Does John 3:16 Tell How to Be Born Again?

Summary

Grace in Focus — "Does John 3:16 Tell How to Be Born Again?"

Podcast: Grace in Focus
Host(s): Bob Wilkin, Sam Marr
Date: June 2, 2026
Episode Theme:
A focused discussion on whether John 3:16 directly explains how a person can be saved or be born again. Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr dissect common Calvinist (and some Free Grace) interpretations that challenge the straightforward reading of this foundational Gospel verse, delving into the meaning of "believe in Him," the nature of assurance, and the essence of the Gospel promise.

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1. Introduction to the Debate (00:52-01:28)

• Listener Question (from Brady): Does John 3:16 explain the way to be saved or is it simply a true statement, as some Calvinists claim?
• Main Issue: Some Calvinists argue that John 3:16 doesn’t directly answer “how to be saved,” sparking the need to clarify what “believe in Him” means and its implications for assurance and salvation.

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2. The Meaning Behind “God Gave His Only Begotten Son” (01:28-02:36)

• Bob and Sam break down John 3:16, showing that the phrase “He gave His only begotten Son” references both the crucifixion and the incarnation:
  • Crucifixion: Alludes back to verses 14-15 (“as Moses lifted up the serpent…”)—the Son of Man being lifted up (01:55).
  • Incarnation: Tied to John 3:17—God sending His Son into the world (02:35).

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3. The Problematic Calvinist Reading: “Believing in Him” (02:36-05:24)

a. Calvinist Position

• Calvinists claim that “believe in Him” is not enough, as unbelievers can believe the correct facts about Jesus without being born again.
• They differentiate between “head/mental faith” and “genuine/saving faith.”
• Calvinists often say one cannot be certain of salvation until perseverance is demonstrated at the end of life (04:46).

Notable Quote:

“For a Calvinist, being saved is not a guarantee that you'll be saved eternally. It can be temporary or it can be something that's lost.”
— Bob Wilkin (04:46)

b. Free Grace Internal Disagreements

• Some in Free Grace circles even say that John 3:16 does NOT instruct us on what to believe for eternal life, but merely states results (“will not perish, but have everlasting life”).

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4. Calvinism vs. Arminianism on Assurance and Salvation (05:24-06:53)

• Calvinists (especially “new” ones) believe in “initial salvation” at the moment of faith, followed by “final salvation” after a life of perseverance.
• Bob critiques this, equating Calvinist “initial salvation” with a kind of temporary/uncertain state, similar to the Arminian idea that salvation can be lost.

Notable Quote:

“If you follow the Calvinist way of thinking, nobody is born again on earth yet, because they haven't persevered yet.”
— Bob Wilkin (05:51)

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5. What Does “Believe in Him” Truly Mean? (07:29-10:31)

a. Nature of Belief

• Free Grace Definition: “Believing” means being persuaded or convinced of the saving truth, specifically about Jesus and His promise (07:29).
• Calvinist View: Distinguishes between “genuine” and “non-genuine” belief. Genuine belief must produce change/fruits (08:13), otherwise, it’s only “head faith.”

b. What is the Content of “In Him”?

• Calvinist/Works-Oriented Interpretation: Belief implies turning from sins, committing one’s life, following, obeying, persevering.
• Free Grace Variations: Some propose belief that Jesus died and rose again is enough, others focus on believing Jesus is God, or that He is sent from God.
• Bob’s Position:
  • The text itself answers—"believing in him for what he promises, which is everlasting life." (10:18)
  • Faith isn’t about repenting, following, or obeying, but simple belief in His promise.

Notable Quote:

“How many drinks does it take to forever quench your thirst?”
— Bob Wilkin (10:31)
“Just one.”
— Sam Marr (10:31)

“The three elements are: believing in Jesus for everlasting life.”
— Bob Wilkin (10:50)

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6. Assurance and Evangelism: The Clear Message of John 3:16 (10:31-12:27)

• Bob cites Gospel metaphors (living water, bread of life) to show belief is a one-time act, not a process or perseverance (10:31).
• Argument: If you believe in Him (as John 3:16 presents), you have everlasting life—period.
• Encouragement to trust the plain sense and clarity of the verse, against reinterpretations.
• Bob shares a story about two Calvinists doubting their own assurance, contrasted with a confident believer (12:06).

Notable Quote:

“I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I’m saved forever… How could I not know what I believe?”
— Bob Wilkin, paraphrasing a caller (12:13)

“If you let someone twist a clear cut and dry passage like this, then what are they going to do to more complicated parts of Scripture?”
— Sam Marr (12:39)

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7. Conclusion and Takeaways (12:39-12:47)

• Directs listeners to both reaffirm and defend the simplicity and assurance offered by passages like John 3:16.
• Encourages further exploration and reading of the Gospel of John for clarity on assurance.

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Episode Highlights & Memorable Quotes

• Bob Wilkin (On Calvinist Doubt, 12:13):
  “I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I knowI'm saved forever. And they said, yeah, but you don’t know you really believe…”

• Sam Marr (On Scripture Clarity, 12:39):
  “If you let someone twist a clear cut and dry passage like this, then what are they going to do to more complicated parts of Scripture?”

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Notable Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:52 | Introduction of John 3:16 debate | | 01:28 | Explanation of “God gave His Son”—crucifixion & incarnation | | 03:13 | Calvinist distinction: “head faith” vs. “saving faith” | | 04:46 | Assurance and confusion in Calvinism | | 05:24 | "Initial" vs. "Final" salvation in Calvinist theology | | 07:29 | What does “believing” and “in Him” mean in Free Grace vs. Calvinism | | 10:31 | Bread of life/living water metaphors—faith is a one-time act | | 12:06 | Call-in story: assurance vs. doubt in Calvinism | | 12:39 | Importance of defending clear passages |

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Key Takeaway

John 3:16, according to Wilkin and Marr, clearly and directly states “how to be born again.”
True saving belief is a one-time persuasion that Jesus gives everlasting life to the believer—nothing more, nothing less. The passage’s simplicity provides unshakeable assurance, in direct contrast to more convoluted Calvinist or works-based interpretations.

Final thought:

“Let’s keep grace in focus.”
— Bob Wilkin (12:47)

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Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. John 3:16. Does this verse actually say how a person can be saved? How they could be born again? Why do some people think not? Can we be sure? What does believe in him mean? Well, thank you for joining us today, friend for Grace in Focus. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We have a website, faithalone.org and we have a YouTube channel. YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. Come and view our short videos there, subscribe and like them and tell a friend about them as well. Check out our free subscription magazine Grace in Focus at our website faithalone.org and now with today's question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr.

[B]

Alright Bob, we've got a question from Brady and this is about John 3:16, probably the most memorized verse in the entire Bible. But his question is. Well, there's no question mark anywhere in this paragraph, but I'll make a question out of it. Calvinists say that John 3:16 is a statement that is true, but then they say it does not answer how a person can be saved. So the question is, does John 3:16 explain how a person can be saved or is it just a true statement?

[C]

Okay, so that's a great question, Brady, and there's really two parts of it. So John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world. And we know that's talking about God the Father because he says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. That's clearly referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now some commentators have pointed out that the giving of the Son both looks back to verses 14 and 15 and ahead to verse 17. So if it looks back, the giving would refer to the cross, right? As Moses lifted up the serpent, so shall the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever looks to Jesus and believes in him has everlasting life. So number one, he gave His Son in terms of the crucifixion, but he also gave His Son in terms of the Incarnation. Because what does 3:17 say?

[B]

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

[C]

So sending His Son into the world, what do we call that theologically?

[B]

The Incarnation.

[C]

Yeah, the Incarnation. So we've got the Crucifixion and the Incarnation, and both of those I think are tied into John 3:16. And then he says he sent his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish. And that's the subjunctive which means he will not perish if he believes. In fact, some translate that will not perish, but has everlasting life. And some people say, like Calvinists will say, well, it does say whoever believes in him. But for them, believing in him is kind of a mystical thing.

[B]

Right?

[C]

Because I'm sure, Sam, you've heard Calvinists say unbelievers can believe correct doctrine about Jesus. So you can't tell you're born again just because you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins and he rose bodily from the dead, that he's God in the flesh, that he gives salvation to certain people, etc. They would say that's just head faith, or that's just intellectual faith, or that's just mental assent. Well, the problem is, once you say that, you've really gotten confused. And they also divorce what it means to believe in him from what he promises will not perish has everlasting life. And by the way, I have some good friends from within free grace circles who used to be very active within GES and used to speak for GES at our annual conference, used to write for us. And they're now saying that John 3:16 does not tell us what we need to do to have eternal life. In fact, they will say that the will not perish but have everlasting life are the result. But they're not what we believe Jesus for. So they say we don't believe that by faith in Jesus we have everlasting life. Because they would say that's a sanctification issue. And of course the Calvinist would say, well, we can't know that till we die. Because according to the Calvinist, you got to persevere, right? Persevere to the end of your life.

[B]

Right. So being saved is disconnected from having everlasting life. And for a Calvinist, being saved is not a guarantee that you'll be saved eternally. It can be temporary or it can be something that's lost. And I guess for a flexible person, you can believe you're saved but not believe that you have everlasting life.

[C]

See, the thing is, the old line Calvinists would never do that. The old style Calvinists would say you prove you never were born again in the first place. But the new Calvinists say at the moment of faith, you get something they call initial salvation. And what do they say you get if you persevere to the end of your life?

[B]

Final salvation.

[C]

Final salvation. Well, what's initial salvation? It can't be everlasting life, because everlasting life can't be lost, right? Whatever it is, is something short of final salvation where you get everlasting life. So if you follow Calvinist way of thinking, nobody is born again on earth yet because they haven't persevered yet. They have some sort of temporary salvation, some initial. But you could substitute the word temporary. Which is why I think, Sam, that Calvinists are a lot like Arminians. Arminians say you can lose your salvation. Well, Calvinists say you have initial salvation and you can't really lose initial salvation because initial salvation isn't final. You've got to persevere to the end to win final salvation. In fact, the book by Tom Schreiner and Ardell Canada called the Race Set Before Us and on page 40 they show somebody running a race and they say the prize is eternal life. And if we continue to run the race till the end, we're going to win everlasting life. Well, that is what a lot of Calvinists believe. But some of the free Grace people will say, okay, you need to believe in him, but what does that mean? So let me suggest there's two problems, Brady, with both Calvinists and other people on what believing in him means. First of all is the believe part. The second part is the in him.

[A]

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[C]

say, right, Sam, that believing is. Is being what? Persuaded or convinced. Convinced of the saving truth. And that would be the in him part. And we'll talk about that in a minute. But what would most Calvinists say believing means?

[B]

Well, it gets confusing because they have two kinds of belief. There's genuine belief and then there's non genuine belief.

[C]

There's saving belief and non saving belief. And both believe the same set of facts, right?

[B]

But genuine belief means you really, truly deep, deep down believe it. And as a result there's some kind of change in your life or fruit or something to show for it. Whereas non genuine belief is just a head faith and there's nothing to accompany.

[C]

Well, not quite though, because a lot of Calvinists say no, no false professor can have temporary good works based on the parable of the Four Soils. They can spring up and they can have Temporary good works. They may even go all the way till the time they die. That's why when Calvinists are on the deathbed, they still don't know where they're going because they aren't sure they've lived a good enough life or whatever. But I would say if you read John MacArthur the Gospel According to Jesus, a five point Calvinist toward the end of his life, not early, he would say that believe is turning from sins and committing your life to Christ and following Christ. In fact, the subtitle of the 2nd and 3rd edition of the Gospel According to Jesus is what did Jesus mean when he said follow me? So for him, following him is believing in Him. And so a lot of people would say the belief part is turn from your sins, commit your life to him, follow him, obey him, persevere. The other part is what is the in him part? Well, there are people within free grace circles that say the belief part is just being persuaded, but the in him part, well, now that's flexible. Like I've known. Some people within free grace circles would say, if you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose again, then you're born again. Even if you don't believe you have everlasting life, even if you think you can lose your salvation because you believed he died for you and rose again, that's believing in Him. Others I know would say, if you believe Jesus is God in the flesh, that's enough. Even if you don't believe you have eternal life. Others would say, if you believe Jesus is sent from God, that's sufficient. And I would say the real simple answer from John 3, 16 itself is we're believing in him for what he promises, which is everlasting life. And you find this all through the Gospel of John repeatedly. There are three elements in what Jesus teaches. You need to believe, not commit, not repent, not follow, not obey, not persevere. In fact, when he uses the illustration of drinking living water, how many drinks does it take to forever quench your thirst?

[B]

Just one.

[C]

And how about eating the bread of life in John 6:35, one partaking of the bread of life and you'll never hunger again. So it's not perseverance, it's not any of those other things. And, and the believing in him is for what he promises everlasting life. So the three elements are believing in Jesus for everlasting life. And you see that also in Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2, 8, 9. You see it in 1st Timothy 1, 16, Revelation 22:17, John 4:10 and following Brady, John 3:16 is real clear. And if you're talking to a Calvinist or anyone and they say John 3:16 doesn't tell us what we need to do to have eternal life, then say, well, tell me what you think believe in him means. Let them talk about it. If you believe in him, what do we know you have? They're going to say everlasting life, right? And then they're going to say, but I can't know that. I heard these two Calvinists talking and they were saying we can't know for sure if we're a genuine believer or a false professor. And this one guy calls in and goes, I don't know what you guys are talking about. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I'm saved forever. And they said, yeah, but you don't know. You really believe. He said, I don't know what you guys are talking about. Of course I know. I believe. How could I not know what I believe? I believe in Jesus. He's my Savior. He saved me. I'm secure forever. And they're like, well that's nice, but you can't know that. And he said, well, I'm sorry for you, but I do know that. And that should be all of us. Right? You can share it with anybody and it's a beautiful message and I would encourage you, if you're talking to them, encourage them to pray about it and read the Gospel of John and just ask the Lord, could this be true? I've written some articles called Most Evangelicals Need Evangelizing. I'm convinced that pastors and missionaries and seminary professors, they need to hear this message.

[B]

I'm glad we have clear verses like John 3:16 and we have to defend them because it's. If you let someone twist a clear cut and dry passage like this, then what are they going to do to more complicated parts of Scripture?

[C]

Yeah, exactly. What they do is they go to those complicated parts and then interpret John 3:16 in light of their faulty interpretation.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Well, thanks so much Brady and thanks Sam. And remember, let's keep grace in focus.

[A]

Would you be interested in some free ebooks on topics you hear on this program? Well, if you are, you need to come Visit [e-mail] that's faithalone.org we would love to hear from you. Maybe you've got a question, comment or some feedback. If you do, please don't hesitate to send us a message. Here's our email address. It's radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org and when you do very important. Please let us know your radio station call letters and the city of your location on our next episode. Is it sin to do anything without faith? We'll see you next time. And in the meantime, let's keep Grace in focus. The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.