Perish or Life

John 3:16-18

We live in a time when people do not want you to talk about Hell. It isn't just people outside of the church, it is people inside the church as well. They say that the concept of Hell is offensive, disturbing, scary, and judgmental. Well, YEAH IT IS! That is the point. Hell was not created to be a place of comfort and peace. It was created as a place of judgment for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It was not made for humanity, but is the resulting judgment of our sins and rejection of God's salvation.

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“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:16-18

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There is a doctrine called the "Doctrine of Total Depravity". It says that humanity is totally ruined by sin. I'm not going to go into a deep theological dissertation on this, but rather share a simple object lesson. Think about a glass of water. If I were to put a drop of arsenic (poison) into that water, would you drink it? No. That single drop of poison ruined the whole glass of water. We could argue that the water was mostly good, but the little bit of poison ruined it all. I can add more poison into the glass, but it does not somehow make the contents better, only worse. People are like the glass of water and sin is like the arsenic. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), but we squabble over who has more arsenic in them. We are all ruined by sin.

Ultimately this verse comes down to the condition in which we stand before God. If we are still that arsenic tainted glass, then we get thrown out of Heaven into Hell because we are unfit to be in God's presence. If we have believed in the "Only Begotten Son" and received His salvation, that is to have been "born again" (John 3:7), then we are like a glass that has been poured out, washed, and fresh clean water poured in. Then, Christ becomes a filter through which the arsenic of sin can never taint us again.

Yes, saved people can still sin, but our sins have been forgiven. God, as a loving Father, punishes us for our sins in this life (Hebrews 12:6). We do not face judgment in eternity because the price and curse of our sins was carried out on Jesus on the cross of Calvary.

It is this same idea of a dirty cup that Jesus used when speaking to the Pharisees.

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“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

Matthew 23:25-26

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That is what religion does, we clean up the outside and look good, but on the inside we are unclean and vile. Jesus wants to come in and not only clean up the outside, but the inside as well. Otherwise, we are not fit for Heaven and will be cast out (Matthew 13:50; Revelation 20:15).

Father, thank You for not leaving us in a condition of sinfulness and repugnance. You sent Your Son to cleanse us and make us new. I pray that any who may not know Your loving forgiveness would receive You today. May they be born again and fit for Your presence through the shed blood of Your Only Begotten Son.