This testimony differs from the rest in having a more permanent character. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. "He must, increase, but I decrease." Whosoever denieth the Son hath not the Father; he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Does anyone else find it odd that John Fetterman is hospitalized with Clinical Depression and is Co-Sponsoring Bills in the Senate? For evidently it is the theme of worship in its Christian fulness, the fruit of the manifestation of God, and of the Father known in grace. Glory would be displayed in its day. (John 3:36 ASV), He that believes on the Son has life eternal, and he that is not subject to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. They should have understood more about Him those that were specially favoured. If He spoke the truth, they were blasphemers. No mere man, nor angel, not the highest, the archangel, but the Son. I do not mean by this all individuals, but creation; for nothing can be more certain, than that those who do not receive the Son of God are so much the worse for having heard the gospel. There He supposes His full rejection and death. With regard to John 3:31-36, the question arises as to who was the speaker. Till then the Holy Ghost could not be so given only when Jesus was glorified, after redemption was a fact. It is the final setting aside of Judaism then, whose characteristic hope was the display of power and rest in the world. Here we see Him accepting, not as fellow-servant, but as Lord, those souls who had been under the training of the predicted messenger of Jehovah that was to prepare His way before, His face. (Verses John 5:13-16), A graver issue, however, was to be tried; for Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Here, accordingly, it is not so much the means by which life is communicated, as the revelation of the full blessing of grace and communion with the Father and His Son by the Holy Ghost, in whom we are blessed. Shall never enter heaven.The wrath of God - The anger of God for sin. Her testimony bore the impress of what had penetrated her soul, and would make way for all the rest in due time. This is the same idea explained in Scriptures such as John 3:18-19, Romans 1:20, and Romans 3:11. Therefore, it seems to me, He adds verse 24. It is thus strikingly an anticipation of the result in glory. (Verses John 5:1-7), On the other hand, the Lord speaks but the word: "Rise, take up thy couch and walk." The Lord, in the latter part of the chapter (verses John 6:27-58), contrasts the presentation of the truth of God in His person and work with all that pertained to the promises of Messiah. Thus the Holy Ghost, given by the Son in humiliation (according to God, not acting on law, but according to the gift of grace in the gospel), was fully set forth; but the woman, though interested, and asking, only apprehended a boon for this life to save herself trouble here below. This would make all manifest. But then again, as science fiction wri ter Theodore Sturgeon once said, when asked why so much science fiction was garbage, 90% of everything is crap. As the new birth for the kingdom of God, so the cross is absolutely necessary for eternal life. The first four chapters of John precede in point of time the notices of His ministry in the other gospels. If he receives Him, it is everlasting life, and Christ is thus honoured by him; if not, judgment remains which will compel the honour of Christ, but to his own ruin for ever. You don't know if they know, or know and don't care, or if they are just U2 and know, don't care and deep down don't . How blessed the contrast with the people's state depicted in this chapter, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, looking to "letters," rulers, and Pharisees, perplexed about the Christ, but without righteous judgment, assurance, or enjoyment! He hath it. The original Greek word, apeithn, means "rejecting belief," "refusing obedience," or "refusing to be convinced." This is the same idea explained in Scriptures such as John 3:18-19, Romans 1:20, and Romans 3:11. and the more manifest from His lips to one who was a real impersonation of sin, misery, blindness, degradation. Christ was the true sanctuary, not that on which man had laboured so long in Jerusalem. Neither does the Spirit say exactly as the English Bible says "sons," but children. The question really is, whether man would trust God. The distinctiveness of such a testimony to the Saviour's glory need hardly be pointed out. And he saith, I am not. His death on the cross included much more, clearly answering to the first; His baptizing with the Holy Ghost followed His going to heaven. Nevertheless, the heavenly part is little dwelt on, as John's gospel displays our Lord more as the expression of God revealed on earth, than as Man ascended to heaven, which fell far more to the province of the apostle of the Gentiles. ( ) flesh, and dwelt among us." "For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world through him might be saved." Christ's clear command to all sinners is to believe His heavenly testimony: "For whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." As a weapon of conviction, most justly had it in the mind of the Lord Jesus the weightiest place, little as man thinks now-a-days of it. Life eternal is to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. hath everlasting life; he has it in Christ his head, in whom he believes; he has a right unto it through the justifying righteousness of Christ, and a meetness for it by his grace; he has it in faith and hope; he has the beginning of it in the knowledge of Christ, and communion with him; he has some foretastes of it in his present experience; and he has the earnest and pledge of it in his heart, even the blessed Spirit, who works him up for this selfsame thing: and he that believeth not the Son; that does not believe Christ to be the Son of God, or Jesus to be the Messiah; or rejects him as the Saviour; who lives and dies in a state of impenitence and unbelief: shall not see life; eternal life; he shall not enter into it, and enjoy it; he shall die the second death. Afterwards, John the Baptist explains why he's content to see his own ministry fade into the background. After this we have, suitably to this gospel, John's connection with the Lord Jesus. (See on [1777]Joh 3:18 and [1778]Joh 5:24).shall not see lifeThe contrast here is striking: The one has already a life that will endure for everthe other not only has it not now, but shall never have itnever see it.abideth on himIt was on Him before, and not being removed in the only possible way, by "believing on the Son," it necessarily remaineth on him! The healing of the courtier's son, sick and ready to die, is witness of what the Lord was actually doing among the despised of Israel. Here, in suited circumstances to render the thought and way of God unmistakable, pure and boundless grace takes its own sovereign course, suitable to the love and personal glory of Christ. John 3:16 teaches us that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, God's Son, will be saved. And He did accept that place thoroughly, and in all its consequences. They had eyes, but they saw not; ears had they, but they heard not, nor did they understand His glory. Details are not called for now, but just the outline of the truth. (36) Here too we have, in the words of John, thoughts which we have found already (John 3:15-16), and shall find again (), in the words of Christ Himself.He that believeth not the Son.--Better, he that obeyeth not the Son. Yet thousands choose to remain in this state, and to encounter alone all that is terrible in the wrath of Almighty God, rather than come to Jesus, who has borne their sins in his own body on the tree, and who is willing to bless them with the peace, and purity, and joy of immortal life. Eternal lifeis only received by believing that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and that salvation is a gracious gift of God. What can be more evident, or more instructive? He who owns the reality of Christ's incarnation, receives most thankfully and adoringly from God the truth of redemption; he, on the contrary, who stumbles at redemption, has not really taken in the incarnation according to God's mind. He is a divine person; His manhood brought no attainder to His rights as God. Believing in the existence of Jesus does not result in eternal life, for the historical evidence of His existence (in both sacred and secular writings) is irrefutable. Gospel of John of the New Testament, Chapter 3, Verse 16 Truth and grace were not sought nor found in man, but began to subsist here below by Jesus Christ. Such shall live. There is for him a present possession, which shall also remain. He holds a seat on the If He put forth His power, it was not only beyond man's measure, but unequivocally divine, however also the humblest and most dependent of men. What does the 3 mean in math - We will be discussing about What does the 3 mean in math in this blog post. (Comp. (John 3:34-36) The price for rejecting the true testimony regarding Jesus. Here again, apart from this divine insight, the change or gift of the name marks His glory. There was purpose in it. It is not here spoken of as coming upon them, or as passing from them. He reminds them of his previous disclaimer of any place beyond one sent before Jesus. FOR HOME USE ONLY (for church or group use see links below)Buy this Video here:https://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/product/i-believe-john-336/Buy I Believe DV. Hath everlasting life He has already the seed of this life in his soul, having been made a partaker of the grace and spirit of him in whom he has believed. Such is the miserable condition of the sinner! He had no need that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. He that comes from above from heaven is above all. And John told us thatwe receive this gift by grace through faith so that all who believe in Jesus would not perish but have everlasting life. For though the Son (that eternal life who was with the Father) was a man, in that very position had the Father given Him to have life in Himself, and to execute judgment also, because He is Son of man. There is no changing or bettering the old man; and, thanks be to God, the new does not degenerate or pass away. In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. Hell will "abide" on the person who does not believe in the Son. Apparently these Christians haven't bothered to read what comes before and after John 3:16-18. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours." I pray that I might live for Him. The words of Jesus were the words of God; he had the Spirit, not by measure, as the prophets, but in all fulness. He is viewed as retaining the same perfect intimacy with the Father, entirely unimpaired by local or any other circumstances He had entered. JOHN 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." To Him be all praise and glory forever and ever, AMEN. VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. The Lord meets him at once with the strongest assertion of the absolute necessity that a man should be born anew in order to see the kingdom of God. Such was the grace that God was displaying in Him, the true and full expresser of His mind. Hath everlasting life. " Undeniably, these words of the Lord are truths. John 3:14-15; John 3:14-15) It is not a question simply of the Son of God, nor is He spoken of here as the Word made flesh. John 7:24) They reason and are in utter uncertainty. Later He was determined to be Son of God with power by resurrection of the dead. Man is morally judged. But he that receiveth not the gospel published by him who is the Son of God, and doth not embrace him as his Saviour, and yield obedience to him, shall not be saved. Nor was it from any indistinctness in the record, or in him who gave it. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." Wayne Jackson (1997), "The Role of 'Works' in the Plan of . What love! (Verses John 7:40-53). "He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 1. The commandment doth not only respect love, but faith in the first place; for faith worketh by love; so as there is an apeiyeia, a disobedience in the understanding, as well as in the conversation; and he that so believeth not, as to obey, shall never come into heaven, which felicity is here expressed by seeing life; as not seeing death is not dying, so not seeing life is dying. Hence, to such an one, eternal life is not merely something future. Two resurrections, one of life, and another of judgment, would be the manifestation of faith and unbelief, or rather, of those who believe, and of those who reject the Son. It is not merely a Messiah, who comes and offers Himself, as we find in other gospels, with most painstaking diligence, and presented to their responsibility; but here from the outset the question is viewed as closed. (Read John 3:22-36) John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned him; but Jesus came on a more important work. 29) on which, as it were, Jesus speaks and acts in His grace as here shown on the earth. Under all changes, outwardly, He abode as from eternity the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father. Nobody had gone up to heaven: God had taken more than one; but no one had gone there as of right. As this chapter sets forth the Lord Jesus with singular fulness of glory, on the side both of His Godhead and of His manhood, so it closes with the most varied and remarkable testimonies God has given to us, that there may be no excuse. Just as distinct and beyond comparison is His testimony who, coming from heaven and above all, testifies what He saw and heard, however it might be rejected. (VerseJohn 4:10; John 4:10) Infinite grace! Of this we learn nothing, here. By the grace of God, John had come to know and appreciate the true identity of Jesus Christ. It is here life begunthe first breathings and pantings of the soul for immortality; yet it is life, though at first feeble and faint, which is eternal in its nature, and which shall be matured in the full and perfect bliss of heaven. Then He rebukes the carnality of His brethren. The Bible says, " He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God stays on him " (John 3:36). The present tense. (Verse John 3:16), Let it not be passed by, that while the new birth or regeneration is declared to be essential to a part in the kingdom of God, the Lord in urging this intimates that He had not gone beyond the earthly things of that kingdom. He is under the eternal sentence of death. Indeed, He was the great Prophet, as He was the great King, and as He is now the great Priest on high. But the chapter does not close without a further contrast. But none need hate, and none need live in wilful sin. John was the one who recognised the glory of the Lord about whom he was testifying, and cried out, "Hemust increase and I must decrease." If we give it careful thought, we can . John is clear about why he wrote his Gospel (20:31): "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life in His name.". God wants people to be saved (2 Peter 3:9 . And he answered, No. 22-24); (2) John's disciples are jealous (vss. Verse John 3:36. On this basisJohn 7:1-53; John 7:1-53 proceeds. In a certain sense, the principle of John 4:1-54 was made true in the woman of Samaria, and in others who received Christ then. This is confirmed further by John the Baptist's statement in John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not (apeitheo) the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The word "apeitheo" is understood by all good translators and commentators to mean obedience. Here, then, we have a remarkable display of that which preceded His Galilean ministry, or public manifestation. 2.Geneva Study BibleHe that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not {c} see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Mark what, as such, He does declare Him. This statement (verse John 1:15) is a parenthesis, though confirmatory of verse John 1:14, and connects John's testimony with this new section of Christ's manifestation in flesh; as we saw John introduced in the earlier verses, which treated abstractly of Christ's nature as the Word. They wonder, as they had murmured before (John 7:12-15); but Jesus shows that the desire to do God's will is the condition of spiritual understanding. Clarke's Commentary. Alas! They had no common thoughts, feelings, or ways with the Father and the Son. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, and might be thus obtained; whereas all those, who believe not in the Son of God, cannot partake of salvation, but the wrath of God for ever rests upon them.Barnes' Notes on the BibleHath everlasting life - Has or is in possession of that which is a recovery from spiritual death, and which will result in eternal life in heaven. It's our responsibility to live John 3:16 to those around us, to shine God's light everywhere we go. (Verses John 5:17-18). (Ver. He acts as such. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. It was not so. ", To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
