The Gospel According to John

Biblical Research Monthly
November, 1955
Dr. David L. Cooper
(Installment Ten)

"GOD SENT NOT THE SON INTO THE WORLD TO JUDGE THE WORLD, BUT THAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE SAVED THROUGH HIM"  (John 3:17)

In last month's article we explained John 3:16, the people's verse. God loved every individual in the world so very much that He sent Christ to suffer and die for each one. The block of Scripture which we have for consideration in this study is John 3:17-21, which reads as follows:

"For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He that believeth on him is not judged; he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God."

God Sent the Son

The most important fundamental passage of the Scripture is Deuteronomy 6:4, which, when properly rendered, reads as follows: "Hear O Israel: Jehovah our Gods is Jehovah a unity." This passage is an echo of the Holy Trinity, as we see by comparing it with various portions of the Scriptures. The Godhead consists of three Persons-God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The Godhead sent God the Son into the world. God the Father sent God the Son into the world for a definite specific purpose. In the latter's coming into the world, He laid aside the glory that He had with the Father and entered the world by miraculous conception and virgin birth. Christ voluntarily divested Himself of His glory and took the form of a servant in order that He might come to redeem the human family. Thus it is said that God sent not the Son into the world to condemn the world. The world was already condemned because of its lost condition, the result of the fall as set forth in Genesis, chapter 3. Christ came not to judge the world. By the word judge, we are to understand that a reference is made to condemning the world. The Lord Jesus was moved with compassion on every occasion when He saw lost, struggling humanity battling with sin in the flesh and the powers of evil. His message was always that of grace and truth and of helpfulness.

But we are told that God sent Christ into the world to save the world. After having told us that Christ did not come into the world to condemn it, John states that Jesus came to save—the positive side of His ministry. It is the will of God that all should come unto repentance and should be saved. Not matter what a person's position in life may be, what he is, or what his past has been, he is eligible for salvation and may take hold of it by faith, as we shall presently see.

The Believer and the Unbeliever

"He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). The believer is saved, as we have already learned. As a sinner, however, he realizes his lost, undone condition. He is under the sentence of condemnation for time and eternity, but he believes the story of Christ’s redeeming love. He accepts Christ with all his heart and looks to Him to save him eternally. Then Christ saves him by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, "not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).

The unbeliever is already condemned and is in a lost condition. At the Fall which is presented in Genesis, chapter 3, sin, a corrupting force and power, entered the human family and corrupted the hearts of all men. They are in an unsaved condition. Culture, refinement, and education do not change the heart. It takes the new birth, the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, to bring one to a place of salvation. The Holy Spirit implants new life—life eternal—in the heart of the one who believes. Every man, woman, and child therefore must have the experience of the new birth.

The Basis of the Judgment of the World

"And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil" (John 3:19). The basis of the judgment is that "the light is come into the world." Jesus is the light of the world, as we see in the first chapter of John. On one occasion Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world."

He is the spiritual light of the world. The one who does not heed Christ's teachings walks in darkness. While men are naturally in a lost condition, their case is aggravated and intensified by the fact that the light has come into the world. And yet men, as a rule, will not receive the light, but will reject it. As beautiful as the light of the gospel is, and as winsome as the message is, men of their own free choice choose darkness rather than the light. It is by a voluntary act of the will that they turn from the light. No matter where a person may live, and regardless of the conditions under which he may exist, Christ, the Light of the world, will bring the light of the truth to every living soul and give him an opportunity of salvation—if he desires it and longs for God. The Lord Jesus, the Light of the world, said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).

It is difficult for us to see how men love and choose darkness and the life of sin and degradation rather than come to the light and accept the truth. Of course, this fact harks back to the Adamic sinful nature of man.

The Attitude and Conduct of Evil-doers and Doers of the Truth

"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works be reproved. 21 But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works should be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God" (John 3:20, 21). According to verse 20 every one who does evil hates the light, the light of the truth. When he has thus engaged in sin, he has no, or very little, inclination to come to the light. He feels guilty in his own soul. He does not wish his works to be reproved and to be exposed as being of the evil one. Men do not like to confess that they have done wrong and have sinned.

On the other hand, the one who constantly does the truth, that is, lives according to the truth, comes to the light. He is not ashamed of the things which he does. He wants them to be manifested to the world. He is especially interested in the people's knowing that what he does and what he says are the result of the Holy Spirit's dwelling in the heart.

A good illustration of what Jesus is talking about in these verses is the case of Cornelius, of whom we read in Acts, chapter 10. He was a man who feared God, with all his house, who gave much relief to the poor, and who prayed to God always. These things he was doing instinctively. Being a pagan, he did not have the truth of God, yet he was doing moral righteous acts—things that were right in the sight of God. He was wanting to come out into the light more and more. He therefore prayed for more light. My reason for making this statement is that the angel, whom God had sent to Cornelius announced to him: "Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God" (Acts 10:4b). He was therefore a doer of the truth and was seeking for more light.

When Cornelius received the Apostle Peter upon the latter's arrival in Caesarea, Peter said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34b-35). Every doer of the truth wishes to walk in the steps of Abraham, who followed the Lord by faith, and in the footsteps of Cornelius, who was living up to all the light that he had and was praying for more light. Hence he came to the light and was blessed and used of God in a mighty way.