God So Loved the World …
H.C. Hoeksema's pamphlet corrects the common misinterpretation of John 3:16, arguing that God's love and Christ's atonement are limited to the elect rather than extended to all humanity. Through careful exegesis, Hoeksema demonstrates that the "world" mentioned in the text refers specifically to God's chosen people, offering believers the assurance that God's sovereign love is directed toward them personally.
Preface John 3:16 is probably the most frequently misinterpreted and misused verse in all of Holy Scripture. I refer to the fact, of course, that so often it is explained as meaning that God loves all men and that he gave his Son for all men. Nothing could be farther from the truth! The sad part of this misinterpretation and misuse is that it deprives the child of God, who is in himself an utterly lost sinner, of the very comfort and solid assurance that this Word of God is intended to...