Why John 3:16 is not about your “eternal destiny” (Part One)

John 3:16 is undoubtedly one of the most popular and well-known verses of Scripture. Here is how this verse appears in the Greek text:

Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

And here is how this verse reads in four of the most literal English translations:

Young’s Literal Translation

“For God did so love the world, that His Son—the only begotten—He gave, that every one who is believing in him may not perish, but have life age-during.”

Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible

“For God so loved the world that his Only Begotten Son he gave, –that whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have life age-abiding.”

Concordant Literal New Testament

“For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian.”

Dabhar Translation

“For thus God loves the cosmos, so that He gave the only-become Son, so that every faithing one into Him will not wholly loosen himself away, but have eonian life.”

Each of these literal translations of Scripture is, I believe, a valuable resource for the student of Scripture; with regard to translational accuracy and consistency, they’re far superior to the more commonly-read Bibles. However, the Concordant Version gets my vote for the best all-around literal translation of Scripture, and has been my primary Bible version for the last 15 years or so (with regard to overall “readability,” I believe it has an edge over the other three literal translations quoted above). Thus, while the Concordant Version is by no means a perfect translation (no translation of Scripture is), it is the translation from which I’ll primarily be quoting in this article (click here to read the Concordant Literal New Testament online; to learn more about how and why this version was created, click here).

Now, in the translations of John 3:16 quoted above, the expressions I’ve placed in bold (i.e., “life age-during,” “life age-abiding” and “life eonian”) are different ways of translating the last two words that occur in the Greek text of this verse (i.e., ζωὴν αἰώνιον or “zōēn aiónion”). Most Christians are unfamiliar with these expressions. This is largely due to the fact that these expressions don’t appear in any of the most commonly-read Bibles. In the Bible versions with which most Christians are familiar, the expressions used to translate zōēn aiónion in John 3:16 and elsewhere are “everlasting life” or “eternal life.” Here, for example, is how John 3:16 reads in two of the top best-selling English Bibles:

King James Version

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

New International Version

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In accord with how John 3:16 is translated in these and other more commonly-read Bible versions, the majority of Christians believe that the “life” and the “perishing” referred to in this verse are states of affairs that will be continuing for an endless duration of time, and which pertain to each person’s ultimate and final destiny (for example, on one popular Christian ministry website we read that John 3:16 “gives us the glorious hope of eternal life in heaven through the love of God and death of Jesus Christ.”). And just as the “life” of which we read in this verse is commonly thought to refer to the final destiny of the believer (i.e., “eternal life in heaven”), so the “perishing” in view is commonly believed to refer to an “eternal” fate from which those who will be perishing will never be saved. The majority of Christians believe that this fate will involve the unsaved having to suffer “eternal conscious torment” (or “eternal separation from God”) in “hell,” while a smaller number of Christians believe that the “perishing” in view refers to the unsaved being permanently erased from existence (i.e., annihilated).

In contrast with these commonly-held views concerning John 3:16, the position for which I’m going to be arguing in this two-part study is that neither the “life” nor the “perishing” of which we read in this verse will be occurring in “eternity” (whether in heaven or in “hell”), and that neither condition will constitute anyone’s final, “eternal destiny.” Instead, the “perishing” that’s in view in John 3:16 simply refers to being deprived of life during the first eon or “age” of Christ’s future reign over the kingdom of God, while the “life” of John 3:16 refers to life in the kingdom of God during this future period of time (and, by implication, life for the remainder of Christ’s reign as well). 

The Kingdom of God

Here, again, is how John 3:16 reads in the CLNT:

“For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian.”

In order to better understand what, exactly, is meant by the expressions that are translated “should not be perishing” and “may be having life eonian” in this verse, let’s consider the subject that Christ introduced at the beginning of his discussion with Nicodemus (and which we find recorded in John 3:1-12).[1] In John 3:1-5 we read the following:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, a chief of the Jews. This one came to Him by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we are aware that Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no one can be doing these signs which Thou art doing, if God should not be with Him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If anyone should not be begotten anew, he cannot perceive the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus is saying to him, “How can a man, being a veteran, be begotten? He cannot be entering into the womb of his mother a second time and be begotten!” Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If anyone should not be begotten of water and of spirit, he cannot be entering into the kingdom of God.”

Notice Christ’s references to “the kingdom of God” in these verses. Based on what Christ declared elsewhere (see, for example, Matt. 18:1-9 and Luke 18:15-30), we can conclude that the blessing referred to as “life eonian” in John 3:16 is life that will be enjoyed by those who will be entering into the kingdom of God that’s referred to in the above verses (and that the expressions “having life eonian” and “entering into the kingdom of God” thus refer to inseparably related blessings). But to what, exactly, was Christ referring when he spoke of “the kingdom of God” during his earthly ministry?

Answer: the kingdom of which Christ spoke (and with which Nicodemus would’ve been familiar insofar as he was familiar with the prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures concerning it) is the kingdom that will, according to what we read in the book of Daniel, be established on the earth at a yet-future time. After being provided with a description of a great metallic image seen in a dream by Nebuchadnezzar (and which we’re later told represents four successive and preeminent kingdoms on the earth), we read the following in Dan. 2:34-35 concerning a certain stone that was ”severed from a mountain, not by hands”:

“…and [the stone] collided with the image at its feet of iron and clay and pulverized them. Then, all at once, the iron, the clay, the copper, the silver and the gold were pulverized and became as chaff from summer threshing sites; and the wind lifted them up, and not trace at all was found of them. And the stone that collided with the image became a vast mountain range and filled the whole earth….”

We’re then provided with the following explanation of this symbolic imagery in Dan. 2:44:

“In their days, that is, of these kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that for the eons shall not come to harm. His kingdom shall not be left to another people. It will pulverize and terminate all these kingdoms, and it shall be confirmed for the eons.”

We go on to read the following concerning this kingdom in the seventh chapter of Daniel:

Daniel 7:13-14

“Perceiving am I in the visions of the night, and behold, on the clouds of the heavens, One as a son of a mortal is arriving: Unto the Transferrer of Days He reaches, and they bring Him near before Him; to Him is granted jurisdiction and esteem and a kingdom, and all the peoples and leagues and language-groups shall serve Him; His jurisdiction, as an eonian jurisdiction, will not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:22

“Perceiving am I and the same horn is making an attack on the saints and is prevailing against them, till the Transferrer of Days arrives, and adjudication is granted to the saints of the Most High, and the stated time is reached, and the kingdom is safeguarded by the saints.”

Daniel 7:26-27

“Yet adjudication sits; and they will cause his authority to pass away, even to exterminate and to destroy till the terminus. And the kingdom and the jurisdiction and the majesty of the kingdom under the entire heavens will be granted to the people of the saints of the Most High. Their kingdom is an eonian kingdom, and all other authorities shall serve and hearken to them.”

In these passages from Daniel it’s evident that the kingdom of God – i.e., the kingdom that “the God of the heavens will set up” – will be an earthly kingdom that will succeed (and permanently replace) the Gentile kingdoms that had previously ruled over the earth (notice the words “under the entire heavens” in the above passage). Although this kingdom is frequently referred to in Matthew’s Account as “the kingdom of the heavens” (or “the kingdom of heaven”), this particular expression is simply another way of referring to the kingdom prophesied in the above passages (which, again, is the kingdom that we’re told “the God of the heavens” shall set up). This expression does not, therefore, inform us of the location of the kingdom about which Christ taught during his earthly ministry (for this kingdom will be set up on the earth); rather, it emphasizes the heavenly source and character of this future kingdom.

The earthly location of this future kingdom is in accord with many other prophecies concerning it found in the Hebrew Scriptures (see, for example, Jer. 31:1-40; Isa. 61:1-62: 12; Isa. 65:17-24; Ezek. 36-38; Mic. 2:12-13; Zech. 14:8-20; cf. Matt. 5:5; Rev. 5:9-10). We further read that the reign of the Messiah and of the faithful within Israel will be characterized by peace and harmony on the earth (Isa. 2:1-4; 11:6-9; 14:3-7; Isa. 35:6-7, 32:15, 35:1; Isa. 51:3; Isa. 65:25; Amos 9:13). Moreover, although Christ will have dominion over the entire earth (with all other nations and kingdoms being under his authority), the geographical territory of the kingdom of God over which he will reign will be the land that God promised to Israel (the boundaries of which are specified in Gen. 15:18-20, Num. 34:1-15 and elsewhere); for a defense of this view, click here: the-judgment-of-sheep-and-goats-study. In accord with what’s revealed concerning the future geographical location of the kingdom of God, it’s also revealed that the city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion will be the capital of this future kingdom (see, for example, Isaiah 2:1-4; 30:19; 33:20; 52:1-2; Jer. 3:17; 30:18-20; Zech. 8:22; 14:4-21; cf. Rev. 20:9, where this future city is referred to as “the beloved city”).

Significantly, the only other time in John’s Account where we find explicit reference made to the kingdom of God is in John 18:36. Here is how this verse reads in the CLNT:

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My deputies, also, would have contended, lest I should be given up to the Jews. Yet now is My kingdom not hence.”

The word translated “now” in the statement that I placed in bold, above, is the Greek adverb “nun” (https://biblehub.com/greek/3568.htm). Christ’s use of it in this statement implies that the kingdom over which he shall be reigning is a future kingdom that belongs to a future time. This is in accord with the above prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the kingdom of God. It’s also in accord with what Christ himself taught elsewhere concerning the futurity of the kingdom of God. For example, in Luke 22:14-18 and 28-30 we read that Christ declared the following to his disciples:

“With yearning I yearn to be eating this Passover with you before My suffering. For I am saying to you that under no circumstances may I be eating of it till it may be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And, receiving the cup, giving thanks, He said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I am saying to you that under no circumstances may I be drinking, from now on, of the product of the grapevine till the kingdom of God may be coming.”

“Now you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I am covenanting a covenant with you, according as My Father covenanted a kingdom to Me, that you may be eating and drinking at My table in My kingdom. And you will be seated on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Similarly, in Matt. 19:28 we read the following:

“Verily, I am saying to you, that you who follow Me, in the renascence whenever the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

The future enthronement of Christ after his return to earth (see also Matthew 25:31) will mark the beginning of the fulfillment of the following prophecy from Jeremiah 23:5: “Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” The futurity of the kingdom of God on the earth is also affirmed by Christ in Luke 21:27-31, where we read the following:

“And then they shall be seeing the Son of Mankind coming in a cloud with power and much glory. Now at the beginning of these occurrences, unbend and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is drawing near.”

And He told them a parable: “Perceive the fig tree and all the trees. Whenever they should be already budding, you, observing for yourselves, know it is because summer is already near. Thus you also, whenever you may be perceiving these things occurring, know that near is the kingdom of God.”

Moreover, according to the following words of the angel Gabriel as recorded in Luke 1:31-33 (which were spoken to Jesus’ mother), this future kingdom will involve Christ sitting on “the throne of David” and reigning over “the house of Jacob”:

“And lo! you shall be conceiving and be pregnant and be bringing forth a Son, and you shall be calling His name Jesus. He shall be great, and Son of the Most High shall He be called. And the Lord God shall be giving Him the throne of David, His father, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for the eons. And of His kingdom there shall be no consummation.”

We’ll consider the expression translated “for the eons” in v. 33 a little later in this article (as well as the statement concerning there being “no consummation” of Christ’s kingdom). For now, it need only be noted that the expression “house of Jacob” refers to the twelve-tribed descendants of Jacob (i.e., the people of Israel), while the phrase “throne of David” – which occurs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures – refers to the throne, or seat of authority, from which King David and his descendants ruled over the kingdom of Israel (see, for example, 2 Samuel 3:10, 1 Kings 2:12, 24, 45, 1 Kings 8:20, 25, 1 Kings 9:5, 1 Chronicles 29:23, 2 Chronicles 6:10, 16, 2 Chronicles 7:18, Psalm 132:11, Isaiah 16:5, Jeremiah 17:25, Jeremiah 22:2, 4, 30, Jeremiah 29:16, Jeremiah 33:17).

In accord with the verses referenced above, we read the following in Isaiah 9:7 concerning the kingdom over which Christ shall rule when he sits on “the throne of his glory”:

“On the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to prepare it, and to brace it with judgment and with justice, henceforth and in the future eon. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.”

It is over this future kingdom that Christ shall be reigning when he is given “the throne of David, his father.” This is also the kingdom that Christ’s disciples had in mind when, shortly before Christ’s ascension to heaven, they asked him whether he was, at that time, going to be “restoring the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6).

The kingdom of God and “the coming eon”

Having considered the earthly (and Jewish) nature of the “kingdom of God” to which Christ referred when he spoke to Nicodemus in John 3, let’s now consider the connection between this future kingdom and the “age to come” (or “the coming eon”). In Matthew 24:3, we read that the disciples asked Christ the following questions concerning when certain future events would be occurring (and which they would’ve understood as being associated with the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth):

“Tell us, when will these things be? And what is the sign of Thy presence and of the conclusion of the eon?”

The “presence” (or “coming”) of Christ to which the disciples were referring is that which will involve “the Son of Mankind coming in a cloud with power and much glory” (Luke 21:27; cf. Matt. 24:30, where additional mention is made of “the sign of the Son of Mankind in heaven”). But what did the disciples have in mind when they referred to “the conclusion of the eon?” Answer: the word translated “eon” in this verse is the Greek noun aión, and denotes a relatively long period of time of indeterminate/unspecified duration – i.e., an “age” or “eon” (https://biblehub.com/greek/165.htm). In Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT Words the word aión is defined as “a period of indefinite duration, or time viewed in relation to what takes place in the period.” For a more in-depth defense of the view that this word (and the various expressions in which it occurs in Scripture) never denotes an endless duration of time, see my article “The Meaning of Aión in the New Testament” (http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-meaning-of-aion-in-new-testament.html).

We find this word used throughout Scripture in both the singular form (denoting a single “age” or “eon”) and the plural form (denoting two or more “ages” or “eons”). One example of the use of the plural form of this word can be found in 1 Timothy 1:17, where God is referred to by Paul as “the King of the eons.” Among the eons of which God is the King is the current eon (Matt. 12:32; 13:40; 24:3; 1 Cor. 2:6-8), which Paul referred to as “the present wicked eon” (Gal. 1:4) and “the eon of this world” (Eph. 2:2). However, it’s also revealed that there were past eons that preceded the present eon (Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 2:7; 10:11; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26, Heb. 9:26), and that there will be future eons that will follow the present eon (Mark 10:30; Matt. 12:32; 13:40; 24:3; Luke 18:30; Eph. 1:21; 2:7; Jude 1:25). It’s also clear from what is said concerning the past eons that they are limited in number, for we read that there was a time before the eons began (1 Cor. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2).

We also have good reason to believe that Christ’s coming in glory and power will coincide with “the conclusion of the eon” (for example, the Greek construction of the disciples’ second question indicates that the term “sign” should best be understood as applying to both Christ’s “presence” as well as to “the conclusion of the eon”).[2] Keeping in mind the fact that the present eon will be ending when Christ returns to earth to establish the kingdom of God on the earth, let’s now consider the following words of Christ to his disciples in Luke 18:29-30:

“Verily, I am saying to you that there is no one who leaves house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children on account of the kingdom of God, who may not by all means be getting back manyfold in this era, and in the coming eon, life eonian.”

The “coming eon” to which Christ was referring is the eon that will begin when the present eon – i.e., the eon that Paul referred to in Galatians 1:4 as “the present wicked eon” – concludes at the time of Christ’s return to earth. In Eph. 1:21, Paul referred to this coming eon as follows when he wrote that God seated Christ “…among the celestials, up over every sovereignty and authority and power and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this eon, but also in that which is impending…”

Christ referred to this future eon again in Luke 20:34-35, as follows:

“The sons of this eon are marrying and are taking out in marriage. Yet those deemed worthy to happen upon that eon and the resurrection from among the dead are neither marrying nor taking out in marriage. For neither can they still be dying, for they are equal to messengers, and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”

The resurrection to which Christ was referring here is that which he referred to earlier as “the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14), and will include all the believing, faithful Israelites who died (or will die) before Christ’s eon-concluding return to the earth. In Revelation 5:10 we read that these resurrected saints will be made “a kingdom and a priesthood for our God” and “shall be reigning on the earth.” And in Rev. 20:4-6 we’re further told that the reign of these resurrected saints on the earth with Christ as “priests of God and of Christ” will last “a thousand years.” It is these who will have a part in what we find referred to in these verses as “the former resurrection” (called such because it will occur before the resurrection of “the rest of the dead” referred to in Rev. 20:5; cf. Rev. 21:11-15). And based on what we read in Luke 20:34-35, it’s evident that Christ believed that this “former resurrection” will be occurring in “the coming eon” (which is referred to as “that eon” in v. 34).

For part two of this study, click here: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2021/09/why-john-316-is-not-about-your-eternal_29.html

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[1] There are differing views among students of Scripture as to where, in the third chapter of John’s account, Christ’s discourse actually ends. The Greek manuscripts have no standard way of indicating where a quotation ends, and so it is uncertain whether verses 13–21 are the words of Christ to Nicodemus (or perhaps to a wider audience on another occasion) or the words of the narrator (John) that were added as an editorial comment. Some scholars see verse 13 as the beginning of John’s own words in this chapter, rather than a continuation of the words of Christ to Nicodemus (the Concordant Literal New Testament, for example, has the words of Christ ending in v. 12). Others, however, see Christ’s words as ending with v. 15, and v. 16 as marking the beginning of John’s comments (see, for example, the New English Translation, the RSV, the Lexham English Bible and the NIV 2011). Still others believe Christ’s words continue all the way to v. 21 (e.g., Moffatt, J.B. Phillips, NEB, ESV, NASB, NRSV, HCSB and NIV 1984). I see the first view as most plausible (i.e., that Christ’s discourse concludes with v. 12, and that John’s commentary begins with v. 13 and continues all the way to v. 21).

[2] The Greek construction of the question is the kind to which the “Granville Sharp Rule” applies. On p. 787 of A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, A.T. Robertson referred to this very verse as an example of this kind of construction (see also p. 147 of Dana and Mantey’s A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament). This understanding of the disciples' question is further confirmed by the parallel account found in Mark 13:4 (see also Luke 21:7): “Tell us, when will these things be? And what is the sign whenever all these things may be about to be concluding?”

We also know that Christ believed that the believers who will be going through the time of “great affliction” (or “great tribulation”) that will precede his return to earth will be saved/delivered at this time (Matt. 24:30-31; Luke 21:25-28; cf. Heb. 9:28; 10:36-39; 1 Pet. 1:5-9, 13; 4:13; 5:4). And in Matthew 24:13-14, Christ revealed that every believer on the earth at this time who “endures to the consummation shall be saved” (Matt. 24:6, 13-14). Since “the consummation” that Christ had in view in the verses referenced above refers to “the conclusion of the eon” – and since the salvation of every believer who “endures to the consummation” will occur at the coming of Christ referred to in Matt. 24:30 – it logically follows that “the conclusion of eon” will coincide with the coming of Christ “on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory.” We can therefore conclude that Jesus’ disciples understood the future coming of Christ and “the conclusion of the eon” to be the same event.