The King Does Not Condemn
John 3:11-21
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned..."
(John 3:17-18)
In our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we come to know His voice (John 10:14). It is often a convicting voice - a check in our spirit, a nudge from the Word, a point in a sermon which comes with all the freshness and authority of the King's command. Often it is an encouraging voice or a voice that compels attention.
One thing it never will be is a voice of condemnation. It is the voice of One who comes that we "may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). A condemning voice comes from the accuser of the brethren (Revelation12:10). The word accuser in the Greek means prosecutor. But no case can be brought against us because Jesus died on the cross to take the blame for our sins (Romans 8:32-35). The King is constantly building us up, not pulling us down, showing us a better way that does not lead to despair by condemning us. In Hebrew the word accuser is "hasatan," or Satan. We must never accept his distinctively condemnatory voice as the voice of the Good Shepherd, our King.
INSIGHT
In our often unsatisfactory lives, the distinctive voice of unfailing, unconditional love can always be recognized. That's our King!
John 3:11-21
11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[a] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[b] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."[c]
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. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Footnotes:
a. John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
b. John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
c. John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Hosea 4-6
Proverbs 12
James 4-5
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