John 3:17

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 3:17-21

3:17-21 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe already stands condemned. And this is the reason of this condemnation--the light came into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. Every one of whose deeds are depraved hates the light, and does not come to the light, but his deeds stand convicted. But he who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 3:17

For God sent not his Son into the world ,.... God did send his Son into the world in the likeness of sinful flesh, being made of a woman, and made under the law; and which is an instance of his great love, and not of any disrespect to his Son, or of any inequality between them: but then this was not to condemn the world ; even any part of it, or any in it: not the Gentiles, as the Jews thought he would; for though God had suffered them to walk in their own ways, and had winked at, or... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 3:17

For God sent not, etc. - It was the opinion of the Jews that the Gentiles, whom they often term the world, עלמה olmah , and העולם אומות omoth haolam , nations of the world, were to be destroyed in the days of the Messiah. Christ corrects this false opinion; and teaches here a contrary doctrine. God, by giving his Son, and publishing his design in giving him, shows that he purposes the salvation, not the destruction, of the world - the Gentile people: nevertheless, those who will not... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 3:17

Verse 17 17.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world. It is a confirmation of the preceding statement; for it was not in vain that God sent his own Son to us. He came not to destroy; and therefore it follows, that it is the peculiar office of the Son of God, that all who believe may obtain salvation by him. There is now no reason why any man should be in a state of hesitation, or of distressing anxiety, as to the manner in which he may escape death, when we believe that it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:1-36

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:3-21

5. The revelation of earthly and heavenly things to one who knew that God was with him. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:16-17

"The gift of God." This is the language either of our Lord himself or of the evangelist. If these are Christ's words, they contain his authoritative testimony to his own declaration. If they are the words of John, we have in them the inspired judgment of one who was in most intimate fellowship with Jesus, and who was peculiarly competent to represent his Master's work in accordance with that Master's own mind. Familiar as this comprehensive and sublime utterance is to all Christians, there... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:16-21

(3) Divine love and judgment. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:17

For —notwithstanding your vain and selfish interpretation of the older revelation— God sent not his Son to judge the world. Observe that the word "sent" replaces the word "gave" of the previous statement ( ἀποστέλλω , not πέυπω ). The word carries with it "the sending on a special mission" (see notes on John 20:21 ), and arrests attention by denoting the immediate function of the Son of God's mission into the world. He was sent, not to judge the world. This judgment is not the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 3:17

The great purpose of God in the mission of his Son. Consider it— I. IN ITS NEGATIVE ASPECT . "For God sent not his Son," etc. This implies: 1 . That God might have sent him for purposes of judgment. 2 . God did not do what he might have justly done. "For God sent not," etc. 3 . Much of God ' s goodness to the world consists in not doing what he might justly and easily do. II. IN ITS AFFIRMATIVE ASPECT . "But that the world through him might he... read more

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