You are making an assumption off of half the facts! Free will is not an illusion. What can be more disgusting then preaching that ''God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for SOME of you''? That is trampling the cross .
We don't need to change the scripture as you did above to draw the same conclusion.
Here's what it really says:
"For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
To which
world do you believe Jesus is referring in this passage?
(1) Is it the
entire planet world of which is spoken in Acts 17:24?
(2) Or is it the
Gentile-only world of which is spoken in Romans 11:12? (since Jews excluded in this passage will be saved)
(3) Or is it the
wicked world of men of which is spoken in John 14:22? (to which Jesus refused to reveal himself)
(4) Or is it the
rejected world for which Jesus would not pray in John 17:9?
In ALL these passages, including John 3:16, the Greek word for "
world" is "kosmos," yet they ALL mean a different "
world." Same word (kosmos). Different meanings. Hence, it's up to us to figure out what
world Jesus is talking about when He said it. We cannot just assume that every time we see the word "
world" in the scriptures that is means everyone on the planet, otherwise the scriptures I noted above would be nonsensical.
Therefore, here's what a student of the scriptures can conclude:
(1) Jesus did not die for the entire planet, otherwise the entire planet would go to heaven - and we know this isn't true.
(2) Jesus did not die only for Gentiles, since we know that some Jews are saved as well.
(3) Jesus did not die for the wicked world of men, since it says in the same verse that Jesus did not manifest himself to them.
(4) Jesus did not die for the rejected world, clearly because Jesus will not save those he refuses to pray for.
Since the
world of John 3:16 cannot be any of these above, it must mean the same world of John 3:17: "
the world that through Him might be saved." Another way to describe this
world is from verse 16 - "
whoever believes in him." But for the sake of brevity, let's just call this
world "
believers."
Now let's see what this passage is really telling us:
"For God so loved (believers), that he gave his only Son, that (believers) should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the (believers) to condemn the (believers), but in order that (believers) might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17)
God loves the
world of believers. That is the
world that God loves, and no other. It cannot mean all men indiscriminately, but for those whom Christ was given and who should be saved. All others are ruled out by the sober declarations of the Scriptures.
This is not trampling on the cross. This is what the Scriptures are telling us. The "free will" advocate can't just tack on "IF YOU ACCEPT HIM" to every verse he reads on this topic and continue to ignore the plethora of scriptures that talk of choosing, drawing, giving, ordaining, electing, predestining, etc.