,19, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” Luke 21:17, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”
“For God “So” (Strongs, # G3778/G3779 “So”) in this manner, thus) Loved the world”, [in this manner], that he gave his only begotten son for the world God loved. God’s gift of giving his only begotten Son is the manner by which God shows His love for the world. God loves only those who have been redeemed by the blood, (death) of Christ. The Scriptures clearly show God does not love all men. “The World” as defined by various scripture contexts includes the whole human race. Those of all the unsaved who have ever lived in the world, and all the elect, those chosen by God who have ever lived in the world. Parallel verses of the world, John. 1:29, 3:17, 4:42, 12:47.
Psalm 11:5, “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth”. Two types of mankind in the world. Those tried and righteous; Strongs # H974 trieth, “to examine and prove the heart of man”. Strongs # H6662 righteous, “justified and vindicated by God” Psalm 26:2, “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart”. Psalm 11:5, “the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth”.
The elect of God is saved by His grace, which requires no action on the part of mankind whatsoever. Strongs # G5485 Grace, loving-kindness, favor by which God exerts his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Jesus Christ. Spiritual discernment by the Holy Spirit must be given to understand the spiritual nature of God’s Word. John 6:44, “no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” To Draw (G1670 to drag by the inward power of God Almighty).
Only the Work of God can give the ability for an individual to “believeth in Him”, (Christ). John 6:29, “and Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent”. To believe and accept are verbs that require a work of action to produce a desired effect or result. Believing is “not of yourselves”, we must be chosen by God to believe his gift of grace.
The statement of believing, without recognizing an individual must be chosen of God to “believeth in Him” John 3:16, fits perfectly with Romans 11:6. “And if by grace, then is it no more works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work”.
The Scripture declares the following; John 15:16, ye have “not chosen me, but I have chosen you”; 1 John 4:19, we love him, because “he loved us first”. Mathew 22:14, “for many are called but few are chosen”. John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven”.
Two worlds are in view in the scriptures. The world God loves includes His chosen elect, who are “chosen out of the world to believe in Him”. The world God hates, are those who love the world. “Any man loves the world; the love of the father is not in him”.
The prophecy of scriptures was written and recorded exactly as God intended them to be. 2 Peter, 1:21 “not in old time by the will of men, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”. Understanding the (hermeneutics) of scripture study demands the following discipline 1 Corinthians 2:13, “comparing spiritual with spiritual, [that’s comparing scripture with scripture] which the Holy Ghost teacheth”. 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.
Billboard Theology, displays a single scripture verse (John 3:16) to show God’s love for the world and all men; that’s a half-truth, which is a whole lie. Billboard Theology – Perhaps John 5:39?
JOHN 5:39
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”
Inspiration for “Billboard Theology” – Homer C. Hoeksema (1923-1989) “the most misused and misinterpreted in all of Holy Scripture” John 3:16. Interested in the End Times Study, Unsealed, as recorded in Daniel 12:4? “Shut up the words, seal the book, to the time of the end, knowledge shall be increased”. Email valleygravel@otlook.com. Your comments are always appreciated.
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Robert W. Garner and his wife live in Union Mills, Rutherford County, NC. He’s a Christian Bible study researcher/writer/coach allied with other Biblical Scripture investigators unaffiliated with any church denominations. Their Scripture research spans 600 years of Christian Bible languages which include English, Hebrew, and Greek. As God Almighty commands in 1 Corinthians 2:13 we search the scriptures; “not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but what the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual with spiritual”; which is a scripture with scripture.
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