New Testament Greek for ' the world ' 2889 kosmos {kos'-mos}
probably from the base of 2865; TDNT - 3:868,459; n m AV - world 186,
adorning 1; 187
1) an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government
2) ornament, decoration, adornment, i.e. the arrangement of the stars,
Some have insisted that God sent Jesus to die for the purpose of bringing salvation to everyone without exception, but only as a possibility.
However, Jesus makes clear that the salvation of those whom the Father "gives Me," and only those, is not a mere possibility but an absolute certainty; "and they come to me" (John 6:37-40; 10:14-18; 17:9).
The point made by "the world" is that Christ's saving work is not limited to one time or place but applies to the elect all over the world. Those who do not receive the remedy that God has provided in Christ will perish.
It remains true that anyone believes will not die (be separated from God) but live in God's presence forever.
The verses below are sufficient evidence to show that the Greek word translated "world" has several meanings and is not always all-inclusive of every human being in that ever lived.
Sometime being translated to mean, the earth, the world system, Humankind : Everyone, Humanity minus belivers, Humanity minus Israel, Believers, the known world, and not only Jews.
Acts 17:24 -Everything in it-The Earth- "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
John 13:1 -The Earth- Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Ephesians 1:4 -The Earth- just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
John 12:31 -World system- "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
1 John 2: 15 -World system- Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 5:19 -World system- We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
Romans 3:19 -Human-kind : Everyone- Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
John 15:18 -Humanity minus believers- " If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before [it hated] you."
Romans 3:6 -Humanity minus believers- Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
Romans 11:12 -Humanity - Israel- Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
John 1:29 -Believers- The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
2 Corinthians 5:19 -Believers- that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Acts 11:6 -the known world- "When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
Luke 2:1 -the known world- And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered
John 17:9 -Not praying for the world- "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."
Revelation 5:9-10 -Not only Jews- 9. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10. And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."
New Testament Greek for ' the earth ' 1093 ge {ghay} contracted from a root word; TDNT - 1:677,116; n f AV - earth 188, land 42, ground 18, country 2, world 1, earthly + 1537 + 3588 1; 252 1) arable land 2) the ground, the earth as a standing place
Adapted in part from A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of GOD
Perhaps the best-known argument for this view is found the unabridged edition of an otherwise excellent book, The Sovereignty of God, by A. W. Pink. Pink wrote, "God loves whom He chooses. He does not love everybody." [1] He further argued that the word world in John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world…") "refers to the world of believers (God's elect), in contradistinction from 'the world of the ungodly.'"[2]
Pink was attempting to make the crucial point that God is sovereign in the exercise of His love. The gist of his argument is certainly valid: It is folly to think that God loves all alike, or that He is compelled by some rule of fairness to love everyone equally. Scripture teaches us that God loves because He chooses to love (Deuteronomy 7:6-7), because He is loving (God is love, 1 John 4:8), not because He is under some obligation to love everyone the same.
Nothing but God's own sovereign good pleasure compels Him to love sinners. Nothing but His own sovereign will governs His love. That has to be true, since there is certainly nothing in any sinner worthy of even the smallest degree of divine love. read more...
John 3:16 is probably the most frequently misinterpreted and misused verse in all of Holy Scripture. I refer to the fact, of course, that so often it is explained as meaning that God loves all men and that he gave his Son for all men.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
The sad part of this misinterpretation and misuse is that it deprives the child of God, who is in himself an utterly lost sinner, of the very comfort and solid assurance that this Word of God is intended to convey.
If this little booklet may serve to contradict the misinterpretation referred to, and may serve positively to explain the text correctly and also to convey to the reader something of the tremendous wonder of God's sovereign love, it will have achieved its purpose.
May the Lord use it to that end. read more...
