John 3:16 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God the Father loved us so much that he gave his only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ, God the Son, to die on a cross for our sins, so
that we might be delivered out of our slavery to sin and so that we might now
become slaves of him and of his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph.
4:17-24).
He did this so that whoever believing (present tense
belief) in him would not die in his sins, but so he would have eternal life
with God. And, this belief is a gift from God to us, and it means to be
persuaded by God. So, since this belief in Jesus is of God, it submits to
Christ as Lord, it dies with Christ to sin, and it lives to Christ and to his
righteousness, in the power of God’s Spirit (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom.
8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Lu. 9:23-26).
So, this saving faith, which is God-given and divinely
persuaded, is much more than just an acknowledgment of Jesus, or some words we
repeat after someone else in a prayer. It is much more than just a decision to
receive his grace, his forgiveness, and his salvation from sin. It is choosing
to die with Christ to sin, and it is choosing to now walk with him in
obedience.
For, the Scriptures teach us that the righteous requirement
of the law is fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit. And, they teach us that if we say we have fellowship with God,
but yet we walk (in practice) in darkness (wickedness) that we lie and we do
not live by the truth (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Lu. 9:23-26).
And, they continue by telling us that if we walk in
darkness, according to the flesh, that we will die in our sins, because we did
not die with Christ to our sins. And, we will not have eternal life with God
(Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6).
John 3:17-18 ESV
“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.”
Some people misinterpret these words here and so they think
that Jesus condemns no one to hell, and/or that he doesn’t judge our
wrongdoing. So, they also interpret these words to say that Jesus accepts us
just the way we are, even if we are living in open rebellion against him in
willful, adulterated, lustful and sensual desire. And, some of them also go so
far as to say that once we “get saved,” that God can’t even see our sins. He
only sees Jesus.
They think if they mouth empty words of “belief” in Jesus, which
produces no fruit of repentance and obedience to Christ, that it gives them
full liberty to now live however they want without condemnation. But that is
not what the Scriptures teach! They teach that it is those who WALK according
to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, who are not under condemnation,
and who have the promise of eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Also, although it is true that Jesus, in his first coming to
the earth, did not come to bring condemnation upon us, but to save us from our
sins, it is not true that he did not speak words of condemnation to many people
who refused him, and who chose to reject him and to not obey him.
Jesus spoke the hard truths to the people when he walked the
face of this earth, which is why they killed him. He confronted sin in sinful
humans, he called them to repentance and obedience, and he warned them of
divine judgment and of condemnation if they refused to turn away from their
lifestyles of sin, and if they refused to honor him as Lord of their lives.
If he just went around “loving on” everyone, making them
feel good about themselves, even in their sin, being Mr. Nice Guy so that
everyone would like him, they wouldn’t have crucified him on that cross. They
killed him because he told them the truth, and they didn’t like it. And, they
killed him because he didn’t bow to them and to their man-made religion,
either.
John 3:19-21 ESV
“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.”
And, here we have the crux of the matter. Jesus Christ – the
Light of the world, the righteousness of God, and the Word of Truth – came into
the world. But those who rejected him, who rejected his truth, did so because
they loved the darkness (wickedness) rather than the light (Jesus, the Word,
righteousness, the Truth). And, this was because their deeds were evil.
Yet, we need to understand here what that means. This is not
talking just about people who profess no faith in Jesus Christ at all. This is
talking about people who reject Jesus and his righteousness by their life
choices, by their actions. They choose not to die with Christ to sin, and not
to live to Christ and his righteousness, because they want to hold on to their
sinful practices.
So, with their lips they may confess him as Savior and Lord,
but by their actions they deny him. And, our actions are what matter, not what
we profess with our lips. For, our actions speak louder than words, and our
actions are what reveal if we truly do believe in Jesus Christ for our
salvation from sin, or if we are just looking for an “easy out” from hell (Gal.
5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 2 Co. 5:10; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Rom.
8:1-17).
Therefore, we have many people these days teaching a cheap
grace gospel which requires no dying with Christ to sin, no submission to
Christ and his cross, and no walks of obedience to his commands. For, they want
to remain in their sins. They don’t want to have to give up their sinful
practices. They just want God to forgive them of their sins so that they don’t
have to feel guilty when they continue in sin, and so that they don’t have to
fear hell.
But this is not the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament
apostles taught. And, yet it has become very popularized in my lifetime, and it
has grown more and more blatantly defiant against the Lord and against his
doctrine of salvation in recent years.
So, just know this. We are not saved from our sins and
guaranteed eternal life with God based on a one-time decision in our lives to
accept Jesus into our hearts to be our Savior. We must die with Christ to sin,
and we must live to Christ and to his righteousness if we want to be saved from
our sins and have eternal life with God. For, salvation is not a one-time
event. It is an ongoing and daily decision to die to our sins and to live to
our Lord.
[Rom. 8:24; Rom. 13:11; 1 Co. 1:18; 1
Co. 15:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5; Jn. 8:31-32; Rom.
11:17-24; Col. 1:21-23; II Tim 2:10-13; Heb. 3:6, 14-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11; I Jn.
2:24-25]
Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet
Frances J Crosby, 1880
William H. Doane, 1876
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
They shall be as wool!”
“Though your sins be as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow.”
Hear the voice that entreats you,
Oh, return ye unto God!
He is of great compassion,
And of wondrous love;
Hear the voice that entreats you,
Oh, return ye unto God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more;
“Look unto Me, ye people,”
Saith the Lord your God!
He’ll forgive your transgressions,
And remember them no more.
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