John 3:16 (KJV): meaning and how to memorise it

What John 3:16 says

Jesus tells Nicodemus why the Son came: God gave his Son because he loved the world. Whoever believes in him has everlasting life. Many people call it the gospel in one verse.

John 3:16 in context

¹³And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ¹⁵That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3, verses 13–19. Read the whole chapter with John Brown’s notes in the Self-Interpreting Bible.

John 3:16 in the catechisms

The Reformation catechisms and confessions cite John 3:16 9 times as a proof text.

WLC 32
How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
WLC 55
How doth Christ make intercession?
WLC 153
What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us by reason of the transgression of the law?
WCF 7.3
Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace: wherein he freely offered…
WCF 8.1
It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King; the…
HC 17
Why must He at the same time be true God?
HC 20
Are all men, then, saved by Christ just as they perished through Adam?
HC 33
Why is He called God's only begotten Son, since we also are children of God?
HC 37
What do you confess when you say that He suffered?

How to memorise John 3:16

Hearers breaks the verse into clauses and teaches each clause in four steps. Then it brings each clause back just before you forget it.

01
Read
Read the verse with the clauses marked. Listen to it read aloud.
02
Trace
Type the first letter of each word, with the words shown faintly.
03
Fade
Half of the words go. Type the text again, and fill the gaps from memory.
04
Recall
All the words go. Type it or say it aloud. Each clause gets its own grade and its own review date.