Perhaps no other single scripture in the Bible is quoted more than John 3:16.  And, although that is not a bad thing, too often it is taken out of context and the surrounding verses are ignored.

In verses 3 through 8 of that same chapter, Jesus Christ tells the highly religious and  well-educated Nicodemas that one must be born again if they are to enter heaven.  Not only does He tell him one must be born again but He tells Nicodemas how one is born again.  Three times does Jesus Christ tell him that to be born again means to be "born of the Spirit."   In verse 5 He mentions being "born of water and the Spirit.  Now this mention of "water" has nothing to do with either biblical water baptism or the unbiblical practice of infant baptism.  One must remember that Nicodemas who was well-versed in the Old Testament had to have been familiar with Ezekiel 36:25-27.

The emphasis that Jesus Christ was obviously making was that no matter one' s standing or background is that one must be born again to enter heaven.  It is also interesting that Nicodemas came at night.  Was he afraid to have been seen by his peers?  Jesus Christ also questions Nicodemas' spiritual acumen in verse 10 since He knew that he was a ruler of the Jews (verse 1).

John 3:16 states, "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."  "Whosoever" is really not the proper translation.  The proper Greek translation is "all who" believe.  This limits the flippancy of Arminian interpretation.  Romans 8:14 supports this as it says "For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

Too often the dialog is not quoted after that.  Although there is a lot of comfort in those words, people need to feel uncomfortable about their lost condition and read the real consequences of eternity without the Savior.

In the following three verses, the words "condemn, condemned (twice) or condemnation" are used (vs.17-19). Just  as our Lord emphasized the need to be born again, He equally emphasizes the consequences to eternity without Christ.  Although Jesus Christ says that He did not come to condemn the world, He makes it very clear that "he that believeth not is condemned already"(v. 18). And the reason they are condemned already is because "their deeds were evil" (v. 19).

If God says he loved the world then that is the truth .  But does that mean He loved every single human in history or does that mean He loved His creation or does that mean He loved the elect? Psalm 5:5 says that "thou hatest the workers of iniquity."  Romans 9:13 says, "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated."  So, from these two scriptures it seems apparent that God does not love every single human being that has ever lived as it relates to salvation.   And, even though this is not a brief on the word "world", a simple search of the concordance will show that there are several definitions in the Greek language of "world" which can define its meaning in context to its different uses.  

So, to conclude, there is more that should be quoted when using John 3:16.  For the sake of honest interpretation one must study surrounding verses and context to properly understand meaning in a verse, as well as  meanings of words in their original context.  This is not to say that a scripture cannot stand on itself.

In John 3 we see our Lord making two serious points to Nicodemas:  1) one must be born again to enter heaven.  This required the action of the Holy Spirit, not anything man can do, such as good works, education, or water baptism.  2)  if one is not born again they not only face condemnation but they are already condemned to an eternity without Christ!