This pericope from 3:16-21 is a cosmic reference. Too much ink has been spilt unecessarily deciphering the meaning of cosmos. Cosmos as the eternally elect or as the entire world are both textually possible exegesis. However, the debate has generally been framed around the idea that the term speaks of a particular group of elect people (Calvinist) or that Christ has made salvation possible for all men based on their belief (Arminianism). Both ideas seem to miss the larger point of John’s Gospel. Perhaps Warfield was the most accurate in his assessment of this passage. It is not only the individual salvation God has in mind, but the renovation/deliverance of the world, which individual salvation is a part of. This world is not meant for judgment, but for glory and salvation.
