Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18 NABRE
The quoted verse follows one of the best known verses of the bible, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God is for us, for you and for me. It is a verse showing God entering into humanity in love without anyone asking, to save us. Then we read the quoted verse about condemnation. Some say that you must believe, not knowing is not an excuse, which means condemnation, death with no hope for salvation. But does this make sense; God wants what is best for us and then makes a rule that says we are going to be condemned if we don’t know the rule? This is a reason we have had missionaries going out into the world to ensure everyone knows about Jesus so that they won’t be condemned for not knowing. It seems like a harsh message from God who has acted in all of human history to make it as easy as possible for humanity to be saved. God does all the work, He sends his Son who sheds blood for us, and saves us. If we know the story we should believe, otherwise we are saying we don’t want it. But, if we don’t know Jesus I suspect God will find some other way to save us. 1 John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.” God’s other option to avoid condemnation is to love. If you love then you know God, which is knowing Jesus and believing.
For those of us who follow Jesus the message is clear, we have to make a choice for Jesus. If we chose not to be with Jesus then we are making a choice for condemnation.
Do you believe? Do you love?
For those of us who follow Jesus the message is clear, we have to make a choice for Jesus. If we chose not to be with Jesus then we are making a choice for condemnation. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus#christianity #dailybibleverse@youversion #BeAnEncourager#believe #love #John#everybodyalways #god#jesuschrist #jesussaves#godisgood #dailydevotion#biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse#verseoftheday #pray #prayer#goodnews #loveeachother#godisgreat #thisVineyard#youversion #everythingalways