1. “Whoever” Individually vs. “The Whole” Collectively
The New Testament contains a common, theologically significant, expression which is incorrectly translated in most English versions. This provides false implications which affect more than one theological point. The expression πᾶς + substantive singular participle is translated either as “whoever believes,” “whoever is born/begotten” (of God, or of the Spirit), or “whoever loves.”
1. The expression πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων (“whoever believes”) appears in John 3:15,16, John 12:46, Acts 10:43; Rom. 10:11; 1 John 5:1.
2. The expression πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος, (“whoever is begotten/born” [“of God,” or “of the Spirit”]) is found in John 3:8; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:4,18.
3. The expression πᾶς ὁ ἀγαπῶν (“whoever loves”) is found in 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1).
Each of these refers to things which distinguish the true children of God as a collective whole, those who are joined to His only-begotten Son.
Here is a comparison of John 3:16 from the NASB and the LGV to illustrate the difference between the incorrect translation “whoever” (meaning each individually) and the correct translation “the whole” (meaning the collective whole).
John 3:16 (NASB) 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:15 (LGV) 16 “For this is how God loved the world, inasmuch as He gave His Only-Begotten Son so that the whole [entity] believing unto Him should not be destroyed, but may have age-enduring life.”
The adjective πᾶς generally means “all, the whole” which inherently implies a unity, that is the uniting of many into one. The misunderstanding occurs when this adjective modifies a singular noun or substantive. Many translations attempt to accommodate the singular of “all” (which implies a plurality) by using the word “each,” which then makes the implied multiple persons into a singular entity, the individual. However, there is a different adjective in Greek which means each one individually, ἕκαστος,[1] which occurs 78 times in the New Testament alone.
Also, the translation of πᾶς (all, the whole) as “whoever” is greatly misleading because it makes the statement conditional, which it is not at all implied by the Greek. “Whoever believes” implies a certain segment of the population who meet a condition of believing. But this is incorrect. John 3:16 does not give the condition for salvation as “whoever believes.” The English word “whoever” implies uncertain and unidentified individuals. Rather, John 3:16 states God’s intention to save the entire collective of believers as a group. Every time the singular “πᾶς” (all, the whole) modifies a singular substantive participle, it refers to the “whole” (singular) class of people consisting of many individuals described by the participle. It does not refer to a single person or to each person individually who is characterized by the participle. Translating “πᾶς” as “whoever” is incorrect and leads to skewed conclusions regarding what the Bible says about Christ, Christians, and salvation.
However, the proper understanding of these statements results in a corrected understanding of Christ, Christians, and our salvation which is collective, not individual. God has made many promises to the whole collective, the body of Christ, which are absolutely unconditional. This is why we are baptized into “the body of Christ.”[2] God’s promises are unconditional regarding the “body of Christ.” What is conditional is whether or not the individual continues within the collective of the Redeemed, or whether he abandons the collective by apostasy. The wrong understanding of many of these promises leads to people supposing that they apply to each person individually and independently. This is a mistake with enormous consequences.
It is also important to consider the substantive participle which the adjective πᾶς modifies. In the expression, πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων, which is wrongly translated “whoever believes” but correctly translated “the whole believing [entity],” the substantive singular participle is in the present tense, which implies a continual believing. Thus, God’s intention, by sending His Son, was so that the entire class of those continuing to believe should not be destroyed. The present participle only applies to those who continue to believe and cannot apply to those who may have only believed in the past but no longer do so. This passage is wrongly used to support what is called “eternal security” or “once-saved-always-saved.”
The same condition occurs in John’s statements in 1 John 4:7 and 1 John 5:1 concerning “the whole loving [collective entity].” The characteristic of all those belonging to this collective entity is that they continually love (agape – the God kind of love). Again, the singular substantive participle is in the present tense which again indicates continuous action. It does not refer to those who “loved” in the past but are no longer characterized by agape love. By not continuing in “love” they are outside of the collective.
The statement, “the whole begotten of God” (or of the Spirit), using the perfect singular participle, refers to the whole body of the redeemed, all true believers as a single entity joined to the Son, thus including the literal Son of God. But in this case the participle is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense refers to a present and continuous state or condition (not action) which is the result of a past action. The word “begotten” itself is an action verb. But by using the perfect tense participle, it refers to “the entire having been begotten” as a collective group as a single entity.
Notice Peter’s statement about individuals “begotten” of God. “Blessed the God and Father of our Master, Jesus Anointed, [who] according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Anointed from among the dead.”[3] Peter used the aorist tense of “begat…again,” but the direct object is “us” (plural). The implication is that each person is “begotten” of God (the Spirit) individually in baptism, something common to all of “us.” This was made clear by Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus, which Peter referenced above. “Unless one is born [begotten] again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[4] And again,” “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”[5] Note the word “one” which refers to an individual, and that “born” (lit. begotten) is also in the aorist tense. This is because for the individual this occurs at a point in time, when He is joined to Christ’s death and resurrection in baptism.[6] This is what makes the individual’s “begetting” (aorist tense) by the Spirit a part of the “having been begotten” collective (perfect participle). In other words, the individual believer is joined to the “having been begotten” collective by baptism, and this is figuratively called his own individual “begetting” by God. Yet, he is not literally “begotten” (originating again in the womb of his mother), as Jesus explained to Nicodemus. That there is literally only one Person who has literally and historically been “begotten” by God is also apparent from the fact that John called Jesus “the only begotten of the Father”[7] and “only begotten Son of God.”[8] The Son of God is the only one literally begotten or fathered out of God. The point of using the term begotten (of the Spirit) as a metaphor for Christians is because we become joined to, and a part of, the entire collective of “the having been begotten” (singular). We become part of Christ. This is why Scripture also uses the term “adoption” regarding our relationship to God as in Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:5, and Eph. 1:5. Adopted and begotten cannot be both literal as the mechanism for our being sons (and daughters) of God since they are mutually exclusive concepts. One does not “adopt” a son that has been literally “begotten.” Our adoption is literal, but our “begetting” is metaphorical because of being joined to the “only begotten Son.” Our being called “the whole having been begotten” is exclusively because of the only begotten Son’s original begetting out of God, and our sharing in Him as His “body.”
Hebrews describes the whole collective Son of God as follows:
Heb. 2:10-11 (NKJV) 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
In other words, the “only begotten Son” is not ashamed to call the adopted sons “brothers,” and He is willing to share what God promised Him in Psalm 2 with us.
For the same reason each local assembly is called “the body of Christ.” Also, Paul offered this analogy in Ephesians 5:29-32, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
The concept of the unity of all believers with the Son of God as one “begotten” entity was indeed stressed repeatedly by Paul, particularly with his often repeated “body of Christ” metaphor. Paul also was the one who constantly stressed that the local assembly must strive to maintain absolute unity.
Eph. 3:1-6 (LGV) 1 Therefore, I the prisoner in the Master, plead with you to walk worthy of the invitation with which you were called 2 with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to preserve the unity of the Breath in the bond of peace: 4 a common Body and a common Breath, just as you were [originally] called in a common Hope of your calling, 5 a common Master, a common Faith, a common immersion, 6 a common God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.
This theme was especially reinforced in John’s writings through the use of πᾶς + the substantive (singular) participle, that is the whole collective group characterized by the participle. It is no coincidence that near the end of John’s Gospel he included Jesus’ prayer which repeatedly stressed this oneness.
John 17:6-11,20-21 (LGV) 6 “I revealed Your name to the men whom you have given to Me out from the world. They were Yours, and You have given them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that everything, as much as you have given to Me, is from You 8 because the sayings which You have given to Me I have delivered to them, and they received them. And they understood that I truly came forth from beside You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask for their sakes. I do not ask for the world, but for those whom You have given to Me, because they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And I am not continuing in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, guard them in Your name, those whom You have given to Me, so that they may be one just as We are. … 20 Yet I am not asking concerning these alone, but also concerning those who will believe unto Me through their word, 21 so that they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, so that they may be one in us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And I have given to them the glory which You have given to Me, so that they may be one, just as We are one – 23 I among them and You in Me, so that they may be completed into one, and that the world may know that You sent Me, and that You love them just as You love Me.“
John began his first epistle also emphasizing this kind of oneness.
1 John 1:1-3 (LGV) 1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we examined and our hands handled concerning Logos of Life, 2 (and the Life was made apparent, and we have seen, and we witness and report to you the age-enduring Life which was with the Father and was made apparent to us). 3 What we have seen and have heard we report also to you so that you also may have fellowship with us. And yet this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus the Anointed.
Consequently, having observed these principles and the peculiarities of language used to emphasize them, we should consider it a rule of proper exegesis that whenever Scripture refers to “the whole believing [entity],” or “the whole loving [entity]”, and “the whole having been begotten [entity]” (using πᾶς + the substantive {singular} participle), it always refers to the collective Son of God, which includes the “only begotten Son of God”[9] and all who have been joined to Him.
In part 2 we will examine Paul’s role in introducing and stressing this “mystery,” the oneness of all believers in the collective Son of God. In part 3, we will consider John’s role in reinforcing Paul, and some important passages where this emphasis of the collective whole rather than the individual makes a world of difference in how we understand those passages.
Go to: Part II The “Mystery” of the Son and His “Body”
[1] As examples, compare: Matt. 16:27; Matt. 18:35; Matt. 25:15; Matt. 26:22; Acts 2:3,6,8,38; Acts 3:26, etc.
[2] 1 Cor. 12:13
[3] 1 Pet. 1:3 (LGV)
[4] John 3:3
[5] John 3:5
[6] Rom. 6:2-5
[7] John 1:14
[8] John 3:18
[9] John 3:18