TheosGuy

From John Calvin’s commentary on John 3:16

[Two] points are distinctly stated to us: namely, that faith in Christ brings life to all, and that Christ brought life, because the Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish…[St. John] has employed the universal term whosoever, both to invite all indiscriminately to partake of life, and to cut off every excuse from unbelievers. Such is also the import of the term world, which he formerly used; for though nothing will be found in the world that is worthy of the favor of God, yet he shows himself to be reconciled to the whole world, when he invites all without exception to the faith of Christ, which is nothing less than an entrance into life. Let us remember, on the other hand, that while life is promised universally to all who believe in Christ, still faith is not common to all, but the elect alone are they whose eyes God opens, that they may seek him by faith.

Here are some thoughts of B. B. Warfield on John 3:16

Certainly here ‘the world’ and ‘believers’ do not seem to be quite equipollent terms: there seems, surely, something conveyed by the one which is not wholly taken up by the other. How, then, shall we say that ‘the world’ means just ‘the world of believers,’ just those scattered through the world, who, being the elect of God, shall believe in His Son and so have eternal life? There is obviously much truth in this idea: and the main difficulty which it faces may, no doubt, be avoided by saying that what is taught is that God’s love of the world is shown by His saving so great a multitude as He does save out of the world. The wicked world deserved at His hands only total destruction. But He saves out of it a multitude which no man can number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and peoples and tongues. How much must, then God love the world! This interpretation, beyond question, reproduces the fundamental meaning of the text…The key to the passage lies—you see, in the significance of the term ‘world.’ It is not here a term of extension so much as a term of intensity. Its primary connotation is ethical, and the point of its employment is not to suggest that it takes a great deal of love to embrace it all, but that the world is so bad that it takes a great kind of love to love it at all, and much more to love it as God has loved it when He gave His Son for it.

Following are some Scriptural evidences of the Son’s submission to the Father.¹ Please note that this submission does not in any way imply subordination of Divine essence on the part of God the Son.

• The Son submitted to the Father before creation (Rom 8:29–30; Eph 1:3–6, 8–12; 3:11; 2 Tim 1:9).
• The Son submitted to the Father in the act of creation (Heb 1:2; John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16).
• The Son submitted to the Father before his earthly ministry (John 3:16–17; 8:42; Gal 4:4; 1 John 4:9–10).
• The Son submitted to the Father during his earthly ministry (John 8:28–29; 4:34; 5:19, 30; 6:38; 10:18; 12:49; 15: 10; 17:4).
• The Son has been submitting to the Father since he ascended into heaven.
• The Son intercedes to the Father on behalf of his people (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; 9:24).
• The Son did not pour out the Holy Spirit until the Father gave the Holy Spirit to the Son (Acts 2:33).
• The Father gave the Son what the Son revealed to John in the book of Revelation (Rev 1:1).
• The Son sits at the Father’s right hand (Ps 110:1; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:33–34; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; Heb 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22).
• The Son will submit to the Father after the final judgment in order to glorify the Father (1 Cor 15:24–28; Phil 2:9–11).

1. The outline is excerpted from materials developed by Andy Naselli, which relies heavily on Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware’s opening statement in a 2.5-hour debate versus Tom McCall and Keith Yandell on the question, “Do relations of authority and submission exist eternally among the Persons of the Godhead?” (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, October 9, 2008). See this blog entry for more information on the debate.

The following definition is given by Dr. Bruce Ware in the seminar he conducted at The Master’s Seminary on The Universal Reign of the Triune God.

God’s whole and undivided essence belongs equally, eternally, simultaneously, and fully to each of the three Persons of the Godhead, so that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each is fully God while each is his own personal expression, in role and activity, of the one eternal and undivided divine essence.

Tags: Ware