1. First, the bad news - we’re all sinners in the eyes of God.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
2. More bad news - the result of sin is death.
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death.
There are two parts to death. The first death is a physical death here on earth. The second death is the lake of fire (hell).
Revelation 21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
That’s a pretty bad list, right? But, notice at the end of the list it said “all liars.” The Bible says, “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). The point here is that we’re all sinners and we’re all condemned to hell - even if the only thing you have ever done wrong is tell a lie.
3. Now the Good news – God has a gift He wants to give you (eternal life).
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God has a gift He wants to give you and that gift is eternal life and it is through Jesus Christ. You don’t have to work for the gift and you don’t have to pay for the gift.
Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
4. More Good News – Jesus paid the price for our sins.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Just because the gift is free doesn’t mean that someone didn’t pay for it. Since God wants to give you a gift, He’s the giver and you’re the receiver, so He paid for the gift. Jesus paid for the gift by His death, burial and resurrection. Do you believe that Jesus died, was buried and was resurrected on the third day to pay for our sins?
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
God says he wants to give you eternal life, that is life that will never end. This means that when you die the initial physical death, you will not die the second death of being cast into the lake of fire but instead you will go and live with God forever in heaven.
Titus 1:2: In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Our hope for eternal life is that God cannot lie. So if God promises you life that will never end, then He will give you life that never ends. Salvation had nothing to do with you, remember it’s “not of yourselves” (Ephesians 2:8). When God forgives you of your sins; He forgives you of all your sins—past, present, future. That is how he can guarantee us eternal life.
5. All you have to do is accept God’s gift for you by faith.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If someone were to buy a gift, wrap it and write your name on it, it would not become yours until you accepted it. The gift from God is exactly the same. It’s already been paid for by Jesus Christ and God offers it to everyone but you need to accept it. You accept the gift of eternal life by confessing with your mouth while believing in your heart.
Do you want to accept Jesus Christ and be saved from your sins right now? Then just say this simple prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried and rose again to pay for my sins. I ask you to save me, forgive me of my sins and take me to heaven when I die. Thank you for giving me eternal life. Amen.
Congratulations, you are saved!
If you prayed that prayer and got saved, send me a message - it would make an old Canadian guy very happy to hear that you got saved. God bless.
And yet, just one verse earlier:
Rev 21:7 -- He that overcometh shall inherit all things;
Obviously, not everyone is a liar who is automatically condemned.
The hardest thing for people to wrap their head around is the idea that the jews are NOT the Israelites of the Bible. We have all been lied to our whole lives, and for several generations (this lie really took root about 100-200 years ago).
Nobody can understand the Bible without understanding this fact. It is the main reason why the Bible is incomprehensible to most people.
But let's dig into it a bit with this context in mind.
In John 3, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees (ancestors of modern day jews).
Whenever Jesus spoke to those who were NOT his people, he spoke in a way that THEY could not understand him. He wanted ONLY his people to understand him.
Matthew 13:2 -- And great multitudes were gathered together unto him ...
Matthew 13:3 -- And he spake many things unto them in parables ...
The "great multitudes" means a mixture of people -- both his people (i.e. Israelites) AND those who were NOT his people (i.e. jews -- we have been lied to about the idea that the jews were the Israelites, but it has always been a lie -- and others).
Here, speaking to "the multitudes," Jesus speaks in parables, not straight talk.
Matthew 13:10 -- And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
HIS people (the Israelites) are now alone with Jesus, and ask why he speaks to those other people in parables.
Matthew 13:11 -- He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Matthew 13:13 -- Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
In Matthew 15:22-23, a Canaanite woman pleads with Jesus to help her daughter, who is possessed by the Devil. But he refuses, because he knows she is not one of his people (she is a Canaanite, not an Israelite).
Only when she acknowldeges that she is not one of his people, but would he please help anyway, does he help her.
When his disiples ask about this:
Matthew 15:24 -- I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus came ONLY for his people (Israelites, who were the descendants of Jacob/Israel), and not for anyone else.
The entire chapter of John 8 drives home this point.
John 8:3 -- And the scribes and Pharisees ...
These are what we today would call "jews." They were trying to find ways to trick Jesus, because they did not believe him, and they wanted to catch him in a lie or lack of understanding.
John 8:13 -- The Pharisees (jews) therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
John 8:14 -- Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
The jews cannot understand where he came from (they outright say he is a liar), or where he will go, because they do not understand him -- because they are NOT his people.
John 8:19 -- Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
John 8:21 -- Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
John 8:22 -- Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
It is interesting that this is one of the few versus in the entire English version of the Bible where the word "Jews" is used correctly. In most places, it is incorrectly used.
John 8:23 -- And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
John 8:24 -- I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
They don't believe in him BECAUSE they are not his people. It's not merely that they don't believe. They CAN'T believe because they cannot understand him, because they are not his people (Israelites).
John 8:33 -- They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Note: The true Israelite people WERE in bondage both in Egypt and later in Assyria (10 of the tribes) and Babylon (2 of the tribes).
Clearly, these people could not be the true Israelites if they had never been in bondage.
Also, some of them were of Abrahams's seed. That was true (in part). However, they were NOT of Jacob's seed, but rather Esau's seed. That is the key, which Jesus addresses next.
John 8:37 -- I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
John 8:38 -- I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Jesus' father is NOT the same as their father.
John 8:39 -- They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
John 8:40 -- But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
John 8:41 -- Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
John 8:42 -- Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
John 8:43 -- Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
John 8:44 - Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
They are satanic seed, not of Spirit (God).
John 8:45 -- And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
John 8:47 -- He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
John 8:58 -- Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Jesus was God himself, in human form.
Now, with that as context, getting back to John 3:16 ...
John 3:1 -- There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
He was again talking to a jew (not an Israelite).
John 3:4 -- Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
John 3:5 -- Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:12 -- If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Jesus is saying that this man CANNOT believe because he is not of the Spirit. Does not matter what Jesus says of earthly or heavenly things. The man will not able to believe. Today, jews still do not believe Jesus.
John 3:16 -- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This does not mean ANYBODY can just believe. Clearly, some people are not capable of believing or refuse to do so.
Galatians 4 gives us insight:
Galatians 4:3 -- Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Paul is writing to Galatians (i.e. Israelites) about when "WE" were in bondage.
Galatians 4:4 -- But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Obviously, Jesus.
Galatians 4:5 -- To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Jesus came ONLY to redeem THEM THAT WERE UNDER THE LAW.
Who was under the Law?
Israelites.
No one else was made to be under the Law (Abraham >> Isaac >> Jacob/Israel).
Galatians 4:6 -- And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4:7 -- Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Paul was saying, "You -- the Galatian branch of the Israelite family tree -- have the Spirit of God in you. And YOU are under the Law (along with all other Israelites).
And since Jesus was speaking with a non-Israelite in John 3:16, he is speaking in a way that is not easy for non-Israelites to understand. He was telling this jew, but without saying it directly, that he (the jew) cannot believe in him (Jesus), and therefore is not one to be saved.
Now ...
I understand that some people will not like this (others will really like it, though), but regardless, you have to read the ENTIRE Bible and keep the whole thing in context, not just an out-of-context verse here or there.
God created a people who had the capacity to sin. How could it be otherwise? If people could not sin, they would merely be robots. Most likely, God wanted people who WANTED to do the right thing.
But by Noah's time, too many of his people were off track. So, he did the flood (a local flood, not worldwide), to wipe out his people who were too into sin.
But by Jesus' time, even the Israelites were sinning again, so he brought Jesus to forgive the sins and start anew.
In modern times, we are back at it again.