For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

“(vi. de Trin. c. 40) If it were only a creature given up for the sake of a creature, such a poor and insignificant loss were no great evidence of love. They must be precious things which prove our love, great things must evidence its greatness. God, in love to the world, gave His Son, not an adopted Son, but His own, even His Only Begotten. Here is proper Sonship, birth, truth: no creation, no adoption, no lie: here is the test of love and charity, that God sent His own and only begotten Son to save the world.”

“Having said, Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, alluding to His death; lest His hearer should be cast down by His words, forming some human notion of Him, and thinking of His death as an evil1, He corrects this by saying, that He who was given up to death was the Son of God, and that His death would be the source of life eternal; So God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; as if He said, Marvel not that I must be lifted up, that you may be saved: for so it seemeth good to the Father, who hath so loved you, that He hath given His Son to suffer for ungrateful and careless servants. The text, God so loved the world, shews intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. He who is without end, or beginning of existence, Infinite Greatness, loved those who were of earth and ashes, creatures laden with sins innumerable. And the act which springs from the love is equally indicative of its vastness. For God gave not a servant, or an Angel, or an Archangel, but His Son. Again, had He had many sons, and given one, this would have been a very great gift; but new He hath given His Only Begotten Son.”

“(1. xxvi. Mor. c. xxvii. [50.]) Or thus: In the last judgment some perish without being judged, of whom it is here said, He that believeth not is condemned already. For the day of judgment does not try those who for unbelief are already banished from the sight of a discerning judge, are under sentence of damnation; but those, who retaining the profession of faith, have no works to shew suitable to that profession. For those who have not kept even the sacraments of faith, do not even hear the curse of the Judge at the last trial. They have already, in the darkness of their unbelief, received their sentence, and are not thought worthy of being convicted by the rebuke of Him whom they had despised Again; For an earthly sovereign, in the government of his state, has a different rule of punishment, in the case of the disaffected subject, and the foreign rebel. In the former case, he consults the civil law; but against the enemy he proceeds at once to war, and repays his malice with the punishment it deserves, without regard to law, inasmuch as he who never submitted to law, has no claim to suffer by the law.”

“1; Note here, that the same which he before said of the Son of man, lifted up on the cross, he repeats of the only begotten Son of God: viz. That whosoever believeth in Him, &c. For the same our Maker and Redeemer, who was Son of God before the world was, was made at the end of the world the Son of man; so that He who by the power of His Godhead had created us to enjoy the happiness of an endless life, the same restored us to the life we have lost by taking our human frailty upon Him.”

“(in loc.) As He said above, that the Son of man came down from heaven, not meaning that His flesh did come down from heaven, on account of the unity of person in Christ, attributing to man what belonged to God: so now conversely what belongs to man, he assigns to God the Word. The Son of God was impassible; but being one in respect of person with man, who was passible, the Son is said to be given up to death; inasmuch as He truly suffered, not in His own nature, but in His own flesh. From this death follows an exceeding great and incomprehensible benefit: viz. that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Old Testament promised to those who obeyed it, length of days: the Gospel promises life eternal, and imperishable.”

“Above, the Lord assigned the cause of spiritual regeneration with respect to the descent of the Son and the exaltation of the Son of Man, and he set down the fruit, namely eternal life — a fruit which seemed incredible to men subject to the necessity of dying. And so the Lord makes this manifest, and first he proves the greatness of the fruit from the greatness of the divine love; secondly he excludes a certain objection, at the place, "For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world." Now it must be noted that the cause of all our goods is the Lord and divine love. For to love, properly speaking, is to will good to someone. Since, then, the will of God is the cause of things, good comes to us from this, that God loves us. And indeed the love of God is the cause of the good of nature; Wisdom 11:25: "You love all things that are," and so on. Likewise it is the cause of the good of grace; Jeremiah 31:3: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have drawn you," namely through grace. But that he is also the giver of the good of glory proceeds from a great charity. And so he shows here that this charity of God is greatest, for four reasons. First, from the person of the one loving, because it is God who loves, and immensely; and so he says thus, "God so loved"; Deuteronomy 33:3: "He loved the peoples: all his saints are in his hand." Secondly, from the condition of the one loved, because it is man who is loved — worldly, that is, carnal, that is, existing in sins; Romans 5:10: "God commends his charity in us, because while we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son." And so he says "the world." Thirdly, from the greatness of the gifts: for love is shown through a gift, because, as Gregory says, the proof of love is the showing of a deed. Now God gave us the greatest gift, since he gave his only-begotten Son; and so he says, "that he gave his only-begotten Son"; Romans 8:32: "He did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." And he says "his own," that is, his natural son, consubstantial with himself, not adopted — concerning such it is said in Psalm 81:6: "I have said, you are gods." And through this the falsity of Arius is evident: because if the Son of God were a creature, as he himself said, the immensity of divine love could not be shown in him through the reception of infinite goodness, which no creature can receive. He also says "only-begotten," to show that God does not have a divided love toward many sons, but the whole of it in the Son, whom he gave in order to prove the immensity of his love; below, 5:20: "the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things." Fourthly, from the greatness of the fruit, because through him we have eternal life; hence he says, "that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life" — which he acquired for us through the death of the cross. But did he give him for this, that he should die on the cross? He gave him indeed unto the death of the cross, inasmuch as he gave him the will to suffer in it; and this in two ways. First, because inasmuch as he is the Son of God, he had from eternity the will to assume flesh and to suffer for us, and he had this will from the Father. Secondly, because the will to suffer was inspired by God into the soul of Christ. Note, moreover, that the Lord, speaking above of the descent that belongs to Christ according to his divinity, named him the Son of God; and this is by reason of one suppositum in two natures, as was said above. And therefore divine things can be predicated of the suppositum of the human nature, and human things of the suppositum of the divine, yet not according to the same nature — but divine things according to the divine nature, and human things according to the human. Now the special reason why he named him here the Son of God is that he set forth this gift as a sign of divine love, through which the fruit of eternal life comes to us. He was therefore to be named by such a name as would befit indicating the power productive of eternal life, which is not in Christ inasmuch as he is the Son of Man, but inasmuch as he is the Son of God; 1 John 5:20: "This is the true God, and eternal life"; above, 1:4: "In him was life." But note that he says "may not perish." For a thing is said to perish when it is prevented from arriving at the end to which it is ordered. Now man is ordered to an end which is eternal life; and as long as he sins, he turns himself away from that very end. And although while he lives he does not perish altogether, in such a way that he could not be restored, yet when he dies in sin, then he perishes altogether; Psalm 1:6: "the way of the wicked shall perish." Now in this, that he says "may have eternal life," the immensity of divine love is indicated: for in giving eternal life, he gives himself. For eternal life is nothing other than to enjoy God. Now to give oneself is a sign of great love; Ephesians 2:5: "But God, who is rich in mercy, has brought us to life together in Christ," that is, he made us to have eternal life. Here the Lord excludes an objection that could arise. For in the Old Law it was promised that the Lord would come to judge; Isaiah 3:14: "the Lord shall come to judgment," and so on. Hence someone could say that the Son of God had not come in order to give eternal life, but in order to judge the world. And so the Lord, excluding this, first shows that he had not come to judge; secondly he proves it, at the place, "he who believes in him is not judged." He says therefore: the Son of God did not come to judge, because "God did not send his Son" — namely, with respect to the first coming — "to judge the world, but that the world might be saved." A similar thing is found below, 12:47: "For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." Now the salvation of man is that he arrive at God; Psalm 61:8: "In God is my salvation." But to arrive at God is to attain eternal life: hence to be saved is the same as to have eternal life. Nor ought men to be slothful, and to abuse God's mercy on account of his saying "I did not come to judge the world," by granting themselves license to sin, because although at the first coming he did not come to judge, but to forgive, yet at the second he will come to judge, but not to forgive, as Chrysostom says. Psalm 74:3: "When I shall take a time, I will judge justices." Against this, it is said below, 9:39: "I have come unto judgment." But it must be said that judgment is twofold. One is of discernment; and unto this the Son of God came at his first coming, because by his coming men were made distinct — some by blindness, some by the light of grace. The other is of condemnation; and as to this he did not come, so far as it depends on himself. Here he proves what he had said, as it were through the topic of division, in this way. Whoever will be judged will be either a believer or an unbeliever; but he did not come to judge unbelievers, because they are already judged: therefore from the beginning God did not send his Son to judge the world. First, then, he shows that believers are not judged; secondly, that unbelievers are not either, at the place, "but he who does not believe is already judged." He says therefore: "I did not come to judge the world," because he did not come to judge believers, since "he who believes in him is not judged" — namely, by the judgment of condemnation, by which no one believing in him with formed faith is judged; below, 5:24: "he does not come into judgment, but passes from death into life"; yet he will be judged by the judgment of reward and approval, of which the Apostle speaks, 1 Corinthians 4:4: "But he who judges me is the Lord." But surely will not many believing sinners be damned? I answer that it must be said that certain heretics said that no believer, however great a sinner, will be damned, but will be saved by the merit of the foundation, namely faith, although he may suffer some punishment. And they take the foundation of their error from this, that the Apostle says, 1 Corinthians 3:11: "no one can lay another foundation"; and further on: "if anyone's work shall burn, he himself shall nevertheless be saved, yet so as by fire." But this is manifestly against the Apostle, Galatians 5:19: "the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," and so on. "They who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God." It must be said, then, that the foundation is not unformed faith, but formed faith, which works through charity. And therefore the Lord signally does not say, "he who believes him," but "he who believes in him" — that is, he who, believing in him, tends toward him through charity, is not judged; and this, because he does not sin mortally, by which the foundation is removed. Or, according to Chrysostom, everyone who acts badly does not believe; Titus 1:16: "they profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny him"; but he who acts well — James 2:18: "show me your faith by your works" — and such a one is not judged, and is not condemned on account of unbelief. Here he shows that unbelievers are not judged. And first he sets down his statement; secondly he explains it, at the place, "and this is the judgment," and so on. Now it must be known concerning the first point, according to Augustine, that Christ does not say, "he who does not believe, is judged," but says "is not judged" — which can be explained in three ways. For according to Augustine, he who does not believe is not judged, because he is already judged, not in fact, but in the foreknowledge of God; that is, he is already known beforehand by God to be one who is to be condemned; 2 Timothy 2:19: "The Lord knows who are his." In another way, according to Chrysostom, "he who does not believe is already judged" — that is, this very fact, that he does not believe, is unto his condemnation: for not to believe is not to adhere to the light, which is to be in darkness; and this is a great condemnation; Wisdom 17:17: "they were all bound with one chain of darkness"; Tobit 5:12: "what joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and do not see the light of heaven?" In a third way, according to the same Chrysostom, "he who does not believe" "is not judged," that is, "is already condemned" — that is, he already has a manifest cause of condemnation. And it is similar to what would be said of someone who has a manifest cause of death, even before a sentence of death is passed against him, because he is already, as it were, dead. Hence Gregory says that in judgment there is a twofold order. For some will be judged by the judgment of examination — namely, those who have something opposed to condemnation, that is, the good of faith, that is, believing sinners. But unbelievers, whose damnation is manifest, are condemned without examination; and of these it is said, "he who does not believe is already judged"; Psalm 1:5: "the wicked shall not rise again in judgment," namely, of examination. Now it must be known that to be judged is the same as to be condemned; and to be condemned is to fall short of salvation, to which there is one single way of arriving, namely through the name of the Son of God; Acts 4:12: "there is no other name given under heaven, whereby we must be saved." And in Psalm 53:3: "Save me, O God, by your name." Those, therefore, who do not believe in the Son of God, fall short of salvation, and the cause of their damnation is manifest in them. Here the Lord makes manifest his statement, namely that the cause of condemnation is manifest in unbelievers: and first he sets forth the manifesting sign; secondly he shows the fittingness of the sign, at the place, "for everyone who does evil hates the light." Now in the sign he sets forth, he does three things: first he sets forth the benefit of God; secondly the perversity of the mind of unbelievers; thirdly the cause of the perversity. He says therefore: it manifestly appears that he who does not believe is already judged, which appears from the benefit of God: because "the light has come into the world." For men were in the darkness of ignorance, which darkness God indeed destroyed, sending light into the world, that men might know the truth; below, 8:12: "I am the light of the world: he who follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life"; Luke 1:78: "the dayspring from on high has visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." But this light came into the world because man could not approach it of himself: for it "inhabits light inaccessible, which no man has seen, nor can see": 1 Timothy 6:16. It appears also from the perversity of the mind of unbelievers, who "loved darkness rather than light" — that is, they wished rather to be in the darkness of ignorance than to be instructed by Christ; Job 24:13: "they have been rebellious to the light"; Isaiah 5:20: "woe to those who call light darkness," and so on. Now the cause of this perversity is that "their deeds were evil" — which are dissonant from the light and seek darkness; Romans 13:12: "let us cast off the works of darkness," that is, sins, which seek darkness; 1 Thessalonians 5:7: "they who sleep, sleep in the night"; Job 24:15: "the eye of the adulterer watches for darkness." Now from this it is that someone does not believe the light, because it is repugnant to him, by his departing from it. But surely do all unbelievers have evil deeds? It seems not: for many gentiles acted according to virtue — for instance, Cato, and many others. But it must be said, according to Chrysostom, that it is one thing to act well from virtue, another from natural aptitude and disposition. For some act well from natural disposition, because from their disposition they are not inclined to the contrary. And in this way even unbelievers were able to act well — as, for instance, that someone lived chastely because he was not assailed by concupiscence, and so of other cases. But those act well from virtue who, even though they are inclined to the contrary vice, nevertheless, from rectitude of reason and goodness of will, do not depart from virtue; and this is proper to believers. Or it must be said that although unbelievers did good things, they did not do them out of love of virtue, but out of empty glory. Nor even did they do all things well, because they did not render to God the worship owed to him. Next, when he says "for everyone who does evil hates the light," he shows the fittingness of the sign he set forth: and first indeed as to the wicked; secondly as to the good, at the place, "but he who does the truth comes to the light." He says therefore: they did not love the light for this reason, that their deeds were evil. And this is evident, because everyone who does evil hates the light. Now he does not say "has done" but "does": because if someone has done evil, yet being penitent, and seeing that he has done evil, grieves, he does not hate the light, but comes to the light. But everyone who "does" evil — that is, perseveres in evil — does not grieve, nor comes to the light, but hates it: not inasmuch as it is indeed manifestative of truth, but inasmuch as through it man's sin is made manifest. For the wicked man loves to know the light and the truth, but hates to be made manifest through it; Job 24:17: "if the dawn should suddenly appear, they think it the shadow of death." And therefore he does not come to the light. And this, lest his deeds be reproved: for no man who does not wish to abandon evil wishes to be reproved, but flees, and hates it; Amos 5:10: "they have hated him that rebukes in the gate"; Proverbs 15:12: "a corrupt man loves not one who reproves him." Here he shows the same thing as regards the good who do the truth, that is, good works. For truth consists not only in thought and words, but also in deeds. "He comes to the light." But did anyone before Christ act thus? It seems not. For he does the truth who does not sin; but before Christ all sinned, as is said in Romans 3:23. I answer that it must be said, according to Augustine, that he does the truth in himself to whom the evil he has done is displeasing; and having abandoned darkness, he keeps himself from sins, and being penitent for what is past, comes to the light, so that his deeds may be especially made manifest. But against this it seems that no one ought to publish abroad the good he does: hence the Pharisees are reproved for this by the Lord. It must be said that it is lawful to wish to make one's own deeds manifest before God, that they may be approved, according to what is said, 2 Corinthians 10:18: "For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom God commends." And Job 16:19: "Behold, my witness is in heaven." It is also lawful to wish to be made manifest in one's own conscience, that one may rejoice; according to what is said, 2 Corinthians 1:12: "this is our glory, the testimony of our conscience." But to wish to be made manifest to men for praise, or for one's own glory, is reprehensible. Nevertheless, holy men desire that the good they do be made manifest to men on account of the honor of God and for the profit of the faith; Matthew 5:16: "so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." But they come to the light, that their works may be made manifest, because they are done in God — that is, according to the command of God, or through the grace of God. For whatever good we do, whether by avoiding sin, or by doing penance for what we have committed, or by doing good works, all of it is from God, according to that saying of Isaiah 26:12: "you have wrought all our works in us."”

“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 overlooked the times of their ignorance, and had sent no prophet unto them, nor made any revelation of his will, or any discovery of his special grace unto them; yet he sent his Son now, not to destroy them for their idolatry, and wickedness, but to be the Saviour of them: nor the Jews; for as impenitent and unbelieving, and as wicked as they were, he did not accuse them to the Father, nor judge and condemn them; he was to come again in power and great glory, when he would take vengeance on them, and cause wrath to come upon them to the uttermost, for their disbelief and rejection of him; but this was not his business now: nor the wicked of the world in general; to judge, and condemn them, will be his work, when he comes a second time, in the day God has appointed to judge the world in righteousness. But the end of his mission, and first coming is, that the world through him might be saved; even the world of the elect in general, whom God determined to save, and has chosen, to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ, and has appointed Christ to be the salvation of; and who being sent, came into the world to seek and save them; and his chosen people among the Gentiles in particular: wherefore he is said to be God's salvation to the ends of the earth: and all the ends of the earth are called upon to look unto him, and be saved by him, Isa 49:6.”

“For God so loved the world - Such a love as that which induced God to give his only begotten son to die for the world could not be described: Jesus Christ does not attempt it. He has put an eternity of meaning in the particle οὑτω, so, and left a subject for everlasting contemplation, wonder, and praise, to angels and to men. The same evangelist uses a similar mode of expression, Jo1 3:1 : Behold, What Manner of love, ποταπην αγαπην, the Father hath bestowed upon us. From the subject before him, let the reader attend to the following particulars. First, The world was in a ruinous, condemned state, about to perish everlastingly; and was utterly without power to rescue itself from destruction. Secondly, That God, through the impulse of his eternal love, provided for its rescue and salvation, by giving his Son to die for it. Thirdly, That the sacrifice of Jesus was the only mean by which the redemption of man could be effected, and that it is absolutely sufficient to accomplish this gracious design: for it would have been inconsistent with the wisdom of God, to have appointed a sacrifice greater in itself, or less in its merit, than what the urgent necessities of the case required. Fourthly, That sin must be an indescribable evil, when it required no less a sacrifice, to make atonement for it, than God manifested in the flesh. Fifthly, That no man is saved through this sacrifice, but he that believes, i.e. who credits what God has spoken concerning Christ, his sacrifice, the end for which it was offered, and the way in which it is to be applied in order to become effectual. Sixthly, That those who believe receive a double benefit: 1. They are exempted from eternal perdition - that they may not perish. 2. They are brought to eternal glory - that they may have everlasting life. These two benefits point out tacitly the state of man: he is guilty, and therefore exposed to punishment: he is impure, and therefore unfit for glory. They point out also the two grand operations of grace, by which the salvation of man is effected. 1. Justification, by which the guilt of sin is removed, and consequently the person is no longer obnoxious to perdition. 2. Sanctification, or the purification of his nature, by which he is properly fitted for the kingdom of glory.”

“Give his only begotten Son—God sent not his Son into the world. He was then his Son, his only begotten Son, before he sent him into the world. He was not, therefore, his Son, only by the incarnation, but was his Son from the beginning, as he was also his word from all eternity. This was the constant doctrine of the Church, and of the Fathers, against the heresy of the Arians, that God was always Father, [1] and the Son always the eternal Son of the eternal Father. See note on chap. i. ver. 14. (Witham) — The world may be saved. Why, says St. Augustine, is Christ called the Saviour of the world, unless from the obligation he took upon himself at his birth? He has come like a good physician, effectually to save mankind. The man, therefore, destroys himself, who refuses to follow the prescriptions of his physician. (St. Augustine)”

“For God so loved, &c.--What proclamation of the Gospel has been so oft on the lips of missionaries and preachers in every age since it was first uttered? What has sent such thrilling sensations through millions of mankind? What has been honored to bring such multitudes to the feet of Christ? What to kindle in the cold and selfish breasts of mortals the fires of self-sacrificing love to mankind, as these words of transparent simplicity, yet overpowering majesty? The picture embraces several distinct compartments: "THE WORLD"--in its widest sense--ready "to perish"; the immense "LOVE OF GOD" to that perishing world, measurable only, and conceivable only, by the gift which it drew forth from Him; THE GIFT itself--"He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," or, in the language of Paul, "spared not His own Son" (Rom 8:32), or in that addressed to Abraham when ready to offer Isaac on the altar, "withheld not His Son, His only Son, whom He loved" (Gen 22:16); the FRUIT of this stupendous gift--not only deliverance from impending "perdition," but the bestowal of everlasting life; the MODE in which all takes effect--by "believing" on the Son. How would Nicodemus' narrow Judaism become invisible in the blaze of this Sun of righteousness seen rising on "the world" with healing in His wings! (Mal 4:2).”