According to John 3:17, God did not send His Son Jesus into the world to condemn the world. This verse has led many people to develop a theology that says that Jesus is not a condemning God, and this belief is used to help build their case that Jesus is all love and no judgment.
The problem with this theology is that the reason Jesus was not sent to condemn the world is that world ALREADY was condemned. John 3:18 continues and says, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.”
Ever since the first sin in the Garden of Eden mankind has been condemned because of our sin nature. We are all condemned from birth, so Jesus did not come to condemn mankind, but to redeem us!
Jesus’ own mission statement says that He came to “seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).” He did not come to condemn, but to save us from our own condemnation. This is great news.
This means that all of us who claim to follow Jesus should be picking up where Jesus left off on earth: seeking the lost, and leading them to Jesus. Why? Because the way they are they are already condemned.
So if we take John 3:17 to simply mean that Jesus did not come to condemn anybody, it can come across as if there is no need to worry about being condemned. This is very wrong. People may call you judgmental, but that is a small price to pay to potentially bring a person who is condemned into a relationship with Jesus.
Even though Jesus did not condemn the world, He will judge the world, and many will be sent to hell after He judges them because they condemned themselves with their unbelief. Let’s tell them before it is too late. If we don’t, we are assisting in their condemnation.
Jesus did not condemn the world. Are you condemning it?
The problem with this theology is that the reason Jesus was not sent to condemn the world is that world ALREADY was condemned. John 3:18 continues and says, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.”
Ever since the first sin in the Garden of Eden mankind has been condemned because of our sin nature. We are all condemned from birth, so Jesus did not come to condemn mankind, but to redeem us!
Jesus’ own mission statement says that He came to “seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).” He did not come to condemn, but to save us from our own condemnation. This is great news.
This means that all of us who claim to follow Jesus should be picking up where Jesus left off on earth: seeking the lost, and leading them to Jesus. Why? Because the way they are they are already condemned.
So if we take John 3:17 to simply mean that Jesus did not come to condemn anybody, it can come across as if there is no need to worry about being condemned. This is very wrong. People may call you judgmental, but that is a small price to pay to potentially bring a person who is condemned into a relationship with Jesus.
Even though Jesus did not condemn the world, He will judge the world, and many will be sent to hell after He judges them because they condemned themselves with their unbelief. Let’s tell them before it is too late. If we don’t, we are assisting in their condemnation.
Jesus did not condemn the world. Are you condemning it?
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