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. John 3:16
“Not only is this undoubtedly the best known verse in the New Testament, it’s probably the most distorted verse, as well. Why? It is because people who love the apparent universality of this verse hate the undeniable particularity of it. The verse begins by saying something about the love of God and the object of God’s affection. God so loved…what? “The world.” Now let me finish the verse for you according to contemporary understanding: “God so loved the world that He gave His Son in order to save everyone in the world.”
Some people draw from this text a doctrine of universal salvation; they believe it teaches that God loves the world so much that He saves everyone. But clearly that’s not what the text says…John 3:16 says that God’s love is so deep and so profound, He sent His only begotten Son…He did not love the world so much that He sent multiple saviors. Yet our culture tells us that if God were really loving, He would have provided avatars galore—He would have provided a smorgasbord of salvation options so that everyone could practice his or her own religion, and He would not have been so narrow-minded and exclusive as to require faith in Christ alone…
Are you one who gets angry when he [or she] hears there’s is only one way to God? The question is not “Why is there only one way?” but “Why is there even one way?” The answer to that question is that God loved the world enough to create a way.”
R.C. Sproul in John (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary; Ann Arbor: Sheridan Books, 2009) 44-46.
Christmas is a season when many of us see relatives and friends who embrace a contemporary view of salvation, that is, that Christ is one of many ways to eternal life. These people treat the “undeniable particularity” of Christianity as reflecting a narrow-minded lack of love. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The most generous thing we can do this holy-day season is to remind those with whom we celebrate Christmas that our joy is rooted in the love of God made known to us in the Christ child. Jesus is the greatest gift for all who believe, and the greatest gift that we can give others.