Might Be Saved: John 3:17

Does God leave things to “chance”? Are things God declares, ever uncertain? If God declares something, will it not come to pass?  Is there even a chance that something God wills, will not come to pass?

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)

Well, the world “might” be saved, so, there must be a chance that it “might” NOT be saved, right?

We don’t generally speak this way today, but in earlier times, we did. Many, many times in the scriptures; when you see the word “might” used; it is not saying that something is uncertain. Instead, it is pointing out a causative that makes something else occur.

That is what we have in John 3:17. The causative for the world being saved is that God sent His Son to do something. The fact that the Son performed the prerequisite action; is causing the world to be saved.  Adam did something that caused all to be brought under condemnation.  He disobeyed.  The Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was obedient and this obedience will cause all to receive justification unto life.  See below:

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom. 5:18)

If we were to use might as it is used in John 3:17 in an everyday sort of situation, we may say:

“I have bought a ticket so that I might see the movie.”

There are over 400 occurrences of “might” being used in the scriptures. Sometimes, the word might has to do with strength, but that is a different Hebrew or Greek word.  That word is sometimes translated as “strength”.  It is the Greek word, “ICXYC”, “ischus”.  

Now, since we are discussing the fact that the scriptures were not written in English, but written in Hebrew and Greek, it is important to know that in most occurrences of the word “might”, there was no Hebrew or Greek word.  In other words, the English word “might” was inserted in order to help build an English sentence.  “Might” was not there, in the originals.  If you were to read John 3:17 in a very literal manner, it would read something like:

“For sent not God, His Son, into the world that He condemn the world, but that saved the world through Him.”

Of course, this makes for difficult reading.  So, English words were added to the translations to aid the reader.  Sometimes, translation additions, deletions, and alterations actually have the effect of causing more confusion or hiding the truth.  This is certainly the case in which the English words, “hell”, “punishment”, “ever”, “forever”, “eternity”, “eternal”, and “everlasting” are found.

But, since we are reading in English, and the English translations do have the word “might”, let’s examine that word and whether or not, “might” means “maybe”, “possibly”, “hope so”, “maybe so” ect.  

What I have found is that when the word is used in the perspective of things man does, it can mean that what follows “might”, may not occur. There are also many examples of “might” being used for things man does that are meant in the causative sense and not in the sense that it is uncertain.  Interestingly, (but not surprisingly) when it comes to what God does or ordains, I can’t find instances where there is the possibility of what follows the word “might”, not coming to pass.  Instead, it is a certainty.

If the reader would like to look at other scriptural examples in which “might” is used with respect to things God declares, does, ordains, directs, etc. please look up the following references:

Exodus 10:1, Lev. 26:45, Deut. 2:30; 4:36; 6:23, Joshua 11:20, 2 Sam. 17:14, 1 Kings 2:27; 12:15, 2 Kings 7:19; 22:17, 2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1, Nehemiah 7:5, Psalms 68:18, Jeremiah 27:15, Jonah 4:6, Malachi 2:4, Matthew 1:22, Luke 8:10, John 3:17, Romans 3:26; 5:20, etc, etc, etc.

​The above examples are not exhaustive, but a good sampling.