John 3:16, KJV: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
This is the very foundation of Christianity that God loved us and so Jesus died for us that anyone who trusts in Him will be saved from condemnation. This is probably the most popular verse in the Holy Scriptures. It is arguably the most famous part of any holy text in our history. The verse is a summary of the whole gospel, and the subject line of the entire Bible. John 3:16 reflects the core aspect of the gospel in which the essential idea is extremely clear, but there are layers of interpretations and knowledge about it.
The opening phrase is typically translated as "God so loved the world that" and is typically understood to mean that God love the world so much. There is nothing wrong with that idea, but the actual phrase means "God loved the world in this way," with emphasis on what God did, which is more than why. Jesus is an expression of God's unfailing love for us, meaning that all of mankind as stated in 1 John 4:9–10.
The phrase translated as "One and Only Begotten Son," uses the Greek word monogenes. This is a precise word, and one which John uses in other places in this gospel. While the English term "begotten" often makes people think about science, monogenes does not imply it. The word literally means something of the exact same meaning. This means that the Son is of exactly the same nature as God the Father. This makes John 3:16 an important part of proving the biblical concept about the doctrine of Trinity.
The life offered to those who believe in Christ is "everlasting," from a Greek word meaning "no end." The alternative to life in Christ is destruction or to "perish." Verse 16 and 17 explain that the purpose of why Jesus was our salvation, but verse 18 reminds us that those who don't believe are condemned already. There is no question that, according to the Scriptures, people can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.
