Why does the Legacy Standard Bible retain "only begotten" in its translation of John 3:16? Like I said, this is a really great question and I empathize with it because we know how the cults have abused and misused the phraseology of "only begotten" to wrongly insinuate that Jesus is created or made.

That is completely false and so I can understand our desire to want to translate it something like "one and only" or "the only one." That's a quick and clear conclusion that you can draw from a translation and there's definitely room for that for that very reason. But part of what is in translation, and particularly with the Legacy Standard Bible, is to communicate what the text says and also through that to be a window into why it says fully what it says.

It's a platform for theology in that way. And to be clear, research has demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt that the word "only begotten" in Greek does not inherently and certainly does not always denote creation or being made. There are plenty of times when the Greek Old Testament translates using this word for "only begotten" a Hebrew word which means "only one," "exclusive," "one and only." And so to be sure, the Greek word does not necessarily or inherently mean creation at all.

That's a false implication. It does move toward uniqueness. But it's not just good enough to say what a word does not imply or does not mean. We need to know what it does mean and means fully. And recent research, say in the last five to ten years, has really brought this forth once again.

For instance, we know that in John, he makes a big deal about birth. John chapter 3, "born again." That's the very context of John 3, 16. And in 1 John, we have the language of "having been born of God." John really does, as the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, emphasize the notion of birth.

And that matters because that ties into the notion of begotten. And we need to recover this notion. And a good illustration of that is found in Psalm chapter 2, Psalm 2. And that passage says, "Today I have begotten you." Now the background of that passage, the historical background of the whole text and the whole concept of begetting, comes from coronation.

Coronation, a son becoming king because he's begotten of his father. Now think about this with me. How do sons become kings? It's because their dad was a king. Because they share the same family heritage. Because they're of the same genealogical line. Because they have the same royal blood flowing through their veins.

And so the declaration of begetting is a declaration, "Son, we share something together. We're united in something. And that's why you have the same status that I do, even though we're distinct persons, father and son." It's unity even though there is distinction. Well what makes then Jesus so unique, so exclusive in John 3:16?

It is because he perfectly shares, he absolutely shares with his father the exact same nature and essence because they are one in nature and essence. That is what is going on with the idea of begetting even as they are distinct persons. They perfectly share. They are perfectly in union in their essence even as they are distinct persons.

That is the notion of begetting and we need that. We need that. Remember, John talks a lot about the new birth, about birth. How are we born again? Why and how can we be changed so that we can share in God's holiness and commune with him? It is because God always, internal to himself, eternally, forever, has shared himself with his Son.

They are one in essence, one in nature, even as they are distinct persons. And it is because God has always done that internally and eternally to himself that you can have the conceptualization for why God can do that in a derivative way with those who are created actually and external to God.

That would be like you and me. And so only begotten, there is a lot of theology in there. It not only affirms wholeheartedly the deity of Christ, maybe counter to our first instinctive reactions, but that's what it says, union between the two, even as distinct persons. The connection and union and sharing absolutely between Father and Son.

But it also tells us why that matters, why we need it. Because if you don't have that Trinitarian interaction, then there's no platform, there's no foundation, no conceptualization for how we are saved and we can relate to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the entire Godhead.

Put it simply, God's relationship eternally with his Son is the only reason why we can have a relationship with God himself. And so it shows us that every word of Scripture matters and your questions are great because they remind us of that. And so along that line, while we definitely encourage you to read the preface to the Legacy Standard Bible and visit our FAQs on the website, which can answer a bunch of questions, if you or your friends or a bunch of you have a question, please get in contact with us through the Contact Us part of the LSB website and send us your questions so that we can have more opportunities for edification.

Well, I hope that's exactly what has happened. Thank you for your questions. Thank you for investing yourself in the Scripture. And I hope to learn more with you all soon.