For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:17).
ARMINIAN
ARGUMENT:
“Doesn’t the
word ‘might’ imply that it would be the decision of an individual as to whether
he/she would be saved or not?”
(I)
Augustine of Hippo
(354-430)
[Source: Quoted in John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Banner of Truth, 2013), p. 312]
He often calleth the church
itself by the name of the
world; as in that, ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself;’ and
that, ‘The Son of man came not to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved.’
And John in his epistle saith, ‘We have an Advocate, and he is the propitiation
for [our sins, and not for ours only, but also for] the sins of the whole world.’ The whole world, therefore, is the church, and the
world hateth the church. The
world, then, hateth the world; that which is at enmity, the reconciled; the
condemned, the saved; the polluted, the cleansed world. And that world which
God in Christ reconcileth to himself, and which is saved by
Christ, is chosen out of the opposite,
condemned, defiled world.
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(II)
The Church of Smyrna (2nd
Cent. AD)
Neither can we ever forsake Christ, him who
suffered for the salvation of the world of them that are
saved, nor worship any other.
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(III)
Ambrose of Milan (340-397)
[Source: Quoted in John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Banner of Truth, 2013), p. 311. Owen notes that Ambrose then “proceeds at large to declare the reasons why, in this business, ‘all’ and ‘the world’ are so often used for ‘some of all sorts.’”]
The people of God hath its own fulness. In the elect
and foreknown, distinguished from the generality
of all, there is accounted a
certain special universality; so
that the whole world seems to be
delivered from the whole world, and all men to be taken out of all men.
------------------------------------------------
(IV)
Herman
C. Hanko
[Source: Covenant Reformed Fellowship News, vol. 3, no. 20]
The question arises out of the ambiguity of the our English word “might,” for the word seems to imply doubt. We say, for example, “It might rain today.” We really do not know, but there is some possibility. Or, we say, “So-and-so might go to heaven.” By this we mean that there is some possibility that that person will go to heaven, but we are not sure.
So it could be argued that what Scripture is saying here is this: “It might happen that the world through God’s Son will be saved, but there is no certainty about it.” What will then finally determine whether or not that person will be saved? God has sent His Son into the world to make salvation possible, but the certainty of salvation still rests upon man’s willingness to accept Jesus Christ and be saved.
So goes this line of reasoning.
Such reasoning is, however, sadly wrong.
We ought to get straight first of all the idea of the text and why the word “might” appears here.
As a matter of fact, the word itself does not appear in the Greek text. (Anyone with a smattering of the knowledge of Greek, sufficient to use an interlinear Bible, will soon discover this.) The very same construction is used here which is used in verse 16. We could just as well, as far as the Greek is concerned, translate verse 16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, in order that every one who believes in him might not perish, but might have everlasting life.”
Or, to turn this around, we could translate verse 17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world through him be saved.”
We can put the word “might” into verse 16; or we can leave the word “might” out of verse 17. It does not make any difference.
I prefer not to get technical in answering questions such as this, but maybe just a point of grammar might help some of our readers.
Although in modern English we have pretty much dropped all use of the subjunctive mood in our speaking and writing, good English teachers and students know that the subjunctive is (and was) an important part of correct speaking. The word “might” in English was (and is) one way to express this subjunctive mood.
The Greek requires the subjunctive mood here (also in v. 16 and the first part of v. 17) because the Greek uses a purpose clause. In every case the text tells us what is the purpose of God.
And now things get important, and the truth here is something everyone can understand.
Verse 16 is saying, therefore, that God, out of love for the world, gave His only begotten Son, with the purpose, not to condemn the world, but with the purpose that every believer be saved.
Verse 17 is saying much the same thing, but with a slightly different emphasis: God sent His Son into the world, not with the purpose of condemning the world, but with the purpose that the world through Christ is saved.
The text is talking here about the purpose of God! That purpose of God is the eternal and unchangeable purpose of His counsel. That purpose of God’s counsel is what God determined before the foundation of the world. See, e.g., Ephesians 1:11: “In whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”
So both verses speak of God’s eternal purpose in sending Christ into the world. His purpose was not to condemn the world. His purpose was to save the world.
… [What] needs emphasis is exactly that the purpose of God is always accomplished, or God is not God! It is incredible to think that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the sovereign Lord of the universe, the Ruler of kings and princes, the great God who does all His good pleasure, cannot accomplish His purpose in sending His Son. What utter travesty of our God.
And we can just as well add: This truth is the doom of those who hold to a well-meant offer of salvation, for such teach that at least in some respect it is God’s purpose in the preaching to save all men.
Let us give thanks for a sovereign God!
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(V)
More to come! (DV)
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