John 3:16-21 (NRSV)
16'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17'Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.'
Yesterday, we considered what it means to have a believing heart and what it is that we are to believe. Today we are told that we are to believe in Him. Those who do not are condemned already. Sounds pretty tough. Not very tolerant. Except that the condemnation does not come from Him (vs 17), He came to save the world. Thanks be to God!
Image being lost in a forest and it is dark. Then someone comes along with some light who knows where we are and knows the way home. He says, follow me. Unfortunately, some prefer to stay in the darkness. As for me, I'm with Him. Let's go.
Glory to the Father who made me,
Glory to the Son who saved me,
Glory to the Spirit who guides and comforts me,
Now and forever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
3 comments:
Truer words were never spoken. He did not come to condemn, but to save. We condemn ourselves. We make the daily choices that draw us farther and farther from God until we eventually consign ourselves to the nothingness that is eternal oblivion.
At each step of the road of life we can make a choice, and make a right choice. Just do it.
I find it interesting that the passage spells out that those who do not believe are condemed, but uses sinfulness as the justification.
"Those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." I read that to mean: If you don't believe in Jesus, you are condemned.
"For all who do evil hate light and do not come to the light."
I read that to mean: Sinners hide from God's light and life.
I'm having trouble seeing the connection. To be fair, this has always been one of the hardest aspects of Christian life for me to fully embrace. Belief = salvation. Disbelief = condemnation.
For this to hold true in my mind, all aspects of it must hold true when tested against the world in which we live. I know someone who does not believe that even God exists. Pure Atheists. Though, they live a life more true to God's teachings than many "Christians" I know, save for attending church and praying to God, though many "Christians" fall well short in that area as well.
Where, then, do they get placed in the black-and-white buckets of "Saved" and "Condemned"? Belief is such a loaded word, and I find it difficult to decifer what the TRUE meaning is. Perhaps believe should be replaced with "love and embrace," such that the passage may read:
"Those who love and embrace [Jesus] are not condemned."
The Amplified Bible adds the following to the word "believe": clings to, trusts in, relies on.
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