“FOR GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him...” If you don’t understand the verses that follow John 3:16, the invitation to believe upon Christ may appear ludicrous. But the apostle John—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—provides a context for God’s redemption plan—a context that is often left out when references are made to that verse. The context begins in verse 17 and concerns the intention of Christ’s coming. 

What was Christ’s intention? He states it negatively in verse 17. “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.” That verse makes clear what Christ did not come to do—condemn the world. 

God did not send Christ into the world to condemn, but to save. Consider the last half of verse 17, “…in order that the world might be saved through Him.” He came to rescue and redeem, not to destroy. 

Jesus came to redeem us, and He’s returning to culminate that plan of redemption. Does that excite you, Christian? I’m getting more and more eager with every passing year. I think when we pass through the process of sanctification our longing for heaven intensifies. I’m ready to go! We’ve got it made, folks. We need to come to grips with what God has done for us and stop fearing affliction, sickness, persecution, and death. We have no cause for apprehension over those events. 

The most glorious event for you and me will be our dying and passing into eternity. Death is only a threshold for us. Understandably, that sounds odd to the world, doesn’t it? But we know rationally in our minds that death is the best thing that could ever happen to a Christian—dying and going to be with Christ. The truth that informs that glorious reality is found in this text: He came to save. 

Verse 18 continues that theme when it says, “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.”  In other words, a sobering consequence accompanies unbelief. Whoever attaches his faith to Christ as the sole object—it can’t be faith in anything or anyone—will be saved from condemnation. 

No one who believes in Christ will suffer condemnation. All who believe in Christ—in heart, mind, and soul—will be saved. That’s the context for understanding John 3:16. In order to be saved from something, we must understand what we’re being saved from. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had to remind people of this in my 39 years of ministry: We will never flee to Christ until we are persuaded that He is our sole means of escape. 

If you entertain the thought of an alternative route of escape, you will trust in your own flesh. Left to ourselves, we all do that outside of the Holy Spirit’s merciful work of conviction. So often God allows us to trust in those human, carnal, helpless means of escape, and then begins to move us into the realm of divine help. In a way, He funnels us away from trusting in our flesh until, finally, we look to Christ alone.  No one will look to Christ for deliverance until everything else has proven futile.  

Because of man’s carnal mind, he always chooses the carnal means of help over the spiritual, even though it will always prove futile. As an unregenerate audience to the gospel, we hear the message over and over, but cannot understand it. Then God’s divine light floods our minds and hearts and we see our true condition--along with His provision in Christ. Then all other carnal alternatives melt away and we see and believe in Christ. However, as long as those other alternatives appear useful, we will never believe in Christ; our flesh will resist and overpower us. 

It works like this: A person realizes his alienation from God, but believes he can simply attend church more regularly in order to get right with God. Perhaps he resolves to read his Bible more consistently, pray more fervently, give to charity, and read more Christian books. He’ll do anything to appease his conscience and convince himself of his right to enter heaven. That’s how the carnal mind thinks about and responds to salvation—and it’s damning! We may look to our church attendance, prayer life, Bible study habits, and even our so-called good deeds, but until we look to Christ alone we’re doomed. All other sources of hope are false. 

I believe one of the main reasons we’re failing in our evangelism efforts today is because we don’t understand the need for setting the context. If you approach someone and say, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” how do you think he’ll respond?  He probably won’t, because you’ve not given him a context. What you’ve told him makes no sense at all. He doesn’t understand his own sin. He doesn’t even know Who God is, or what God is like. That’s why the Bible emphasizes the importance of pressing the law of God upon an unbeliever. Scripture refers to God’s Law as the “schoolmaster,” the “superintendent.” It serves as a tutor, a guide to bring lost men and women to Christ so they may be justified through faith in Him. 

That’s the context of condemnation. Until a lost person senses the conviction of sin that comes from the Law and recognizes the darkness in his own fallen heart, he will never flee to and believe upon Christ. That is the role of the Holy Spirit—to convict, convince, and draw the sinner to Christ. It’s His work. May He do a fresh work in our families, congregations, neighborhoods, and city. Let’s pray to that end!