John 3:17 17For God did not send his Son into the world in order to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18The one who 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 begotten Son of God.
Verse 17 echoes verse 16 but gives the negative reason why God did not send. The incarnated Word did not come to bring judgment but to proclaim salvation. Condemn (krinē) can also mean judge. The world already stands condemned by the written words of God recorded in the law. The law points out the sins of humanity and brings conviction about them. The purpose of the law is to point people to God who is loving and to show them how to live in relationship with the God who is holy. Many people ignore or reject the Son to their own condemnation. God does not judge the ignorant who do not know his light as harshly as he does the rebellious who reject his light. Jesus as the Light of the world reveals the darkness for what it is and brings conviction to sinners, but that is not the reason he came. That is only the result of his light shining in the darkness (see verse 19). In our rebellion, when God’s light shines in our lives, we run away, reject, or ignore it. God does not condemn us but we condemn ourselves. God will one day only confirm the choice we make about his light.
Verse 17 repeats the reason the Son came into the world using a purpose clause (hina): that the world might be saved. As verse 16 states, this salvation is eternal life, which begins in this lifetime and continues beyond death and forever. John’s Gospel will help us understand what we can be saved from, saved for, and saved to. The key idea in verse 17 is given in the prepositional phrase through him. Salvation is only through Jesus, who is the Way, Truth, and Life (14:6).
Jesus continues to explain salvation in the next verse. The way to avoid judgment is to believe in the Son. This verse echoes the same idea as Paul writes in Romans 3:23, that all have sinned and stand condemned already. The basis of condemnation in this verse is different than in Romans. Paul argues carefully in Romans 1-3 about how people’s inability to keep the law brings condemnation. In John 3, the basis for condemnation is not believing in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Faith in Jesus is what matters in John. Both ideas are important and complementary. John and Paul had different purposes for their writing but end up in the same place: that salvation comes only by God’s grace in Jesus. The key point is believing in Jesus. The whole Gospel of John defines what this believing involves. Do we accept the gift of salvation that God offers? Do we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God? Do we recognize him as the Word made flesh? Do we look to him for the truth about the character of God?
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