What You Might Not Have Noticed About Everyone's Favorite Verse

I once went out with a large group of fellow students from the preaching school I attended to a coffee shop. A couple of the students in our group sat down and introduced themselves to some well-dressed young men who were also there getting coffee. As it turned out, these men were attending a nearby denominational seminary. There wasn’t room for me to sit nearby, so I didn’t follow the conversation that ensued. When I got ready to leave though, I couldn’t help but notice what was being said. Somehow, the topic of discussion had shifted to the importance of baptism in God’s plan of salvation, something that the Bible affirms but the creeds of this particular denomination deny. The participants found themselves at a heated impasse; to sum it up, my classmates were pleading, “Mark 16:16!” while the seminary students retorted, “John 3:16!”

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you for me to say this, but the same person who spoke the words recorded in Mark 16:16 – Jesus – also spoke the words recorded in John 3:16. I’m sure that both sets of students realized this and would have acknowledged that there couldn’t possibly be a contradiction between these two statements. However, the way this discussion played out demonstrates that both sets of students felt like the solution to this seeming contradiction was to prioritize one truth over the other. While prioritizing certain instructions over others is a Bible principle sometimes at work (e.g., “to obey is better than sacrifice,” 1 Samuel 15:22), I’d argue that many New Testament instructions, particularly those surrounding salvation, call us not to prioritize but to harmonize, or better put, to find the harmony that exists between all that the Bible teaches on a subject. “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33), “and the Scripture” that He authored “cannot be broken” or turned against itself (John 10:35).

Without a doubt, there is total harmony between the statements of John 3:16 and Mark 16:16; maybe, if given enough time to study these and other passages relative to salvation, this conversation could have established that. However, I remember thinking at the time that my classmates would have been better off just staying put in John 3; a couple of decades later, my mind hasn’t changed.

I’m convinced that the Holy Spirit who authored Scripture, who “breathed out” the very words of the text (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV), is omniscient. He knows everything! And of course, Jesus, described as the eternal Word of God who “became flesh” (John 1:1-3, 14), also knows everything. Jesus knew exactly what to say to Nicodemus on that night that is recorded in John 3, and the Holy Spirit knew exactly which details of that conversation to include as a part of the inspired account of John. Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit wouldn’t be surprised to learn that John 3:16 is a favorite verse of so many people. Importantly, it also true that neither would be surprised by the priority some have given to this verse in telling the story of how man finds salvation. I believe that both anticipated this problem and so provided a couple of details to prevent it that are sadly sometimes overlooked.

How does your Bible read in John 3:16? The KJV, NKJV, ASV, and ESV read “should not perish”; the NASB and NIV read “shall not perish”; the CSB and NET read “will not perish.” Is there a difference between these translations? There is, and it’s an important difference as relates to grammar.

“Should” and “Shall”/“will” are ways of translating an aspect of Greek grammar called mood, an aspect that is sometimes overlooked or ignored. Mood has nothing to do with the attitude of a speaker but everything to do with what kind of a statement he or she is making. “Shall” or “will” are ways of translating what is called the indicative mood. This is the mood that a Greek speaker would use to make a declarative statement or state a fact. “Should” translates what is called the subjunctive mood. This is the mood that a Greek speaker would use to describe a possibility. Subjunctive mood features in our language too; this is why it is actually correct to say “If I were to do _______” instead of, “If I was to do ______.” Sometimes we create the subjunctive mood through helping verbs like should, could, might, and may.

So, did Jesus say, “shall/will not perish,” indicating a fact, or did He say, “should not perish,” indicating a possibility? It may come as a surprise to some that He said the latter; in fact, possibly the best way of expressing what Jesus said could be found in translations like the International Children’s Bible, which uses the word “may.” God’s gift of His Son and man’s belief in His Son both open the door to salvation but do not guarantee it. There’s more to the story of faith than belief; after all, “Even the demons believe – and tremble,” but are not saved (James 2:19).

Of course, if you mention indicative and subjunctive to some people, their eyes will glaze over, and, sadly, even if their translation reads “should,” they may have been taught “shall” so often that they may not be convinced. Thankfully, there are other helpful details in John 3 including another one that is often overlooked. Unfortunately, it too is surrounded by some poor translation choices.

In my preferred translation, the NKJV, John 3:36 reads, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” The NKJV follows the lead of the KJV here, but thankfully, the ASV, ESV, NASB, and ICB read differently in the second half of the verse. The ESV reads, “whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36). Jesus does not use a negated form of the verb “believe” in that second half as per the NKJV/KJV nor does He use the word “reject” as is found in the NIV, CSB, and NET. He uses a word that means “disobey,” or, as several translations read, “does not obey.” In this way, Jesus paints a clear picture: it should follow that the man who believes will obey, but if he does not obey, he will “not see life” and remain lost.

Admittedly, explaining either of these points may take some time and effort. Still, it’s helpful to know that even though some translators have somewhat obscured what Jesus said, Jesus spoke precisely and in a non-contradictory way. There’s no disharmony between John 3:16 and Mark 16:16 (or John 3:3-5, which we haven’t even considered in this article!), only perfectly harmonious teaching from our perfect and glorious God.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org