June 13, 2007
Christianity’s Favorite Bible Verse: John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - - John 3:16I think most would agree that this is the most popular, well-known verse of Scripture in the world today. But is this verse as simple as it seems? Or is there more?
The problem here isn’t the verse. The problem is context. All Scripture verses are given to us in specific contexts and must be kept in their context to be understood completely. This verse is a perfect example, since the verses following it help to shed light on what John the Gospel writer is saying. Let’s read further:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. - - John 3:16-21Clearly there is a reason people stop at verse 16 of this chapter, but the verse continues on. And John seems to interchange the words “believe” and “do” in this section – in other words the Gospel writer assumes that those who “do” actually “believe” and those who “believe” actually “do.” Can you simply believe and not follow the commandments of God?
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. - - James 2:14-17Christians are not simply believers, they are doers. To truly live out the Christian faith we must grow in holiness by resisting sin, helping the poor, and teaching others about Christ. We must be doers of the Word if we expect to see the light at the end of our lives.
God bless,
Jay
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jay,
Well done. "But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that HIS DEEDS HAVE BEEN WROUGHT BY GOD." John 3:16 understood in context is strikingly consistent with:
Galatians 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only FAITH WORKING THROUGH LOVE."
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for THE GOOD WORKS THAT GOD HAS PREPARED IN ADVANCE, THAT WE SHOULD LIVE IN THEM."
This is completely Catholic teaching. Without God's grace no good works can be done. All good deeds flow from him and are offered back to him through us. You are right as well to say that to be disciples or "believers" we must be doers of the Word. That is why faith alone is a false doctrine. Jesus did not teach it, Scripture does not teach it, and the Church does not teach it--never has, never will. It is a man made tradition without premise. Praise God for the fullness of truth subsisting in the Catholic Church!
Jay, I commend you for your excellent exegesis of John 3:17-21 to help us understand John 3:16. Matthew excellent job of bringing Ephesians 2:10 to our attention to help us understand Ephesians 2:8-9.
That being said, it might not be fair to characterize all Protestant denominations as falling into this woefully mistaken interpretation of Scripture.
In particular, let us recall that Pope John Paul II spent much time and effort working with the Lutheran community to achieve a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. It is my understanding that although the Lutheran and Catholic positions remain different on important issues, sufficient unity has already been achieved so that our respective positions do not incur the anathemas pronounced historically by the other respective community.
This may open up the door for some "development of doctrine" in the style Cardinal Newman suggests occurred in the early Church.
I know that some Protestants will acknowledge the place of good works as the fruits by which we will know who has received God's saving gift of faith through grace. Catholics, unlike Protestants, will of course go further and say that our good works (for which we can not take credit) also further open the soul to God's grace.
But in such a discussion between Catholic and Protestant, I would think that your exegesis of John 3:16-21 does not resoundingly refute the Protestant belief that good works are the necessary fruits of faith which do not contribute to our salvation.
What I mean to say is that a Protestant could respond with a hearty "Amen" to your final conclusion about works without needing to change their position on justification. This in turn leads us back to Pope John XXIII saying that what unites us is greater than that which divides us.
Posted by: Burnt Marshwiggle at June 14, 2007 05:34 PMThe problem I see with Jay’s “exegesis” of John 3:16-21 is one that is generated by the apologetic context in which he reads it – when the text itself is anything but an apologetic text. It is however, a text about insiders and outsiders – which is a driving theme of the Fourth Gospel.
Utilizing James 2:14-17 does not shed light on John 3:16ff. since the text from James involves faith on both sides - believers that emphasize works within a context of faith, and other believers that do not emphasize works, but still in a context of faith.
On the other hand, John 3:16-21 addresses both those who are doing something (deeds!) and do not receive the revelation of 3:13-15 and so do not believe, and those who are doing something (deeds!) and do receive the revelation, and so believe. Thus, believing and doing are in fact, not used synonymously or interchangeably here as Jay suggests. Indeed, the deeds that the outsiders are in fact doing, are evil (3:20), and so they do not receive the revelation (3:13-15) because they do not want their evil deeds to be disclosed by the light.
Pax!
Posted by: Jack at June 15, 2007 10:13 AMJay,
Thanks for highlighting that important distinction between two understandings of the word "Faith": on one hand, the one I'd called Judeo-Christian, faith implies deeds (very clear in St James for instance); on the other hand, which was championned by St Paul if I'm not mistaken, Faith implies belief "only". I think that the Church of Rome has been more on the brink of those two acceptions (depending on religious Orders for example), whereas Eastern Churches (including Catholic) seem to favour the "doers". I'm not sure if Protestants can be grouped together under one or the other view though — I'd wager that evangelicism is more about believing and less about doing... but I may be wrong. At any rate, as our Lord said, our Father's house has many rooms ;-)
I AM PRESENTLY DOING A COURSE IN BIBLICAL EXEGESIS, AND HAVE A PAPER TO PRESENT ON JOHN 3:16, I FIND IT VERY CHALLENGING. CAN YOU HELP ME?
Posted by: krishna at January 25, 2008 11:44 AM
