« Christ the Breath of Our Nostrils | Main | Grace Creates a Truly Free Will - Augustine »
"WORLD" - John's Ten Uses of the Word by Pastor John Samson
The word “world†(Greek: Kosmos) appears 185 times in the New Testament: 78 times in John, 8 in Matthew, 3 in Mark, and 3 also in Luke. The vast majority of its occurrences are therefore in John’s writings, as it is also found 24 times in John’s three epistles, and just three times in Peter.
John uses the word “world†in ten different ways in his Gospel.
1. The Entire Universe - John 1:10; 1:3; 17:5
2. The Physical Earth - John 13:1; 16:33; 21:25
3. The World System - John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11 (see also similar usage in Gal 1:4 – Paul)
4. All humanity minus believers - John 7:7; 15:18
5. A Big Group but less than all people everywhere - John 12:19
6. The Elect Only - John 3:17
7. The Non-Elect Only - John 17:9
8. The Realm of Mankind - John 1:10; (this is very probably the best understanding of the word "world" in John 3:16 also)
9. Jews and Gentiles (not just Israel but many Gentiles too) - John 4:42
10. The General Public (as distinguished from a private group) – not those in small private groups - John 7:4
Seeing this list can be very helpful – especially when traditions reign supreme in some people’s minds that "world" always means all people everywhere. Sometimes it does, but most of the time, it does not. It is a tradition that is very strong but one that cannot survive biblical scrutiny. It is the context that always establishes the meaning of words and their usage.
Comments
Thanks for the post. I have a 17 page study where I tried to sort out every single use of the word Kosmos into one of those categories. It is still a rough draft, since I have about 5% I am unsure how to categorize, but the study was very helpful in evidencing reformed theology.
Posted by: Todd | April 7, 2009 10:03 AM
Thank you for the listing. It is very helpful.
Posted by: Berean Wife | April 8, 2009 01:29 PM
Hi John,
Is the John 17:9 reference "non-elect" only a typo? Is not John 17:9 a love for "the elect" only?
Posted by: Matt | January 11, 2015 01:29 PM
Great stuff I was listening to Steve Lawson on the doctines of grace, and googled ten uses of the word world in John, came to this site great stuff he used these ten examples in John to prove his point God bless and Thanks for standing up the Old time gospel..
Posted by: Frank Spaulding | July 23, 2016 06:46 AM