John 3:16 vs Austin 3:16

[Fair Fight Wrestling]

John 3:16 … and that’s the bottom line.

Welcome to Fair Fight – a Christian blog for wrestling fans. Before you raise the people’s eyebrow in confusion, yes, that is a thing. At least now it is.

This concept came to me overtime after realizing how many Biblical references have been used over the years in wrestling storylines. It is my goal to dive into these references, revealing their Biblical truths in a casual and hopefully comprehensible way. I am by no means a theologist or a Pastor. I’m just a dude who loves Jesus and loves wrestling. It’s like a Bible study… but with chair shots.

Today, we are going to look into Austin 3:16 and John 3:16.

Even if you’re only a casual wrestling fan, you most likely know that Steve Austin's rise to stardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. He began using his trademark Stone Cold Stunner finisher and, with this new brawling technique, won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jake the Snake Roberts.

At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian. After the match, during his coronation, Austin cut arguably the single most famous promo in the history of the industry, telling Roberts, "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! You talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your… um, are there PG ratings in blogs?

Anyway, Austin's win and rise to stardom proved to be an amazing stroke of luck, causing a swarm of Austin 3:16 shirts to arrive in every arena and teenage fan’s closet across the nation. Austin was a made man and is still arguably the most influential star the industry has ever seen.

So now let's look at what the Bible says about John Chapter 3, verse 16. First off... who wrote it?

The book of John was written by a guy named ...wait for it... John - a fisherman, who was one of Jesus Christ’s twelve disciples (followers), and an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and words.

Next - who said this verse? In most Bibles, any words printed in red are quotes from Jesus. Coming from a guy who’s not a big reader, here's a helpful tip - compared to most of the content in the Bible, the red words are the easiest to understand. John 3:16 is actually a quote from Jesus.

Next - who was he saying this to? Jesus was talking to an important Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus. Since most of the other religious leaders were skeptical of Jesus, Nicodemus decided to visit Him secretly at night. To give a wrestling comparison, imagine if Pat Patterson or Gerald Briscoe secretly met with Eric Bischoff during the Monday Night Wars. They would have to do it secretly so that Vince wouldn’t find out.

Jesus’ miracles, His profound teaching, and righteous life had convinced Nicodemus that Jesus was sent from God. He believed that Jesus knew the secret to eternal life. After he found Jesus, Nicodemus bluntly asked Him how to obtain eternal life.

Jesus replied, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In this passage, Jesus speaks of God’s love, leading to His mission to save a lost world. In other words, Jesus was on a rescue mission. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus to become more religious in order to go to Heaven. Neither did he tell him to give more money or do more good deeds. Instead, He told Nicodemus that eternal life is based upon what Jesus did for us, not on what we have done for Him. In John 3:16, Jesus tells Nicodemus that those who believe in Him will have eternal life.

God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born on earth and die on a cross. Why? Because we are all sinners and the Bible says the consequence of sin is death – eternal separation from God. There is nothing we can do to make us “good enough” for Heaven.

But Jesus will not force us to trust Him. We have the choice to accept or reject Jesus. Yet, He encourages each of us to accept His free offer of eternal life. God made a way. Christ lived a perfect, blameless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He died in our place.

It is only by God’s grace – His undeserved mercy – that we can have eternal life with Him in Heaven. All we have to do is have faith, to believe Christ died for us and ask Him to forgive our sins. But Jesus' gift doesn't work like cash. It works like a check - it's only worth something if you endorse it.

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Resources for New Believers:

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The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

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Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story - Brian “Head” Welch

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Not a big reader? Check out The Bible Project YouTube Channel:

The Bible Project


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References:

What Is the Meaning of John 3:16? - Y-Jesus.com

The Real Meaning John 3:16

The Real Meaning John 3:16

 

[Nikki Nitro]

I love this thread already! :emoji_angel::emoji_angel:

 

[Solid Snake]

"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." John 3:16 KJV

Your NIV version implies that sinners can not be claimed as children of God through Jesus Christ. "One and only" directly contradicts John 1:12, Philippians 2:15, Romans 8:14, Romans 8:19, 1John 3:1, and 1John 3:2 (to name a few). Begotten implies he is the only son God has via physical birth. He was born free from sin, we are not. The way the NIV was written was to help people "better understand" the bible, but it actually breeds contradictions often making it harder for people to believe. I am just pointing this out because it is a pet peeve of mine. Take it or leave it, just wanted to add this in.

 

[Nikki Nitro]

Yeah... The KJV is the only real Bible I trust and believe in. But, I hope u keep doing threads like these.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Job 40:15-24
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

That's my favorite bible verse...

 

[Red Rain]

@Solidus
@Lavender Haze
@Solid Snake

I have 1611 kjv bible app on my phone. I recommend it. It doesn't make use of the letter "J" at all. Not even Jesus' name starts with a "J" in this particular bible.

Apparently the letter had not yet been written into existence. By no means should you discard your KJV. I merely recommended this to all three of you as it is an interesting read.

 

[Solid Snake]

@Solidus
@Lavender Haze
@Solid Snake

I have 1611 kjv bible app on my phone. I recommend it. It doesn't make use of the letter "J" at all. Not even Jesus' name starts with a "J" in this particular bible.

Apparently the letter had not yet been written into existence. By no means should you discard your KJV. I merely recommended this to all three of you as it is an interesting read.

That's the Cambridge Bible. I don't remember what I read on it but I stuck with the KJV. I also read the one from Australia. I can't remember the name of it.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I won't get into the discussion itself, but I would like to point out that the WWE severely misrepresents what happened with Austin. He didn't become a star after making that statement. In fact, I was 10 feet away from him and you can see me on the video. He was booed, LOUDLY, by the majority of the arena. He made that statement in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and anywhere in Wisconsin, that statement was not going to go over. Austin didn't gain traction with the crowd following this either. Go back and watch the Raw and PPV matches between this and WrestleMania 13. At Royal Rumble 1997, the crowd was completely silent when Austin came to the ring.

Austin's star really started to rise at WrestleMania 13, which took place in the smarkiest city in the US, Chicago. He was going to get cheered regardless because he was already big in Chicago due to his run in WCW. Before then, there really were only occasional Austin 3:16 signs. After WrestleMania 13 and the double turn with Bret Hart, Austin 3:16 retroactively became popular.

Now, I know this isn't the point of this thread, but just wanted to chime and make a point that "Austin 3:16" was very negatively received at first due to it seemingly being insulting to Roberts as a portrayed born again Christian and to the Christians themselves. It was said to be negative and was taken that way until he became a face, and then the same people who viewed it negatively embraced it.

Funny how that happens. In fact, I'm a born again Christian and that's pretty much how I was about John 3:16... mocked it before... proclaimed it afterwards...

 

[Red Rain]

That's the Cambridge Bible. I don't remember what I read on it but I stuck with the KJV. I also read the one from Australia. I can't remember the name of it.

The one I have is, indeed, a kjv bible. Do as you like, nevertheless.