But Whoever Does Not Believe Is Condemned

John 3:16-21
June 12, 2022
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Last Sunday, we looked at John 3:16 and we heard amazing things.

It is amazing that God loved us when we were sinners. “For God so loved the world.” It is amazing that Jesus was given to you so that he would suffer for you and die for you and save you. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” And it is amazing that we who believe in Christ have the glorious hope of resurrection life in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

But what if a person does not believe in Jesus? And why are the consequences for not believing in Jesus so severe? Today’s sermon is about these two questions.

Today’s passage helps us to understand the answers to these questions. And today’s passage helps us to be warned and to be more serious about our Christian lives.

So what happens to a person if he or she does not believe in Jesus? The answer is condemnation. Listen to verse 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.”

The meaning of condemnation is profound. To be condemned is to be declared guilty. And when you are condemned, you are held responsible and accountable, you are given justice, and you are sentenced with penalty. People who do not repent of their sins and believe in Jesus are declared guilty of of unrepentance and unbelief. Such people are wrong and they are held responsible and accountable for their souls. And such people will suffer the devastating penalty of eternal suffering and death in hell. It is worth noting here that the condemnation is also happening now. There is definitely a sense in which the condemnation is going to happen in the future. But today’s text emphasizes the fact that the condemnation is happening right now, in the present time. Notice how verses 18 and 19 are worded. Verse 18 says, “Whoever does not believe is condemned… already.” It’s not going to happen later. It’s already happening now. And verse 19 says, “And this is the judgment….” It does not say that “this will be the judgment.” It says “this is the judgment.” This is what condemnation is all about. And this is what happens to a person if he or she does not believe in Jesus. This is profound.

But this is even more profound when you think about where the condemnation comes from. It does not come from an impersonal manual of universal truth. It does not come from a formal set of rules. Where does the condemnation come from? It comes from God. When a person does not repent of sin and does not believe in Jesus, God the Father condemns that person. This is profound. Condemnation is personal. But this has to be the case. Condemnation must be personal… because sin is personal. And condemnation must come from God himself. Because all sin is always ultimately something that you do against God.

The personal nature of all of this is shown clearly in today’s passage. Listen to verses 19-21. “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Do you hear in these verses how it’s all personal? Jesus Christ is the light. And as the light, he came into the world. But sinners love the darkness rather than the light. And sinner do works that are evil. And the reason is so simple. They hate the light. They hate Jesus. They loathe their glorious King. They despise their sovereign Lord. They feel hostility against their rightful Master. It’s personal. It’s deeply, religiously personal.

In the realm of sports, it’s one thing to compete against your opponent and fight hard to try to win and do it all with good sportsmanship. But it’s a whole different thing to have a personal problem against your opponent and have heartfelt hostility against them to the point where you want to humiliate them or even hurt them. Sadly, from time to time, we see things get personal between sports players and teams to the point where they stop playing the game and start literally fighting and hating one another.

Sin against God is like the latter. It is personal. Such people love the darkness rather than the light. Such people hate the light. Such people hate Jesus. Such people do not love Jesus. It is personal. This is why Jesus said to Saul as he was on the road to Damascus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

This is so… sad. God created people so that they would have a blessed relationship with him. He created the human race with love and joy. He voluntarily and (in a real sense) graciously established a covenant with all of us in Adam. But the entire world, all of us in Adam and apart from Christ, we broke and we dishonored and we spat upon our covenantal and historic relationship with God. We burned to the ground our good and holy relationship with God. We sinned against God. And our sin was personal.

And so it is very sad to see people personally avoid Jesus and love darkness instead of loving him. It is very sad to see people personally reject Jesus and do works that are evil instead of doing works that are good. This is very sad. Unrepentance and unbelief apart from Jesus is the saddest thing in the world.

But it is truly wonderful to see people personally draw near to Jesus and come to the light with truthfulness. It is very wonderful to see people personally love and worship and obey Jesus and do good works that have been carried out in God. This is truly wonderful. Repentance and belief in Jesus is a truly wonderful thing in the world.

And it is most glorious to see Jesus personally live and personally die and personally resurrect from death… for you. Jesus’ salvation was personal. He took your sin and made it his own. That was personal. He took your condemnation and made it his own. That was personal. Jesus loved you even though you hated him. That was personal. Jesus loved you way before you repented and believed in him. That was personal. You were on the road to hell, and it is as if Jesus came to you and said, “Why are you against me? Why do you not repent of your sin and believe in me?” That was personal.

Dear Highland, if you are saved by Jesus, then keep everything personal.

Soli Deo Gloria