And how can we fancy that we can measure the love of God by what he has done for each and every human soul? Persist in reading the text thus distributively, making "the world" mean each and every man that lives on the earth, and what, after all, does it declare that the love of God has done for them? Just open a way of salvation before men, give them an opportunity to save themselves. For, what, in that contingency, does the text assert? Just this: that "God so loved the world"—that is, each and every man that has lived, does live, or shall live in this world—"that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." "Whosoever believeth on him"—those only.

我們驚奇這麼能夠用神對我們每一個靈魂所做的來度量神的愛？ 就是堅持分布一貫似地讀聖經， 把“世界”解釋成我們每一個生活在世界上的人， 最後聲稱神的愛就是為他們所做的一切？就是在人的面前開一條救恩的路， 給他們一個救他們自己的機會？ 在這種條件下， 這段經文確定了什麼？ 就是這些? “神愛世人“， 即在世界上生活過的， 正在生活的和將來生活的人， “甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信他的，不至滅亡，反得永生“， “一切信他的“就這麼多而已。

Is this, then, the measure of the immeasurable love of God—that he barely opens a pathway to salvation before sinful men, and stops right there; does nothing further for them—leaving it to their own unassisted initiative whether they will walk in it or not? Surely this cannot be the teaching of the text; and that, for many reasons. Primary among them is this: that we all know that the love of God has done much more than this for multitudes of the children of men, namely, has not merely opened a way of salvation before them, but has actually saved them.

然而， 這就是神的不可度量的愛的度量？ 他只是在罪人面前開了一條拯救的路就停下了 然後什麼也不幹了， 把一切都留給那些無助人去決定是不是走這條路？ 肯定這不是這段經節所要教導的。 這有許多原因。 主要的原因是我們都知道神的愛對眾多人的兒女所成就的遠遠超過了這些 它不僅只是為他們開了一條救恩之路， 而且實際上拯救了他們。

Nor is our text silent on this point. It is not in this mere opening of a way of salvation before each and every man that the love of God for the world is declared by it to issue, but in the actual saving of the world. We read the next verse and we discover it asserting that God sent his Son into the world for this specific end—that the world should be "saved by him." God did not then only so love the world as to give it a bare chance of salvation; he so loved the world that he saved the world. And surely this is something far better. It provides a much higher standard by which to estimate the greatness of God's love.

我們的這段經文在這一點上也不沉默。 神的愛不僅是在每一個人面前開一條拯救的道路這件事上x顯明， 而是在對世界的實際拯救上。 我們讀下一節， 我們確定地發現神送他的兒子到這個世界上為一個特別的結局--世界由他來拯救。 神愛世界不只是給世界一個得拯救的機會，他愛世界並拯救了世界。 這肯定是一種非常好的事情。 它提供了估量神的愛的偉大的更高的標準。

We discover, then, that the distribution of the term "world" in our text into "each and every man in the world" not only begins with the obvious misstep of directing our attention at once rather to the greatness of the world than to the greatness of God's love and only infers the latter from the former. It ends by positively belittling the love of God, as if it could content itself with half-measures—nay, in numerous instances, with what is practically no measure at all. For if it is satisfied with merely opening a way of salvation and leaving men to walk in this way or not as they will, the hard facts of life force us to add that it is satisfied with merely opening a way of salvation for multitudes to whom it should never be made known that a way of salvation lay open before them, although their sole hope is in their walking in it.

我們發現，把這段經文裡的“世界”都解釋成“世上的每一個人“不只以一部明顯錯步開始： 把注意力立即引向世界的偉大而不是神的愛的偉大並隱喻後者來自前者, 而且通過一種明顯貶低神的愛來結束： 好像他滿足於以一半的度量來結束。 在許多例子裡， 實際上根本沒有度量。 如果它僅僅是開一條拯救的道路， 任人憑自己的意願來決定是否走這路， 生活的嚴酷事實是我們不得不加上這樣的理解： 它僅僅以為眾多的人開一條拯救的路為滿足 沒有必要讓他們知道這條路已經為他們而開， 儘管他們的唯一希望是在這路上行走。

And why dwell on special cases? Shall we not recognize frankly that so meager a provision would be operative in no case? For even when it is made known to men that a way of salvation is opened before them, can they—being sinners—walk in it? Let our passage itself tell us. Does it not explicitly declare that every one that doeth ill hateth the light and cometh not to the light? And who of us does not know that he, at least—if not every man—doeth ill? Does the love of God expend itself then in inoperative manifestations?

為什麼要在特殊情況上糾纏？ 難道我們不應該坦率承認如此幾率微小的情況不可能出現？ 即使世人已經被告知有一條路為他們開， 他們（罪人）能夠在上面行走？ 讓我們的經文告訴我們： 難道經文沒有明明白白告訴我們凡作惡的便恨光，並不來就光？ 我們不知道至少我們自己（如果不是每一個人的話）做過惡？ 難道神的愛就在不運行的宣告裡耗儘自己？

Surely not so can be measured the love of God, of which the Scriptures tell us that its height and depth and length and breadth pass knowledge; of which Paul declares that nothing can separate us from it—not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature; of which he openly asserts that if it avails to reconcile us with God, through the death of his Son, much more shall it avail to bring us into the fruition of salvation by his life.

當然神的愛不能如此地度量 聖經告訴我們它的長闊高深超出我們的理解。 保羅也宣告沒有什麼能夠是我們與它隔絕--是死，是生，是天使，是掌權的，是有能的，是現在的事，是將來的事， 是高處的，是低處的，是別的受造之物，都不能叫我們與神的愛隔絕。保羅也公開確定且借着神兒子的死，得與神和好，既已和好，就更要因他的生得救了

Does "the World" Mean "the Elect"?

”世界“是指“被揀選的”嗎？