David Pawson & John 3:16

After listening to David Pawson’s Sermon ‘John 3:16’ over the past few days, I have finally finished it. It coincided on my recent trip to Georgia, in a particular place where heresy seems to over rule Truth…in a place where there is much need of Truth. It was a challenging visit, as I was having to revisit a place filled with memories of such darkness and struggle. At the same time this was a place of transformation and sharpening, and much time clinging onto my Lord.

I am looking forward to listening to the sermon again, as this first time listening I was driving for part of the time, cooking for another part and then finally took some notes on the last bit of my listen. I would love to track many of the points made in this sermon, but I will share with you my bit of notes I took on the last hour of this four hour sermon.

David Pawson spends four hours picking apart one very known verse, John 3:16. He goes to say that the Gospel of John is about what Jesus was; a story of a person, rather than his work. It is written for mature Christians and to believers to remind them to not believe ‘the wishy washy stuff’ around them. This contradicts the most common misconception of this verse. This verse is written to believers, not to unbelievers. It is abused when it is used as a tool of evangelism. It does not adequately tell people on how to respond to the Gospel. There is no word about repenting or baptism or the Holy Spirit. This is where it makes sense to me when Pawson said the people John is writing to has repented and has been baptized. This verse is to help them go on believing.

Pawson made a point of it not making too much sense that Jesus said John 3:16, but vs.16 was John commentating on verse 15; that Jesus stopped at vs.15, and John picked up at vs.16. Maybe John could see Christians drifting and had this deep burn in him to help his brothers and sisters stay on track. Take a notice the verb usage is vs.15 & 16:

¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

A few notes of mine goes as this:

*Vs. 16 would be repetitive if Jesus would have said it.

*The verb usage is different. Vs.15 is before Christ was crucified, as the verb usage in vs.16 is after the crucifixion (notice gave not give).

Later on he thoroughly explains the 4 main words for love in Greek.

Thelema which is parallel to the English word lust (please correct me if I’m wrong, as this part is coming from my memory. I was driving at this point in the sermon.)

Philos is parallel to the term friendship.

Eros is parallel to attraction, a chemical reaction out of your own control (and the closest to today’s ‘Worldly Love’).

Agape is closest to the English meaning ‘Care’, as if to care for someone, or to show someone you care.

In John 3:16, the term used is Agape. “For God so Agaped the world…” It is not ‘For God so lusted the world’ or ‘For God was so attracted to the world’, but ‘God cared…’ So this love is much different than any worldly love. You have to accept the Love of God and experience it to understand God’s way of Agape.

Something Pawson said that stuck out to me is ‘This is not a verse about loving everybody, but a verse about giving a way out.’ He followed this with bringing up a man name Marcion who lived around 144 A.D. His teachings were purely heretical. He rejected the the Old Testament and Yahweh, saying that the God of the Old Testament was not the same God as the God of the New Testament. He chose books of the Bible, and teachings he only wanted to believe. He called this ‘New Testament God’ a ‘Motherly God’. He also believed that there was not a Hell.

This struck me hearing about Marcion. I’ve come in contact with many Christians following his teachings over the past year, and had to stand up for truth in the name of Jesus and defend the truth against such teachings repeatedly in the last eleven months. It is frightening how many evangelical churches have slid into such teachings and is blinded from the full truth of Jesus Christ and the Cross. They are blinded by the multitude of grace that is found constantly in the Old Testament. I’m learning about more and more people believing and following such principals and faith who call themselves Christians. I had no clue there was a name to go with it.

It is scary, frustrating and wrong how we Christians just slide right off the track of truth. It shows me the importance of holding one another accountable in our struggles and unbelief. We need to be like John and have a deep burn when we see our brothers and sisters so easily drifting away. We all need to keep our eyes wide open, feasting on the whole entire Word, and staying saturated in prayer.

Again, these are just notes and a reflection on this (very good) sermon. I recommend listening to David Pawson’s sermon on John 3:16 and spending time in the Word with any doubts or new 'ideas' it may spur on. I unfortunately do not have a link, but please let me know if you find one.

May peace be with you.