Questions & Answers about Primitive Baptists
by Elder Tim McCool
|
What do Primitive Baptists believe about John 3:16?
This verse of scripture is often taken out of context to attempt to prove that Jesus died for all the inhabitants of the world. Taken in context, Jesus is making a factual point to Nicodemus, a Jew who erroneously believed that eternal salvation was limited to the physical nation of the Jews. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that God so loved the world (Greek kosmos -- created order), and NOT just the Jews, that He gave His only begotten Son. The purpose of His Son being given was that whosoever -- which is a definitive group and not mankind in general -- believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life. The Greek word for believeth is pisteuo, which is the same root word for faith, and faith by definition is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). The very belief/faith in the heart of those who believe is placed there by the mercy and grace of God. The fact that John 3:16 is not theaching that Jesus offered Himself to all the inhabitants of the world is further confirmed when Jesus said that he who does not believe is condemned already (v. 18), indicating the fallen state of mankind in Adam's sin (Rom. 5:20). Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance to understand to what "world" Jesus is referring. Christ declares in the same gospel of John, chapter 17, verse 9, that, "I pray NOT for the world."
--More--
|