John 3:16-18 - Ah…How Refreshing!
- Joshua Carpenter
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Be refreshed in the Good News of the Gospel daily.
John 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Canons of Dordt
Point 2 - Limited Atonement
Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All
Moreover, it is the promise of the gospelÂ
that whoever believes in Christ crucifiedÂ
shall not perish but have eternal life.Â
This promise, together with the command to repent and believe,Â
ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discriminationÂ
to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel.
Summary
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. It's likely many of you at one time or another have memorized this verse!Â
It often gets quoted as a part of presenting the Gospel to someone, sharing what God has done for us out of His great and pursuing love in sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to stand condemned in the place of lost sinners, our place, so that, for those who believe in Jesus, trusting in Him alone for salvation, we can be redeemed and reconciled to God.Â
Through Jesus’ sacrifice, when we believe, we have God’s gracious gift of eternal life! The Canons, at the start of its article on The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All takes up this language from John 3:16: Moreover, it is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life.Â
Sadly, in the second half of v18, we see what the next article of the Canons addresses: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.Â
Yet, for those of us who believe, what a refreshing thing the Good News of the Gospel is!
 Dig Deeper Â
Just the other night, after I got back from our evening church council meeting, my wife was taking care of a few things around the house before bed. As she did so, she was listening to some music. On the playlist she was listening to, there was a song where someone put these words from John 3 to music and was singing God’s Word. What a wonderful way to be reminded and refreshed in the Good News of the Gospel!Â
Yesterday, we talked about thanking God each day for what He’s done for us, but it’s also important to take time to be refreshed in the Good News of the Gospel. Yes, that requires us to recognize the weight of our sin, the ways we sin against God and neighbor, but even as we do, we are also reminded of God’s amazing grace poured out on us in Jesus and it can refresh us, especially if we are going through a season when we are painfully aware of our own sin to the point where we have no grace for ourselves.Â
The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all, but sometimes, the first person we need to proclaim the Gospel to is ourselves, being reminded of our sin, our need for God, but also His forgiveness and grace that covers a multitude of sins. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace!Â
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who so loved the world that He gave His only Son;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to give you a continual hunger to read and hear His Word, that you might be refreshed daily by the gospel;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Romans 6
