Thus the emptying is that God became human, Lord became servant, and obedience took him to death. The verb “emptied” (NASB) does not require a knowledge of what was emptied (Rom 4:14; 1 Cor 1:17; 9:15). Often it is translated simply “to render void, of no effect.” This passage affirms simply that Christ left his position, rank, and privilege. They were “of no effect.”152

John’s Gospel does not offer the world a superficial idea of the love of God in salvation. The verbs for “loved” (ēgapēsen) and “gave” (edōken) here express the genuine self-giving nature of God in having sent (apesteilen) his “only Son” (monogenous huiou) on an unrepeatable mission into the world

The full perspective is that God is the initiator and principal actor in salvation, and we should never think that salvation originated with us (cf. 1 John 4:9–10). God, however, has given humanity a sense of freedom and requires us to make a choice. Accordingly, people are responsible for their believing. It is unproductive theological speculation, therefore, to minimize either the role of God or of humanity in the salvation process. The Bible and John 3:16 recognize the roles of both

God’s purpose in sending Jesus was not to condemn (krinē) but to build the bridge in reconciling sacrifice (hilasmon; cf. 1 John 4:10) for human beings. God’s goal always has been the salvation or wholeness of the world (John 3:17). The Bible will not allow the reader to blame God for the desperate plight of humanity. The sin problem is a human one that since the beginning of time has been repeated continuously (cf. Rom 5:12, 18).

What makes human choice so crucial in this Gospel is the immediate nature of judgment/condemnation. Condemnation is not left to some remote future that might lull the unbeliever into a comfortable feeling that for a while one can sit on the fence of uncommitment. John makes it absolutely clear that condemnation has “already” (ēdē) taken place for the unbelievers. The idea here then is not one of a possible projected condemnation for the unbeliever but the necessity of escaping an already existing condemnation

The next item, “is not self-seeking,” is a phrase virtually identical in Greek to the exhortation of 10:24, “let no one seek the things of himself,” which is balanced with “but the things of another,” and Paul’s description of his pattern of life in 10:33 as not seeking his own good but the good of the many. This characteristic of love provides a direct link to the previous discussion of food sacrificed to idols and the hermeneutic of love that guides Paul’s response

Here the idea is expanded by the clear indication that what one does reflects who one is. Darkness, hating, and doing evil together are set against light, living by the truth, and the works done through God. The contrast between light and darkness is somewhat akin to the ethical dualism in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where a distinction is made between the sons of light and the sons of darkness (cf. 1 QS 3–4). Here those who side with the way of darkness were for John children of the devil, the prince (archōn) of the world (cf. John 8:44; 12:31).

The close connection between doing and being—namely, between practicing good or evil works and the nature of a person—is an important theological concept in John because believing is not merely a matter of mental affirmation but of life commitment

The final two verses of chap. 8 call for reflection rather than for interpretation. They supply the climax of Paul’s inspired and eloquent words of praise to the love of God. The apostle voiced his confidence that there is nothing that could separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. His list of ten terms moves from physical danger through the hierarchy of superhuman powers, those that now exist or ever will, powers from on high or from below, and culminates in the inclusive phrase “anything else in God’s whole world” (Phillips).213 There is absolutely nothing that can ever drive a wedge between the children of God and their Heavenly Father. It is true that life contains its full share of hardships (v. 18). But God is at work in all the circumstances of life to conform those whom he has chosen into the likeness of his dear Son. The process is God’s. We are his workmanship (Eph 2:10). The process of sanctification is intended to bring us into conformity with the nature of our Creator. Although it may at times involve some serious pruning (John 15:2; cf. Heb 12:5–11), we may be sure that love is at work on our behalf. We are forever united with the one who is perfect love.