What does John 3:16 mean?

[Jackson Cooper]

John 3:16 and other verses similar to it are most commonly cited by those who believe salvation is obtained through some sort of prayer. That's how I grew up viewing this verse.
How do Eastern Orthodox view this verse? I know the Greek word for 'believe' is different in meaning.

 

[ArmyMatt]

belief is more than just a single prayer, but an active, dynamic, and ever growing life in Christ.

 

[Arsenios]

Lets begin with the Greek and a literal translation:

Joh 3:16
οὕτω γὰρ ἡγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον,
For in this manner did God love the Kosmos [eg Creation]

ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν,
So that the Son of Him the Only Begotten He gave

ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται,
In order that everyone who is believing in Him should not perish

ἀλλ᾿ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
But (instead) should have Life Eternal

The first thing of note is τὸν κόσμον,
He did not write "For God so loved human beings..."
But instead "...loved creation" - The Kosmos...
And in this is hidden the place of man in creation...
The essential place of man in God's Creation...
For without man, there is no creation as God intends creation...
When man fell, so also fell creation...
And the purpose of Christ incarnating is to restore creation...
And this is done by restoring man as Divinely created...
And then uniting man to God in Christ's Ascended Body, the Church...
The Cross, then, was for the sake of the restoration of man...
Baptism is for the sake of uniting man to God...
This uniting of man and God IS a New Creation...
Christ is the God-man in creation...
A Saint is a "Godded" man in creation...
The Body of Christ has as Her members those who have been baptized into Christ and have therein put on Christ being baptized into His Death in the Hope of His Resurrection...

Enough for now!

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

John 3:16
How do Eastern Orthodox view this verse?
I know the Greek word for 'believe' is different in meaning.

The Greek has "believing into Him", which carries far more weight than mere belief, for it is an active and energetic movement away from the world and into God... It is the violence of repentance into the crucifixion of self to worldly matters, and the calling on the Name of the Lord... As long as one is so believing actively, one is having Life Eternal, which means that the Faith which we are holding is an ongoing activity, in which perseverence to the end of one's life is called for that we will be saved, even as we ARE saved as we ARE believing... Looking back, as in turning back, as the dog to its own vomit, to our old and sinful ways, is not really an option, but it CAN happen, God forbid!

Arsenios

 

[prodromos]

It is a mistake to read this verse in isolation from the rest of Scripture as if this is the only criteria for salvation. There are many other verses which give other requirements for salvation, so the "believing in Him" will necessarily incorporate everything else Jesus said was required, such as for example, baptism, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, continued repentance etc.

 

[Arsenios]

John 3:16
How do Eastern Orthodox view this verse?

Jackson Cooper!
Where ARE you??
I hope you are ok...

Will or can or do you even desire to "talk" with us here?

Arsenios

 

[Arsenios]

ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εις αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται,
In order that everyone who is believing in Him should not perish

One of the implications for this sentence is that if one stops "believing into Him" - which is the meaning of one "having faith in Him", then one is perishing, you see... pisteuwn eis - Believing into - It is a meaning plain in the Greek, and lost in the usual English translation which states: "Everyine who believes in Him shall not perish..."

My oldest brother, may God rest his soul now, was not a believer...
And he would tell this joke:

"Everyone has to believe something -
Soooooo.....
I believe I'll have another beer!"

"Believing into" is the active and ongoing pursuit of the Faith of Christ which He discipled to His disciples, whom he then sent forth to disciple ALL the Nations...

THAT is the Faith which we have preserved for 2000 years...

Arsenios

 

[Jackson Cooper]

It is a mistake to read this verse in isolation from the rest of Scripture as if this is the only criteria for salvation. There are many other verses which give other requirements for salvation, so the "believing in Him" will necessarily incorporate everything else Jesus said was required, such as for example, baptism, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, continued repentance etc.

Exactly. My priest showed me all these different passages, and I was convinced that I wanted to be Eastern Orthodox and not Baptist.

 

[prodromos]

I might add that all the above criteria are the "norm", but that God is not confined by them. Thus you have people who were martyred while they were still catechumens and had not yet been baptised nor received Holy Communion, yet we are confident that they too have salvation.

 

[Jackson Cooper]

belief is more than just a single prayer, but an active, dynamic, and ever growing life in Christ.

Can God save us any way He chooses, or must we always do the things Jesus said such as being charitable, born again of water, Eucharist, etc.?

 

[Lukaris]

I believe outside of our faith, God will recognize those He chooses to save ( Romans 9:14-18 , Romans 2:6-16 etc. ). I also believe that John 3:16-22 indicates that there are those who will come to the truth being conformed to God. Lastly, John 5:22-30 says those who have done good will be saved but that is the will of God.

 

[Arsenios]

Can God save us any way He chooses...?

Of course He can...
Yet...
He CHOSE to save us in the manner in which He IS saving us...

The point being that Salvation is organically CORPORATE, because we are saved not as individually hand picked rock-stars linked to God's Grace, but as penitants called by God unto Life as a MEMBER of Christ's Holy Body, the Ekklesia, which literally means the "Called-out", of God...

I mean, the very word for "Holy" means "Unworldly"... Not of this world...

Your question itself, however, is fraught with issues, because placing one's own knowledge in the position of judging what God can or cannot do is a serious error, and is one in which upon seeing it demons greatly rejoice! Indeed, the Serpent in the Garden induced Adam through Eve to judge God by thinking that God was witholding Himself from them by denying them the Forbidden Fruit which would not kill them, but make them become as God Himself, knowing Good and evil...

or must we always do the things Jesus said such as being charitable, born again of water, Eucharist, etc.?

Your question is about discipleship, about what it is that we are to DO so as to attain Salvation... The very first word out of Christ's very Own Holy Mouth on this question was the little two letter Greek word ει, in English "IF", and the whole of Salvation pivots on this word from Christ. Matt 16:24 is literally translated thus: "IF anyone is willing, after Me to be coming, let him first deny himself, then take up his cross, and follow Me..."
You have to be willing, you have to desire, to follow Christ, in order to follow Him...

There has always, of course, been the totally "outside the box" originating of the "Order of Melchidesek", but this is not the norm... I know of only two of its members mentioned in the Bible...

Arsenios

 

[ArmyMatt]

Can God save us any way He chooses, or must we always do the things Jesus said such as being charitable, born again of water, Eucharist, etc.?

He can, but He told us what He expects us to do to tap into and embrace the salvation He offers. so while He can save whomever He chooses, He also will not override the freedom He has given us.