What does “his only begotten Son” mean in Jn 3:16?  It means that Jesus had a natural birth.

When people read a King James Bible they will say things like, “I don’t like reading all of those “begats” and “begots.”  Those seemingly endless genealogies are hard to read at times.  However, they show you that the word “begotten” has significance; it means that Jesus was literally born, that he had a natural birth.

The prophecy in the Old Testament was, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,” (Is 7:14).  Well, for a virgin to conceive, she has to receive seed without a man.  In fact, she conceived by the Holy Ghost, who is God.  Therefore, Gabriel said to her, “that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” (Lk 1:35).  Mary was Jesus’ mother and God Almighty was Jesus’ Father.

God prepared for the second person in the Trinity a body in which he could live on this earth (Heb 10:5).  And that body was to be sacrificed as the perfect propitiation for our sins (1 Jn 2:1-2; Rom 3:24-25).  He had to come as a man and he had to die (Phil 2:5-11).  He had to suffer for us (Is 53; Ps 22) and he had to substitute for us once for all (Heb 10:10-14).  Now that body is seated in heaven at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33).

It is important to understand that Jesus was and is and shall always be God (Jn 1:1).  The fact that he was born a man in a body did not change his deity.  He is eternal and did not have his beginning with his birth in a body (1 Jn 5:10-12, 20).  Therefore, he was not a begotten god as Jn 1:18 in the NASV says.  That translation attacks his deity

He was the begotten “Son,” the ONLY begotten Son.  We, on the other hand, become sons of God by the new birth when we receive Jesus (Jn 1:12) but we are not begotten.  Adam was a son of God (Lk 3:38) but he was created (Gen 2:7) not begotten.  The angels are also sons of God (Job 1, 2, 38) yet they, too, are created not begotten (Heb 1:5-7).  Jesus is the ONLY begotten son of God.

Hope this helps,

Pastor Welder

 

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