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.
John 3:16
In the middle 1970s, I was an LDS missionary in the southern United States – the Bible Belt. Everywhere we went, we saw the phrase, “John 3:16.” It was on billboards, it was on signs in front of churches, it was on the radio, and people we talked to would quote it to us.
When members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints read these words, we think of the love of God, our Father, and the loving sacrifice made by our elder brother, Jesus Christ. But there are three parts to this verse, that we understand very differently than the evangelical Christians I met in Alabama.
Only begotten Son
The first part of John 3:16 that we have a different view of is the phrase “only begotten son.” Christians, including us, don’t like to think about the actual meaning of the word “begotten.” Even with modern revelation, we don’t know anything about the actual process.
I believe Mary’s pregnancy was not some mystical, magical, top secret, allegorical, mumbo jumbo. Our church teaches the literal physicality of God. Because of this, I believe an egg got fertilized somehow.
Believeth in him
And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
Doctrine and Covenants 14:7
The second part of John 3:16 that we understand differently is the phrase “believeth in him.” We teach that one’s beliefs are demonstrated by one’s behavior. Commandments must actually be kept in order to obtain the associated blessings. Simply professing to believe is not sufficient to gain eternal life.
The Southern Baptists that I met not only did not teach enduring to the end, they also did not emphasize keeping the commandments. Evangelical Christians have taken the phrase “born again” from John chapter 3 and turned salvation into a one time and done process. According to them, once you are “saved,” you are always saved.
Everlasting life
The third and most important part of John 3:16 that we have a different view of is the phrase “have everlasting life.” It means much more than living forever. It is a reference to “eternal life” which means a life like God’s life.
Latter-day Saints understand this implicitly. We rarely actually mention it. But on Easter Sunday, when we are talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is important to emphasize that resurrection is a literal, physical, reuniting of our eternal spirit self with what will then become an immortal, physical body.
In addition to his atonement for all of our sins (if we will just repent), Jesus broke the bands of death so that we will all be resurrected from the dead – just as he was.
This is Good News, indeed!
Just as an aside, Mary has much more status in Catholicism. Appropriate or not Mary is the “Mother of God” in Catholicism. From the point of view in the Church, did Mary have any choice in this matter?