October 19 Whoever Believes

John 3:16-18 “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 he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
 
SOME believe that everyone will be saved to heaven, regardless of their beliefs and actions. As one commentator says, “It is theology of salvation by death.” To prove their point, those who believe in this universal salvation will sometimes quote John 3:16 For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son. They somehow think the “love and giving part” of John 3:16 is enough. Who needs the rest?
   Of course, far too many people do not know that every person on earth needs the rest of the verse if one is to be saved. Many pastors feel not only John 3:16 must be a favorite, most-remembered verse in the church, but this entire, three-verse passage must be memorized, taken to heart and spoken to teach of God’s salvation.
   The reasons are clear. First, see that Jesus twice speaks of who will be saved. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish.” And, “Whoever believes in him shall not stand condemned.” Salvation is not universal. It is conditional, granted to whoever believes in Jesus Christ as Lord. God’s love is demonstrated in this act of sending his only Son to die so that salvation is possible. With his deep, high, wide and long love, the Lord God effectively says, “Here is my Son. He has died that you may have life. Believe in him, and you will live with me forever.”
   Second, we need to say these three verses to teach the gospel because Jesus did. Why do we stop at the first half of 3:16? The Savior lovingly revealed the entire truth to Nicodemus. We must in love do the same for all.
   A third reason to say the three verses is to point out condemnation of the nonbeliever. I know, we don’t like this. But most of us do speak of punishment or conditions to our children or other groups we lead. We’ll say, “If you don’t obey me, you will be disciplined.” The Holy God has pure, righteous standards, my friends. We must let people know. If not, they may continue to live in the lie, “When I die, I will go to heaven regardless of what I believe or do.”
   This is the road of death. We have been commanded to give life.
 
Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to know, live and speak all your Scripture, so the world may know. Amen.