John 3:16 1-20
You may have heard this verse by someone, somewhere in your life. It is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. But have you taken the time to break down the truth of what it is teaching?
John 3:16 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 2
Verse 17 says that Jesus did not come into the world to CONDEM it. He came to SAVE it.
But hold up? Haven’t we been taught our whole lives by religious groups that we are condemned because of our SINS and our inability to please GOD.
We have been taught to spend every waking day of our lives striving to be “good” enough, striving to follow rules and regulations, striving to be kind enough, be successful enough, and most of all righteous enough to make it to Heaven and not have God mad at us.
Here is the problem with that type of thinking. It is a LIE the enemy is selling us. Jesus said HE came to SAVE the world. (People of the world) Save the world from what? Separation from GOD!
In our sin of rebellion as a human race we were dead, cutoff, unable to live in the promise GOD originally setup for mankind.
The religions of today teach that we must do all this STUFF/WORKS to be reconciled to GOD and have him love us. When the truth is Jesus did the work of salvation for us. When Jesus came into this world as God’s son, he paid the price of our sins then and now. Before his sacrifice there was no one who could live up to the standards of GOD’s righteousness and GOD knew that. Only he could pay the price of the sins of ADAM and open the door back to him.
So, if we believe the LIE that we can work hard enough and be good enough, we make the CROSS of no value. Why would Jesus have to die? We are basically denying that the death of Jesus had any value whatsoever.
The death of Jesus is our salvation. It is the only way back to GOD. It is bought and paid for. Jesus saved us and opened the door back to God and eternal life with him. Reconciliation was finished on the cross.
The second part of the question was “what is he to you” He is your redeemer, he is your freedom maker, He is your comforter, he is your way to eternal life. He is the way to have a abundant life here on earth not just in the great by and by.
He has set you free! From trying to be “good” enough because he has already paid the price.
But wait, there is a requirement for this freedom!
It is just not what you have been told to believe. You do not have to spend your life trying to obtain some abstract made up form of goodness.
But you do have to Believe that he is Jesus, the son of GOD, and that you are in need of a savior. Tell him you are sorry for your sins, (repent) and ask him to come into your life and help you to become more like him.
Your faith will set you free.
This is what it means to be born again, BORN Spiritually. You will still have your flesh, you will still have to work on becoming like him, but now there is a big difference between the before Christ and the after Christ person. Before Christ you were part of the world. After Christ you were called out of the world and placed in the kingdom and body of Christ. You were given the Holy Spirit in your soul to help you on your journey to freedom and life. You are no longer by yourself; you can partake of the promises of God because your bill has been paid and you are now free to be loved and cared for by your heavenly spiritual father.
The scripture says you are a new CREATION, no longer bound by the flesh, and the devil.
Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youa]”>[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,b]”>[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.c]”>[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Now that you know the truth of your salvation, you should begin to see your spiritual walk with God from a totally new perspective. You are no longer striving to GET into heaven and stay there through your good works.
You are already there, seated with Jesus spiritually and member of the Body of Christ. The power of this world and the devil have been defeated in your life. You can now begin to deal with the difficult things that may be in your past. You can begin to work on emotional healing of hurts, hang-ups, and pains. You are operating from a mindset of I am the son/daughter of God and can grow in him. Verses I am a defeated one in the world just trying to make it.
Understanding the TRUTH will set you FREE!
We encourage you to keep reading the Bible and the scriptures cited to get an understanding of the Truth.
If you do not know Jesus this promise can be for you too. We have outlined above what you need to do to know him, but if you need help, reach out to any Christian you know and tell them you want to know more about Jesus. Or contact us and we will help you make that journey.
Jesus loves you and he is waiting on you to come into the family. Sins and all. Remember he died while we were yet sinners just for us. Do not wait until you think you are good enough. YOU NEVER WILL BE!
