Your salvation is founded in one simple truth.
John 3:16-18 (NIV)
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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Grace
2 - God shows His sovereign love in the sending of Jesus Christ.
But this is how God showed his love:Â
he sent his only begotten SonÂ
into the world,
so that whoever believes in himÂ
should not perishÂ
but have eternal life
Summary
Today's passage is arguably the most recognized and quoted verse in the entire Bible. John is known for his simple eloquence, and this passage is a great example of why. But these words have the traction they do not simply because of their aesthetic beauty, but because they convey such profound truth with ordinary vocabulary.
Notice that God is the primary subject of every sentence and clause. It is God's love which initiates salvation; He gave His one and only Son, and salvation requires belief in Him and comes through Him. And whoever believes in Him is not condemned [by God], but whoever does not believe in Him stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is a critical concept you need to grasp as we begin this year of coming to understand how God's grace is stronger than you are. The immense comfort that comes from knowing God will preserve you in Christ no matter what is predicated on understanding that God Himself is the One who designed, provided for, initiated and delivered your salvation.
All of this came about for you because God so loved the world, not because you so loved God.
Dig Deeper
I often encourage people to practice their 'gospel in a minute' speech. Since you never know when or where an opportunity will come for you to evangelize, you need to be ready all the time! Evangelizing is a skill, and just like any other skill, the best way to get good at it is to practice it over and over.
Often times people get flustered when the opportunity to share the Good News pops up and they start tripping all over their words (if they even notice it in the moment... often I don't realize the chance I had until a couple of hours later, but that's a different devotional). What ends up coming out isn't a winsome proclamation of the gospel, but a convoluted word salad that really has no point.
That's why you need to be prepared to share the message of the gospel in a minute or less. And memorizing John 3:16-18 is a great way to do that! It tells us who God is - the one who loved the world; who we are- those condemned because of our sin; and how to achieve salvation: whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son into the world to save the whole world through Him;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for taking the initiative in your salvation, and pray that you'll be ready to share this good news with others (be sure to practice it too!);
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 6
