Tag: clearly seen

15. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned”

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

James 2:19   “So you believe that there is one God? That’s fine. So do all the devils in hell and shudder in terror!”

 John 3:16 has long been celebrated as a powerful declaration of the gospel. Of the 31,102 verses in the Bible, it may be the most popular single verse used in evangelism. God did not wait for the world to turn to Him before He loved the world. He loved and gave His only begotten Son. God’s love didn’t just feel for a fallen world. God did something about it, and He gave the most precious thing to give: His only begotten Son. God loves the world, but the world does not receive or benefit from that love until it believes in Jesus, the gift that the Father gave. Believes in means much more than intellectual awareness or agreement. It means to trust in, to rely on, and to cling too. The intention of God’s love is to save. God’s love actually saves man from eternal destruction. God looks at fallen humanity, does not want it to perish, and so in His love, He extends the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. The duration of the Love of God is eternal.  Mankind’s love for one another will grow, fade, or change.  God’s Love does not change.  The love of God is limitless; it embraces all mankind.  The intent of God’s Love was to save the world not to condemn it.  His gift, Jesus Christ, was to offer salvation, rescue, forgiveness, hope, healing, joy, peace, and strength.  However, some will, in fact, be condemned as a result of Jesus Christ’s coming into the world. Jesus came to bring salvation, but those who reject that salvation condemn themselves. We never need to leave the reason for anyone’s condemnation at God’s door. The responsibility is theirs alone.   Those who consciously reject Jesus often present themselves as heroic characters who bravely put away superstition and deal honestly with deep philosophical problems. When we think of the love of sin that sends people to hell, we often other think of notorious sin. But the simple demand to be lord of my own life and trust in myself is enough of a sin to deserve condemnation before God. Some will openly express their hatred for the truth of Jesus Christ by fighting against it, others will simply express it by ignoring it, and in effect, they are saying Jesus you are not worth my time.

I sometimes think people stop reading after John 3:16.  God loves the world, God sent His Son. I will not perish. I will go to heaven.  They seem to cling to a simple belief in what the word “Belief” means.  They limit their definition of “Belief” to a viewpoint, opinion, perspective, feeling, hunch, or a principle.  This type of understanding and application of the word belief will end in condemnation.  The true definition of belief in John 3:16 means to trust in, cling too, and rely on.  The difference is, one person will be utterly saved and changed, “born again”, and the other person will be condemned.  One will have eternal life and the other eternal hell.  True belief will change a person both on the inside and outside.  If your belief does not have a deep within the heart, mind, and soul change, and reflect an outward change in how you speak and act, then your belief has not resulted in being “Born Again”, “Regenerated”, “New Creation”, or being “Child of God”.  Way too many people are satisfied with believing in Jesus Christ with only head knowledge and not a changed heart.   Believe and be saved.

Hearts far from God

“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,”

“the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.”

John 15:22  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

John 3:18     Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 9:41    Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

John 12:48     The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Ezekiel 2:5     And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house)

Ezekiel 33:31     And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.  And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

Acts 17:30     The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Hebrews 6:4     For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,  and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.  For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.  But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

James 4:17     So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Romans 1:20     For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 2:1     Therefore you have no excuse

1 Peter 2:16     Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Revelation 3:15  “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

How do we know if our heart is hard? How do we know if we are only serving God with our mouth and not our heart, mind, and soul?  What are we going to be held accountable for?  What does it mean to be without excuse?  What does it take to be rejected or, for that matter, restored?  How do we know if we are lukewarm?   I remember it being considered normal to attend Sunday morning bible study, then worship service, then Sunday evening study, having a couples bible study during the week, Wednesday evening prayer meeting, and a mens bible study one morning during the week.  Being in God’s word throughout the week.  It does not seem this is the norm any more.  In fact it appears that if we are attending Sunday morning worship service every week we are considered a fanatic.  The expectation for what it means to humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey God has dropped to a very low expectation in our culture.  We need to be mindful of our heart, mind and soul and the influence of the world and it’s expectation making us think we are in some way serving God with a lukewarm life.  We are meant to be a light shinning in the darkness, making disciples, serving God,  feeding on His word,  knowing His word, meditating on His word, hearing His whispers of guidance, being led by the Holy Spirit, finding purpose each day seeking to honor Him.  How is this done if our we neglect His word?  Scripture is clear we are without excuse for being complacent.  Praise be to God that He pursues us and draws us back to Himself.  Praise to Him for not leaving us in a state of being lukewarm.  Praise to Him for standing at the door of our heart knocking.  Praise to Him for His steadfast love.  Forget doing right and wrong and thinking this in someway makes it right with God.  Come to Him broken and seek His building you up into a humble servant.  Seek to honor Him.  Desire to follow and obey Him for the purpose of glorifying Him.  Run to Him for His leading in your life.  Yield fully in service to Him.  SPEND TIME IN HIS WORD

Seek and Save

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

Joh 3:16   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

God gave a gift of eternal life to all who would believe.  Eternal life with out pain, suffering, darkness and yet people will still choose to reject this gift.   Judgement and condemnation awaits them.  How true these words ring true still today-“people loved the darkness rather than the light”  Share the gift of God and light of Christ each day.  We never know when God will open a heart and mind to understand this gift.  It is up to us to proclaim it and the promises of God for eternal life.