(Lord willing, this will be our last week delving into various "word studies." Next week we plan to post on a variety of subjects that will get us through to the end of the year. We have not forgotten the desire to complete the Gospel of Mark which, at this point, should be the first postings of the new year. Lord willing! This weeks posts center on a couple of passages , John 3:16 and 1 John 2:2, that relate to the "limited/unlimited atonement" debate.)
I had this discussion recently, and have had it several times over the years: did God only love the “world of the elect?” I will be honest with you: I have never thought this was complicated. It has always seemed to me that Jesus is talking about all the people who have ever lived or will ever live. I know the term “kosmos” is used in different ways, but the precise meaning is generally defined in the context. It seems to me the immediate context does not call for the limited meaning, especially since there is in the NT a word for the “elect.”
It seems to me, and I mean it “seems” or “appears” that those who want it limited to the “elect” are trying to maintain a doctrinal position. In v1-13 Jesus certainly maintained a distinction between those born from above/by the Spirit/in the heavenly manner and those only born in water/the flesh/the earthly manner. But in v14-16 it seems He is saying the cross has the same purpose as the serpent in the wilderness: the lifted-up serpent was the object of faith for Israel; the lifted-up cross was/is the object of faith for the world. As you read on, I am assuming that in v17 the Son did not come into the world of the elect to condemn the world of the elect.
Pardon me, but I digress. I didn’t intend to explain Jn. 3:16. I did think it would be helpful to do a word study of “kosmos.” I don’t mean all 187x in the NT. Just those in the writings of John. That in itself is a bit “monumental” as there are 79x in the Gospel and 23x in the first Epistle (only 4x in 2 John and Revelation). But the study has great benefit as you will see Jesus’ connection with the “world.”
· Jhn 1:9-10: the Word gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. (In the Prologue it is clearly the world He created, and the people of that world who did not know Him.
· Jhn 1:29: John the Baptist said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (The “created world” or “planet” did not sin, though it bears the marks of sin. The sin is in the people of that created world/planet.)
· Jhn 3:16,17,19: Which brings us to the passage in question: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “Whoever” is another term that helps me see that it is simply the world of the elect. I know: believers are the elect and vice versa. But it is not “whoever among the world of the elect” that believes because all the elect believe. The world of the “whoevers” is a world with believers and unbelievers. We commented above on v17, and the same is said of v19 which has it’s roots in 1:9-10: it is the people of the world He created who are condemned, who did not recognize Him, who loved darkness, whose deeds were evil.
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