Posted on 04/08/2016 7:34:38 AM PDT by Salvation
The Gospel proclaimed on Wednesday of this week included the familiar John 3:16. So familiar is this verse, that many hold up signs or have bumper stickers that simply say, “John 3:16.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life (John 3:16).
It is indeed a beautiful verse, but I would argue that many use it inauthentically by pulling it out from its place within a longer passage. The fuller segment is John 3:16-21, which is as much a passage of warning as it is of consolation and assurance.
Here it is again, along with the remainder of that longer passage:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
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-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God (John 3:16-21).
This fuller context has somewhat of a different tone. It sets forth a great drama in which our lives are cast. It amounts to sober assessment of the obtuseness of many human hearts and of the urgent need for us to decide well in life.
Those who merely quote the first verse run the risk of presenting this text as a kind of a freewheeling assurance that all is well and that salvation is largely in the bag, that judgment and condemnation are not a significant factor since “God so loved the world.” And while the concept of faith is included in this first verse, without the larger context the tendency is to soft-pedal the need for repentance and for the obedience of faith. In so doing, the true drama and sober teaching of the fuller text are lost.
The longer passage fleshes the message out and has a balance that the shortened text does not. Here is what Jesus is in effect saying, expressed in more modern language:
As I live, I and my Father do not desire that any should die in their sins or be lost. I have not currently come as your judge but as your savior. I will come one day as the judge of all, but now is a time of grace and mercy extended to you.
But you need to know that you have a decision to make, a decision that will determine where you will spend eternity.
So please listen to me! Open the door to me and let me draw you to the obedience of faith and the beauty of holiness. If you do this, light will dawn for you, for I am the Light and your life will grow ever brighter.
But if you will not repent and come to a lifesaving obedience of faith, your heart will begin to despise me and the light of my glory. You will become accustomed to the darkness and begin to consider the Light (which I am) to be obnoxious, harsh, judgmental, and even cruel. Yes, you will begin to hate me, for I am the Light. You will prefer the darkness because you love your sins more.
Come to your senses and don’t let this happen. You have a decision to make: for the light or for the darkness, for me or for the prince of this world, Satan. Be sober and understand the dramatic choice before you. Your salvation depends on your choice to come to obedient faith in me or to reject me.
And know this: on the day of your judgment, the verdict will not be rendered by me so much as by you. For by then, you will either love the Light or hate it. And I will not force you to live in a light you detest. You will be free to go your own way. It will not be I who reject you. It will be you who reject me.
Be sober. Don’t let this happen. Don’t marginalize or ignore me. Don’t prefer the world and its twisted values and passing pleasures. Your sins will make you hate the light and prefer the darkness. You have a decision to make.
This message is much more complex than that contained in the popular, abbreviated text known as John 3:16. God’s mercy is offered, but the final verdict will center on whether or not we accept it. This message may be less consoling but it is true nonetheless, and only the truth can set us free.
There is a tendency by many to pull out certain verses and isolate them from their context and from the fuller message of the Gospel. The full and authentic Gospel echoes the opening call of the Lord Jesus: “Repent and believe the Good News.”
So yes, John 3:16! But please continue reading. The whole Gospel, please!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
The Gospel message, as proclaimed by the apostles of Christ, in the New Testament, include the following, five declaratory truths, and two commands (which are also mentioned in this article):
1. Christ died for our sins
2. According to the scriptures (i.e. prophetically predicted according to God’s sovereign plan)
3. He was buried
4. He rose again on the third day
5. He was seen by many witnesses (including all of the apostles)
...
6. God now commands all men, everywhere, to repent
7. And believe the Gospel
See Isaiah 53, 1 Corinthians 15, and Acts 3.
And many churches like to translate it thusly: whoever believes in Him shall not have etrenal life of unconscionable suffering, but have eternal life.
I much prefer the way it is written. It fits the personality of the God of the old and new testaments.
And while the concept of faith is included in this first verse, without the larger context the tendency is to soft-pedal the need for repentance and for the obedience of faith.
Psa_7:12 If a person does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and string His bow.
Psa_50:22 Repent, all of you who forget Me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.
Isa_1:27 Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.
Isa_9:13 For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent. They will not seek the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
Jer_5:3 LORD, You are searching for honesty. You struck
Your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.
Jer_36:3 Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.”
Eze_3:19 If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed Me.
Eze_14:6 “Therefore, tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent and turn away from your idols, and stop all your detestable sins.
Eze_18:30 “Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign LORD. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you!
Eze_33:9 But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.
Eze_33:12 “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.
Zep_2:2 Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD’s anger begins.
Mat_3:2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. “
Mat_3:11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Mat_4:17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. “
Mat_12:41 “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.
Mat_21:32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.
Mar_1:15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” He announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
Mar_6:12 So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.
Luk_5:32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
Luk_11:32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.
Luk_13:3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.
Luk_13:5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Luk_16:30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
Luk_24:47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
Act_2:38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Act_3:19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.
Act_5:31 Then God put Him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven.
Act_8:22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive your evil thoughts,
Act_13:24 Before He came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized.
Act_17:30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to Him.
Act_26:20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
2Co_7:9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.
2Pe_3:9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Rev_2:5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
Rev_2:16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you
suddenly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Rev_2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
Rev_2:22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds.
Rev_3:3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
Rev_9:20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!
Rev_9:21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Rev_16:9 Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give Him glory.
Rev_16:11 and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.
"And know this: on the day of your judgment, the verdict will not be rendered by me so much as by you. For by then, you will either love the Light or hate it."1Thess 1:9 For they themselves relate of us, what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead,) Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come.
'There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus ... ROMANS 8:1 THERE is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh. 2 For the law of the spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, hath delivered me from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh; God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, hath condemned sin in the flesh; 4 That the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 5 For they that are according to the flesh, mind the things that are of the flesh; but they that are according to the spirit, mind the things that are of the spirit. 6 For the wisdom of the flesh is death; but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace. 7 Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. 8 And they who are in the flesh, cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead, because of sin; but the spirit liveth, because of justification. 11 And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
An interesting translation with impact on theory of ‘once saved, always saved’:
“And know this: on the day of your judgment, the verdict will not be rendered by me so much as by you. For by then, you will either love the Light or hate it. And I will not force you to live in a light you detest. You will be free to go your own way. It will not be I who reject you. It will be you who reject me.”
The Msgr gets this one right!
It is about belief/faith and it has always been about belief/faith going back to Abraham. This is what is echoed throughout the whole Bible.
This completely does away with the roman catholic concept of the Mass being required for salvation.
That’s what happens when you pick one part of the Bible and ignore others—just as Msgr. Pope says.
” ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day’,”
(John 6:53-54)
Jesus repeatedly spoke those words. And he meant them literally, not figuratively, as the Jews who refused Him understood.
As He said at the Last Supper: “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood.”:
You left out do this in remembrance. Context is key to understanding the Word.
Thanks for the ping. I agree that John 3:16 should be read in context.
That last line of yours doesn’t follow.
The Good News is simple, and dead religion will have none of that. The net effect of so many “explanations” of the simplicity of the Gospel is nullifying the grace of God (making it of none effect).
THAT should scare the pants off anyone messing with the stark offer of John 3:16!
John 3:16, NRSVCE:
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
A very simple yet direct version of that great Holy Bible passage.
Cicero is right. Before, the Bible there was the Catholic Church. The books in the Bible did not fall down from the skies and automatically readjust themselves into the form and structure in which we find them. This was the painstaking work of the early Church fathers who for nearly three centuries sifted through hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts and confirmed to us the true Word of God. The belief in the Eucharist predates the appearance of the written Word which in turn confirms the sacred oral Tradition.
Without belief in the Eucharist, everything else is pure vapidity.
A teaching of the Catholic Church which is absolutely fundamental and central to the life of the individual and the Christian community is that of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. And as with many of the things which are defined formally by Tradition, there is also Scriptural support, such as we have in the Gospel of St. John: 6:47
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 6:48 I am the bread of life. 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 6:50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.”
6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus now doubles-down and does not try to correct his literal meaning.
6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 6:54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Now these words of Jesus which were spoken in the course of his ministry anticipate the institution of the Eucharist in the context of the final Passover Supper which Jesus shared with His apostles. And the Church, from the very beginning, has continued to repeat the words of consecration spoken by our Lord at that supper with the firm conviction that Christ is truly present in some manner in the consecrated Bread and Wine, now Body and Blood.
A sign of the reality of Presence of Christ in the Eucharist may be seen in what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in which he not only repeated the words and actions of the Last Supper but notes the punishment upon those who unworthily receive the Holy Eucharist:
11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 11:25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 11:28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 11:29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.
Yep. It harkens all the way back to Genesis 3. I think someone a few hundred years ago thought it would really “scere a lot of folk to god to add that whole “suffer for all eternity” thing to what is otherwise called “good news”. It worked when nobody read the bible.
That was not a ‘translation’, it was the priest’s opinion.
LOL ... ever heard of the Septuagint?
Ant then He said He would not drink the fruit of the vine again until in the Kingdom with them. Nimrod/Baal is strong with this Catholic religion.
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