Bible Truth #336 - John 1:29

John 1:29

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Arminians and others who believe in decisional salvation look at this, and similar passages such as John 4:42, 6:33, and 1 John 2:2, where the same author uses “world” and they say it means all fallen human beings. To that I answer, if the Lamb of God takes away the sin of each and every man, then that sin is GONE and can no longer be held against him. Simple logic should make it clear that Jesus did NOT die for every human being and that He did NOT take away the sin of each and every man who ever lived. If Jesus DID take away the sin of each and every man in the world, why is there anyone in Hell today?

The Arminian might say, “Because they refused to accept the free gift of eternal life.”

O.K. So is it a sin to refuse to accept this free gift? If it IS NOT a sin and Christ indeed “took away” every sin of each and every man, then you’ve got people in Hell who are sinless. If it IS a sin to refuse to accept this free gift, then Jesus did NOT take away the sin of the whole world, nor the sin of each and every man who ever lived.

Jesus did not even pray for the world (John 17:9), why would He die for it? Why would He go from Pilate to the scourging pillar and endure the stripes for those whom He knew weren’t chosen and would never believe? Why would our Savior go through the humiliation, excruciating pain, and suffering of the cross, for those whom He knew were destined to disobey the word of God? (1 Peter 2:8)

No, John is clearly intending “world” to be understood in the context and purpose of transcending the general thinking among the Jews that the Messiah was coming for them alone, or a nationalistic Jewish particularism.

Bottom line - John frequently uses the word “world” to specifically inform people the Messiah did NOT come for the Jews alone but also for the Gentiles, i.e. the whole world.

See Bible Truth #66 for more discussion on “world” and how it does NOT mean “each and every man” ever born.
See Bible Truth #324 for discussion on the Greek word that IS defined as “each and every.”