By: Gen. Jim – 8/6/25
“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” – 1 Jn. 3:16, KJV
This verse flows from the Father, from the Son, to the hearers. This verse shows us the mind, heart, & purpose of the Father & Son… and implies the condition to whom the Father & Son were addressing: they should not perish, meaning they would without a Savior.
The Gift – not Earned
Eternal Salvation is a GIFT: it is not earned. Yet to receive this gift one must “believe” to “receive”.
Jesus’ Divine Love embraced the “lost” world, not just a few “select” but “all” the world (Jn. 1:29 = “… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”), Of course the sinner must repent (Jn. 3:2 & 11; 4:17; Acts 2:38).
The End
The end of Jesus’ Mission was to bring eternal life to the world. The conviction that this was Their mission (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) dominates the New Testament. And, once sinful man repents of his/her sins, receives forgiveness & has his/her own mission in life – to finish their course (as Paul exclaimed in 2 Tim. 4:7), to endure till the end (as Matthew proclaimed in Mt. 24:13), heaven is ours. All this must be accomplished by & thru the “saved” man/woman.
Jesus was here to GIVE eternal life, not just to PROMISE it – this EL goes beyond the grave. He gives what He knows He has. The 16th verse of John 3 is therefore the expression in summary from the reflecting mind of the Evangelist of the inner consciousness of Christ Jesus the Lord.
Conditions!
Eternal life has conditions for its reception, as stated already. First, we must “believe” (Jn. 3:16). To believe is to have faith in. The KJV has “believeth”; the Modern English has “whoever trusts in Him”; the NIV has “whoever believes”; as does other translations.
Believe/Pisteuō, to have faith in, to trust in. Pisteuō (Gk.), from pistis, means persuasion, i.e. credence, conviction, reliance, constancy in such profession, i.e. to finish one’s course in the Christian Way. Salvation in Christ is not once saved always saved… no matter how one lives. Salvation (that is, to stay “saved” one must abide by the rules/laws. So, salvation is conditional in 2 ways: 1) one must believe & repent; 2) one must endure till the end, keeping the faith.
One Bible Scholar once wrote: “There could be no profounder misreading of such passages (Jn. 3) than the suggestion that the ‘way’ is by formal assent to a dogma. Eternal Life is not a ‘reward’ of correct beliefs. ‘Believing’ is the act & orientation, of the whole personality. It belongs to those who with trustful insight have accepted the Father’s Word & Deed. These love the light & walk in it.”
Eternal life is more than believing Bible doctrine – it is walking by & in the Spirit… bringing forth spiritual fruitfulness (Gal. 5:16), denying the lust of the flesh (5:17-21).
Note what 1 Jn. 1:6 states: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, & walk in darkness, we LIE & do not practice the truth.” Verse 7 is the contrast of vs.6: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…”
Our Choice!
We either walk in the LIGHT or we walk in DARKNESS. Salvation (keeping one’s faith) is conditional.
The Source
The source of Christianity is Christ, His love and His forgiveness. Salvation is being SAVED from eternal damnation. Jesus explained to Nicodemus, a religious Pharisee, that He must be born again, if not, he would not see the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3). He went on to explain that he must be born of water & of the Spirit, if not, he could not enter the Kingdom, vs.5. Again, in vs.7, Jesus mentions about being “born again”. In short, Jesus told this Pharisee that whoever believes in His should not perish but love eternal life (Jn. 3:15).
Salvation = For All
Paul, who was also a religious Jew, after his salvation experience, wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first & also for the Greek,” – Rom. 1:16. He goes on to explain, “For all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God,” 3:23.
From Gen. 49:18 (where “salvation” is first mentioned) all the way through the Bible up to Rev. 19:1, we find salvation mentioned (Hebrew & Greek). The N.T. mentions it 45 times. There are many other verses where it is implied. The Greek means: (sōtēria), to rescue or safety (physically or morally), deliver, save. Sōtēr = a deliverer, i.e., God or Christ: – Saviour; Sōzō = safe; to save, i.e. deliver or protect (lit. or fig.): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
In Short
Because man (i.e., humankind) was created by God (we did not evolve from apes!), God wants His creation to live eternally in His presence. He is not willing for any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9), i.e. it is not, never was, His intention for man to be eternally DAMNED, but for man to be SAVED. Peter’s use of the word “perish” means (Gk., apollumi), to destroy fully, lose (lit. fig.), mar. The Gk. word “apo” denotes separation, which means to be separated from eternal life, hence, to live in the state of eternal death. Many scoff at this truth.
Most religions have the idea/concept/truth of heaven & hell. They may not use these words, but the meaning is the same. So, why would we not believe what the Bible teaches on Heaven & Hell? Both are eternal, i.e., never-ending, everlasting. Isn’t it better to be saved from such a fate than to end up in Gehenna? = everlasting punishment (Mt. 5:22 = “hell fire”, spoken of by Jesus Himself).