“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.” (John 3:16 KJV)
We read John 3:16 all the time, but much of the time we hear it something like this,
“For God was so angry with the world that He sent His Son to restrain Him from destroying us all, so you had better stay in line, because if you make it, you will only make it by the skin of your teeth, because after all, you are a dirty, rotten, no good sinner, and will be until you get to heaven (if you ever get there).”
Isn’t this true?
That’s how many people hear this, and yet it is a foundational scripture of our faith. But that’s not what it says. It says that God so loved the world. Many talk about God’s wrath and anger, and scripture talks about these things, but we normally understand wrath and anger as we know it in the flesh, and then we project it onto God. We interpret God through our own natures.
God’s anger is pure, just, and perfect, and based on truth. All sin must be judged, whether God “wants to” or not, and of course he does not want to. Otherwise, he would’ve destroyed Adam in the Garden. He never would have sent Jesus. Judgment is a requirement of His nature and character. God is love, but He is also perfectly just. The good news is that his justice has been satisfied. When Jesus went to the cross, the Father poured out the fullness of His righteous wrath upon Him, and Jesus bore the full punishment for every sin that every human being has ever committed since the Garden of Eden, or will ever commit. He became sin and the Father turned His face away from Him. It was the first time that Jesus had ever been separated from the Father, and it began while He was still hanging on the cross.
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
All a person has to do is receive what the Father did through Jesus Christ on the cross, and confess with the mouth.
Is God angry with His people? Is He angry with us when we make mistakes and mess things up? What does the scripture say about God’s anger toward those whom He has called and redeemed?
“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee” (Isaiah 54:7)
This is in reference to Jesus on the cross. As born-again believers, God sees us being gathered as one. He places no distinction between us and Jesus. We are in Him, and He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He is the firstborn among many brethren.
“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Isaiah 54:8-10 KJV).
He corrects us, but not in anger. He does it for our good and for our benefit.
Jesus suffered in the flesh and then went to hell and to the lowest parts of hell to suffer the full weight of the sins of mankind, but Jesus Himself had never sinned, and therefore the powers of darkness had nothing in Him. They could not hold Him, and the Father spoke into the depths of hell, “Come, sit at my right hand until your enemies be made your footstool!” (Psalms 110:1, Matthew 22:44).
The Father had a legal right to raise Jesus from the dead because He had never sinned, and therefore death had no legal power over Him. Death had no hold on Him, but yet He tasted death for us! The Word became flesh, and dwelt among men. It is finished. Redemption is complete. There is nothing that can be added or taken away from it. The only thing needed for a person to experience the benefits of redemption is faith. It is faith that produces works, not the other way around.
Religious people will tell you that you have to follow a set of rules and guidelines in order to be saved, but that is not true. They cannot accept that it would be that simple, and they don’t like it because many of them have spent years “earning” their place of prominence in the church and a perceived status in the Kingdom through dead religious works. It is like two young brothers. One of them wants candy, and the older brother, who has mown the lawn, taken out the garbage, and cleaned the garage, tells the younger brother, “You can’t have that!” “You did nothing to earn it!” Then the parent comes along and says to the younger brother, “You can have candy and cake too!” The older brother becomes angry, as in his mind, the younger brother did nothing, and he did everything. But no one asked the older brother to do all of those things in order to be worthy of candy. The parents gave their sons good things because they loved them!
Religious people become enraged when they see someone living in freedom and experiencing the blessings of the Lord for doing relatively nothing but believing and receiving freely. Therefore they demand that you be “circumcised” as they are.
Faith will produce good works, and there are rewards for obedience in the faith, but good works have nothing to do with salvation. Salvation is a free gift, and it is wonderful that we have received this gift so that we can freely give it to others. However, instead of giving it freely, many give it at a “price” (conditions). The Apostle Paul warned us about people like that who would seek to turn people away from the grace of Christ:
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)
Paul was specifically referring to a gospel of legalism, and there is a curse attached to legalism. Religious believers had crept into the church and were compelling other believers to be “circumcised,” and to keep the Law of Moses.
“And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1)
“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5)
“Whosoever of you is justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).
Those who make their boast in the law negate the working of grace in their lives, in the area where there is legalism.
Grace through faith is the only way into the Kingdom, and the only way to access the promises of God!
“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand…” (Galatians 5:4)
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