Is John 3:16 The Gospel?

I was blown away by this book! What Pawson writes here is eye-opening and makes perfect sense. He not only rightly divides John 3:16, but he also brings up others misreadings a lot of Christians have latched onto, such as:He echoes James, the Lord's brother, in that if you truly believe in Christ and have faith, then you will have the works to prove it; if you have no works, then you'd better re-examine your faith because it may be lacking.A one-time confession of faith is not enough to save you. (In Revelation, Jesus says seven times (to Christians) that we must "overcome" to enter the Kingdom of God. Paul say we must finish the race to win it, starting a race does not guarantee victory, only finishing does.)And, OSAS is a horrible fallacy leading many people to hell. (We must live the life that Christ commands all the way to the finish line to win the crown of life!)I will be breaking this book down so I can teach it in our Bible class at church.

In this book David Pawson explores the real meaning of the most quoted verse in the Bible: John 3:16. As author suggested I checked verbs tenses in Greek. (I used the theWord software with the Tischendorf's 8th edition Greek NT with morphological tags, both free for download and use). English and many other languages can't represent exactly some Greek tenses, so books like this are eye opening for many people.Another problem in some translations is misplaced word "so" as in "God so loved the world", which must be put at the beginning of the verse. Then is the question which words are these, of Jesus or John. All in all a very interesting read which puts us on track with the real meaning of John 3:16 (including its context).

David Lawson has a very concise and deliberate way of explaining how this biblical verse is misunderstood by most. I really like the way he fills in the details of the hows and why's of what is going on in the world and with the figures of the story to give a better understanding to the reader.

This book shows how we read into scripture what we want it to say without considering that we might be wrong in our interpretation to our own detriment.2 Timothy 2:14-15 (NIV)14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

This is an excellent book that clearly explains John 316 in context. Every Christian should read it. It goes back to the Greek and looks at the verse as it was meant to be read, not as an evangelical tool but as an exhortation to Christians to keep their faith.

Pawson is an excellent teacher and breaks down the very important verse the majority of we believers misuse for evangelism, and then incorrectly. 3:16 is part of a greater text directed specifically to believers. He also gives an excellent overview of the gospels, what they’re about and who they’re intended for. Highly recommend.

Love the honesty and humility with which this is written. There is a depth and a simplicity in the explanation of the topic. This is that famous; often explained out of context verse given its correct meaning.

In this book, Pawson gives a very interesting hermeneutic study of John 3:16, encouraging us to look at the original Greek for meaning and he does this in a very approachable and easy-to-read style. I do believe that his ideas on God's love are theologically sound and biblically based. However, Pawson is far from a conventional 'evangelical' or 'reformed' theologian, and contends that salvation is a 'process' rather than an event, and indeed that none of us know whether we are saved until we die. In other works, he holds to the view that salvation is only attained by repentance, belief, water baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit that must be manifest by gifts such as speaking in tongues. In my view, Pawson is dangerously close to a 'Gospel by works' rather than a 'Gospel by grace'. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and by all means read it (it's rather short), but approach his views with caution. They are quite far from mainstream evangelical / reformed theological thought.

très bon livre ! à recommander

Firstly I will declare a bias toward Mr. Pawson's writing, being a fellow independant Bible teacher whose only allegience is for the accurate teaching of Scripture I really like his teaching. This book is an excellent exegesis of John 3:16 it will upset quite a few who have been indoctinated in a traditional understanding of the verse; it will surprise many who use this particular verse as an evenagelistic verse as he opposed it use for such a purpsose. Anyone who has an open mind for proper interpretation and a hunger for accurate textual analysis not biased by long held traditional views will enjoy this book and will readily align themselves with this fresh understanding of the verse.I have held the view taught by Mr. Pawson in this book, I am delighted someone of such reputation has chosen to write on the topic as this highlights to the wider church community that there are some of who seperate from commonly held views in the desire to be accurate and true to the meaning of the text. An excellent book, well but simply written, well worth a read.

I really admire David Pawson, he is a wonderful teacher and author.In this book, he carefully examines each word- precondition, postcondition and context. Then, he brilliantly explain each word in terms of Greek/English translations.He discusses this verse in detail with the help of other bible verses.I personally was not aware of many details, it is an eye-opener.This book definitely changed my understanding of John 3:16

David Pawson nimmt die einzelnen Wörter in dieser Bibelstelle (Joh. 3,16) und schaut die genaue Bedeutungeg und Zeitformen im Griechisch an. Ich habe nie diese Bibelstelle so klar verstanden als jetzt. (Das Buch ist auch ins Deutsch übersetzt worden).

Eye opening and challenging. I found it an excellent read.....easy going and informative.