“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.” vs16

Whoever believes in Jesus the Son has everlasting life. The offer of the gospel is extended to everyone, so that EVERYONE MAY COME. No one is to say, “Not me. I’m excluded.”

He knows His own, but He calls all, so that His own may come. He calls all, because He is sincere. Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!"

He opens the door wide open, and says, “Enter!” It doesn’t matter who you are - gay, straight, bank robber, or false prophet! If you recognize your sin, enter into the safety of Christ, and believe on Him.

Trust Him with your money and how you live your life. Trust Him to wash away your sins and give you cleansing power. Trust Him in death, and submit your ambitions to His glorious hands. Trust Him to rule you in love and to guide you into Paradise. Trust Him in raising your family, and trust Him with everything about you. This is faith: it is relying upon God through Christ and following Him; it is having no power, no righteousness, and no wisdom (being completely incapable or ruling your own life,) and trusting Christ for all; it is believing the gospel in all it’s man-offending details, humbling yourself, and receiving the Son!

Vs18, “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."

Secondly, condemnation is the fruit of unbelief! It is not because God is cruel; it is not because He says, “I don’t want you.” It is not because He has an elect, and He doesn’t sincerely plead with you.

He has given us the way to eternal life, and said, “Whosoever.” Who are we to DENY THE TERMS OF THE GOSPEL? This is why men perish. They hate the fact that eternal life is on the Son’s terms. They hate God’s mercy, when they could have received it.

No one will blame God in hell, and say, “Not fair. I tried to be saved, but you rejected me. I put my faith in Christ, and now I am lost.” It is impossible. He sent a Savior to prove that He doesn’t want to condemn, but we are already condemned, if we believe not.

Vs19, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

Thirdly, this is why men hate the gospel: they love their sin; it is not because they don’t understand the terms: they do. They just don’t want to give up sin.

Some love licentiousness and fleshly pleasure. They delight themselves in drunkenness and fornication, being unable to control their lusts, not realizing the value of their soul, until it is too late. Others love religious pleasure, like self-righteous pride and self-confidence. They think it is unfair to trust in God. They’d rather trust in their own decisions, their own will power, and their own goodness [Rom 9:14-16]. They just want God to give them a chance, and they are sure that they can close the deal. This haughty pride and arrogance rejects the way of salvation, because it feels good to ascribe glory to man. Remember, those with Gideon lapped up water like a dog. Everyone else was too dignified and was sent back [Judges 7:4-8]!

Vs21, "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

The believer, however, comes to the light. He wants to be reproved and corrected. He knows that God is right and every man is a liar, so he submits to God’s word, asking the Teacher to enlighten his eyes, forgive his sins, and empower him to obedience. He wants to be RIGHT WITH THE WORD. He wants his teaching to match the scripture! He cannot bear to offend God, because he has the beginning of wisdom, which is godly fear, so he trembles at the word [Isa 66:2].

He wants to be approved in his character; it is not enough to be right in his doctrine, but he must live godly also. He wants to be rid of sin, so he hates it in true repentance. He goes to God’s word for power, rather than to excuse sin and wallow in it. He does battle, because he believes that God will help him honor the Son.

This man obtains mercy, because God is merciful. Just like the brazen serpent healed everyone that looked, even so, believing in Christ heals us from the disease of sin by pronouncing our pardon and giving us deliverance.

You can tell a true believer because he believes the true gospel and continues in it. His life - faults and all - matches his words.

Vs22-24, “After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).”

Finally, believers suffer for Christ. John was put in prison for preaching God’s word, and he died in faith, rather than deny his Master.

We have TOO MUCH cowardice in our day - men with head knowledge who refuse to suffer. Faith stands strong in the battle and comes out for the Lord, like the Levites when Moses said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side--come to me!”

Faith is SUPERNATURAL, a gift from God, and it causes us to see His glory, and then count death as gain. This is the transforming power of believing.