THE EXEGESIS OF JOHN 3:16

For more than a decade, I’ve known how to recite John 3:16 by heart. This single verse is the commonest verse ever quoted easily. But the issue here is, what does it mean? The fact that it is very simple to quote by heart doesn’t mean that it can be interpreted literally: ‘God loves us, and that is why he sent his son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins, so that when we believe on him, we won’t perish in hell.' That’s a nice exegesis, but it goes beyond that. It exposes the Father’s love and man’s eternal salvation.
Now, reading this from the KJV, there are commas in each phrase, and these phrases have their own significance.
Let’s take the first phrase.
For God so loved the world…
And we can see a cross-reference in Romans 5:8 and 1 John 4:9
For better understanding, we shall take the pretext, the main text and the post-text.

Romans 5:6, 8-11
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

1 John 4:8-10
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9, ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’
Now, Romans 5:8 calls the world, sinners and verse 10, enemies of God. 1 John 4:8 calls God; Love, that is God is Love,commendeth; NIV has it as demonstrates, NLT has it as showed and The Amplified has it as clearly proves─his own love towards us while we were yet sinners, that is vs. 10─enemies (of God), Christ died for us.
Now, if God had done this to this ungodly world, how much more would he love us as his children? The Bible says, ‘our adversary the devil, prowls around as a roaring lion, seeking for whom he may devour.’ (1 Pet. 5:8). And anyone he devoured, he accused them before our God (Rev. 12:10).
But the Bible is always filled with good news.
Romans 11:2-3 
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Romans 8:32-34
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 
33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Hebrews 7:25
25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Now, I want to draw your attention to 1 John 2:1, 2; Luke 22:31, 32 and Jude 24
1 John 2:1-2
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Luke 22:31-32
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Jude 1:24
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

And we move on to…
…that he gave his only begotten Son…
Let’s understand this. 1 John 1:14 has the same word─ begotten.
John 1:14
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
There’s something catching here, ‘…as of the only begotten of the Father…’  As of, is an idiomatic preposition, which means until a specified time. That is, we can read it thus, 
‘... then he was the only begotten of the Father.’
 Why ‘as of’? Why ‘then’? Because now, we are part of God’s family, we are now God’s (adopted) children.
Let’s expound this, first from that same John 1 and we’ll read verses 12-14
John 1:12-14
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The ‘sons of God’ here is not referring to the masculine gender, but a common gender. Apostle John also reflected on this in his epistle; 1 John 3:1-2. Apostle Paul wrote on this too:
Romans 8:14-17
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him , that we may be also glorified together.

Verse 17 has the phrase, joint-heirs with Christ. Okay, let’s move on to verse 29, where it has the phrase, firstborn among many brethren. Note this, the ‘firstborn’ used here doesn’t mean the first child to be born in a family, but for contextual purpose, the old Greek word for firstborn is prŌtotokos, which can be linked to (or referred to as) prŌtotύpos which in the English word, it is called prototype, which means ‘someone that serves as an example for others to follow’. And synonymously, it can be referred to as an exemplar.
Therefore, we can read it thus, 
‘For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that he might be an exemplar [prototype] among many brethren.’
Rom. 8:29 (Italics mine)
Being Like Jesus 2018 year theme is ‘Walking in the footsteps of Christ,’ and this theme was gotten from Col. 2:6. It says,'As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him'.The supplementary verses to this theme are in 1 John 2:6; Philippians 2:5 and John 13:15. 
Now to add to this, Jesus called himself THE WAY in John 14:6. Now, that phrase THE WAY was also mentioned in Acts 9:2, reading from the New Living Translation,'He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them-both men and women-back to Jerusalem in chains.' We now know that THE WAY in Acts 9:2 is Jesus Christ in John 14:6. And the followers of THE WAY (Jesus Christ) were the disciples of Jesus (Matt. 16:24); and these disciples were called Christians (Acts 11:26). Now, back to our concordance, Christian was originated from a Greek word, ‘Christianos’ which can be referred to as Christ-like. That is, they were following the steps; the laid-down examples of Christ (their prototype).
Still on the matter; firstborn among many brethren.
Mark 3:31-35
31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 
33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Take closer look at verse 35.
Mark 3:35
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

What’s the will of God?
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
How can we be sanctified?
John 17:17
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
That refers to our New Birth. And sanctification refers to holiness.
Hebrews 2:11 NIV [Emphasis added]
11 Both the one who makes people holy [Jesus Christ] and those who are made holy [the Christians] are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters [brethren].

Now, back to the phrase, ‘… that he gave his only begotten Son…’
Why?
He gave us his only begotten son, so that in Him (Jesus Christ) we might be made His (God’s) righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). That’s why the Holy Spirit (which is the Spirit of God) testifies [this tense is a present tense; that is an event that occurs now or daily. Therefore, it is a daily testimony] with our spirit that we are God’s children (Rom. 8:16). And if we are children then we are joint-heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance─ sonship with Him] (Rom. 8:17).
But there’s something in the latter verses [i.e. after 29] which I will love to discuss. But let’s keep our focus on John 3:16.
Let’s move on to the next phrases;
… that whosoever believeth in him should not perish…
Perish, from the old Greek word, refers to separation as it is, with death.
Now to perish, as used in this verse, does not refer to the physical separation─ that is separation from the living, but it refers to the spiritual separation─ that is separation from God. Because Hebrews 9:27 says, ‘… it is appointed unto men ONCE TO DIE…’ This ‘die’ is the former mentioned.
So we can read thus; 
‘… that whosoever believeth in him (Jesus Christ) will never be separated from God…’
[Paraphrased]
This ‘believe’ is not mere believing, but believing with the heart. And this involves faith in him. Let’s search the scriptures to see what it says concerning this.
Romans 10:14, 17
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The word of God must be preached so that FAITH may come. Faith is the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1), and this faith causes us to BELIEVE from the heart, in an unseen (yet real) God. The faith can only work by the power of the Holy Spirit. So you see? It goes beyond mere believing. MERE BELIEVING brings REMORSEFULNESS; but REAL BELIEVING that comes from the heart brings REPENTANCE (2 Cor. 7:10).
Romans 10:9-10 KJV
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

A simple act of faith is required. Let’s understand this from the scriptures:
Matthew 21:21-22
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

For contextual purpose, the ‘receive’ is to accept the gift of eternal life. Now paraphrasing, ‘if you have faith, and doubt not, then you can ask in prayer [communication with God], and you shall receive God’s eternal gift of life.’
When doubt is out of the way, then you can be saved by grace through FAITH (Eph. 2:8) and not through FEAR. That’s why preachers have to be careful with the way they present the message of faith. They have to be careful not to frighten anyone to come to the cross.
And whosoever believes with a simple act of faith in him, will never, I repeat, WILL NEVER, be separated from God. The phrase before this one, I said I’ll love to look at the latter verses of Romans 8. Let me give a little gist on it.
Romans 8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the daylong; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In other words, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. I read an anonymous article that sin wasn’t mentioned; hence sin can separate us from God. Well, I don’t think that is biblically correct. Let’s take the gospel according to John as an instance; the whole of it defended eternal salvation and many other places in the epistles. It’s good we read scriptures contextually and grammatically (especially the etymology of words).
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Death, from the old Greek word, thanatos, figuratively (for contextual purpose) refers to sin.
Thus we read, ‘For I am persuaded that sin… shall never be able to separate us from the love of God.’
But please, take note, grace is not a license to sin. Or better put, eternal salvation is not a license to sin.
1John2:1-2
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 3:6-10
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Romans 6:1-2,12
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
As the Bible teaches eternal salvation, it also teaches that it is not a license to sin, but it’s an assurance that when we die, heaven is our final destination. This single verse; John 3:16, may lead us to something more like a rhetorical subject matter; Eternal Salvation. Please brethren reading this, the scripture have rightly said,'in this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged.'(1 Cor.14:31). And so, if you think it is heretical we would love to ‘learn and be encouraged,’ and if it is not, we would still love to ‘learn and be encouraged,’ ‘for we (all) have the mind of Christ.’ (1 Cor. 2:16).
Finally, we come to the last phrase in John 3:16.
… but have everlasting life.
Everlasting life, from the word, is the life [for contextual purpose─ spiritual life] we have forever. It is the life we enjoy HERE AND THERE. It is divided into three phases:
Justification (Past) ─ the moment you got saved, God gave you the gift of eternal life and justified you. To justify is to declare righteous (Rom. 8:30, 2 Cor. 5:21).
Sanctification (Present) ─ this is what we do now and we will continue doing till we depart from this earth. Sanctification refers to holiness (2 Cor. 7:1, Eph. 4:24, Heb. 12:6-14).
Glorification (Future) ─ this is the life we’ll enjoy there in heaven after finishing the course and kept the faith (Rom. 8:30).
Everlasting life in the Greek is zoe, which is the God-kind of life. The moment you got born again, you were born of God. And to be born of God is to have his nature embedded in you.
Christian in the Greek is christianos, which refers to Christ-like. So the moment you were born of God, and have his nature embedded in you, you became like Christ. Thus, we ought to live and act the way Christ lived and acted; holiness is required from us.
And having this everlasting life is like having a relationship with God. 
That whosoever believes in him will never be separated from God but have a (perfect) relationship with Him.
Now, the summary to this is:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, so that through him, we might become part of His family, and that whosoever believes in him will never be separated from God, but have a (perfect) relationship with Him.
John 3:16 [Paraphrased]
Now you see? It exposes the father’s love and man’s eternal salvation.
Hope you are blessed?