“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)
It is one of the most quoted and memorized verses in the Bible: John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It gives a message for all to hear.
But the next verse is not so often read or memorized. It is like a postscript to the preceding verse, telling us that Jesus came not to condemn, but to save. God’s goal in sending His Son is salvation, not condemnation. John 3:17 means that God’s primary purpose for sending His Son, Jesus, into the world was not to pass judgment and condemn humanity, but to provide a way for the entire world to be saved through Him. This verse explains that salvation is the ultimate goal of Jesus’ mission, offering rescue, healing, and wholeness to all who believe.
God might justly have sent Him for this: to condemn the world. Man deserved condemnation, and it would have been right to have pronounced it; but God was willing that there should be an offer of pardon, and the sentence of condemnation was delayed. But, although Jesus did not come then to condemn mankind, the time is coming when He will return to judge the living and the dead.
Sent by God on a mission to save, Jesus came not to judge, condemn, or pass sentence, but rather to redeem. Jesus came to save—to deliver us from that spiritual death which is common to all men because of Adam’s sin. He sought to make us whole and to preserve us from danger, loss, or destruction. God’s own arm worked this salvation for us.
Remember that God sent Jesus to save you, not condemn you. Verse 17 clarifies that mission, but the requirements of Verse 16 are yours. Have you confessed your sins and believed in Him, that you might have everlasting life?
by John Grant
used by permission
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