What does John 3:16 really say?

We all know this verse. In fact, there are probably many who are unsaved that know this verse. There are probably many more who at least know the reference, even if they don't know the verse itself. It is probably the most famous, though maybe not the most important, verse in Scripture. I'll quote it anyway, just for the sake of being thorough.

For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What I'd like to talk about today is the term "whosoever" in John 3:16. This word is usually the pivot point in this verse for the Arminian position that a person's salvation rests solely on their ability to receive the good news. Usually in a debate, a Calvinist may quote something like John 6:44,

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws (ἕλκω) him...

which is then answered by the Arminian, "But John 3:16 says 'whosoever!' Whosoever!" In case you think I'm being facetious, I can assure you that this has happened to me personally on a number of occasions, both in online debates and in person.

While this is not the only verse in defense of their position, it is an important verse. I'm obviously not going to tackle the whole range of the Arminian position- that would be nearly impossible. One thing I believe in when it comes to Biblical exegesis that does pertain to this article is the idea of interpreting a verse within its own context. In my experience (which is quite large), Arminians like to jump from verse to verse, answering the rebuttal to one verse by quoting another verse, rather than rebutting the rebuttal. This practice does not strengthen a position. The case here, usually, is that John 3:16 is held side by side with Rev 22:17,

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

More traditionally, the KJV rendering is used for the last part of the verse,

And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 

The Greek used here is entirely different than John 3:16 (καὶ ὁ θέλων- "and the will-ers") though the same English word is used. I'm not going to address it, but I do want to dismiss it as using different grammar and therefore not a sister verse. So, once again, John 3:16 must be translated within its own context according to its own grammar.


[I couldn't help but add 1 Tim 2:4 after finishing the post, because I don't want to be accused of avoiding passages. 1 Tim 2:4 says that God, "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." The word for all here is pas, which will be mentioned below. The context here is that Paul is urging Timothy to pray for "all men, for kings and all who are in authority" (v2). The context here is that God desires that all types of men be saved, even those kings who are currently persecuting them. Paul is admonishing Timothy to not hold animosity against any one people group. Okay, you may continue reading now. -Mike]


First, we need to understand that English and Greek are fundamentally different (obviously). What I want to point out here is the idea of a connotation. In English, as with any language, certain words will carry a side meaning or an idea that is not inherent within the actual meaning of the word itself. This is the case with the word whosoever. The connotation that the English word brings is the idea that the invitation for believing is open to anyone, and depends entirely on the person's will to make the decision to believe. This idea is not found in the Greek, so let's move on to the original language. In the Greek, John 3:16 reads,

οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

The main words here that we're looking at are "whosoever believes," which in the Greek, is actually three words,  πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων (pas ho pisteuon), which translates to all the believing. I think you can see where I'm going with this, but I'll break it down anyway.


Usually, the line of argumentation from Arminian scholars is to focus on the word pas. Pas means "all." The idea presented from Arminians is that due to the use of the word "all," the verse has the intention of showing that any, all, everyone without distinctions, ahem... "whosoever" may believe. They argue that the word is limitless, and that the word itself has no specific group in mind. But, any good exegete knows that a word is always defined by its context, and cannot be translated independently of all else. In this case, pas is part of a phrase, pas ho pisteuon. So what its saying is, "all- all of who? All of the believing [ones]." Being that it is part of a phrase, and in this case ho pisteuon is working as an adjectival clause describing pas, the phrase itself cannot be broken apart and must be read as a whole. Thus, "all" certainly is limited, specifically, to the ones who believe.


All that said, now let's retranslate.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that the believing ones should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Now remember what we said about connotation, and don't add any to the italicized phrase. What the verse is simply stating is that God will save the ones that believe. Period. This is a neutral statement when the question of "Who's will is responsible for salvation?" is asked. It says nothing of the will or of responsibility in salvation. Instead, it is a simple de facto statement that God will save those who believe.


What I'd like to close with is the idea of studying our Scripture carefully. Christians must understand that the Bible is a historical document, written in a dead language to people that are culturally different than us. That said, our understandings of words and ideas is fundamentally different. It is vitally important to add a critical textual study of the Word to your regular devotions, so that you familiarize yourself with what is actually written, and not just with softer applications of the text, or worse yet, maybe no other help at all. So, when you're reading your Bible, take some time to look at key words in the original languages to help you understand what's being said. Or, if you don't trust yourself to understand, grab a commentary from a trusted source to help you along.


Train well,


Mike