Matthew Stuckey here from Verity Baptist Manila and I want to explain to you
John chapter 3 verse 16. Now at first glance you might say
come on brother Stuckey. John 3 16 I've heard this verse a million times I know
what it teaches.
One thing I found is that the Bible is just incredibly in-depth
and there's a lot of verses that we think we fully comprehend, we think we've
gleaned
all the wisdom out of it, but as we read the Bible more sometimes things just kind of
jump out at us.
So I want to do a very in-depth explanation of John 3 16
and honestly there's going to be people that watch this video I believe that have read the Bible
many times and go soul-winding that you might actually learn something as well
because
the Bible is incredibly deep. In John chapter 3 verse 16 the Bible reads
for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but of everlasting life.
So what the Bible says at the beginning is God so loved
the world. What does that show us? For God so loved the world.
That shows us that this message of salvation he's going to talk about
is for everybody in the entire world. Not just whether it's in the Philippines or
the United States
but throughout the entire world whether it's a Hindu country, a Buddhist country,
an atheistic country, a Muslim country. Well God so loved the world. This is the plan of
salvation for
everybody in the entire world and that's consistent with the Bible because it says he died
for the sins of the whole world. So the message of salvation of Jesus dying for
sins and being the sinless sacrifice
this is the same message throughout the entire world. Why?
Because God so loved the world. Then it says
that he gave his only begotten son. Well here's the thing
some people will tell you that they think they're going to heaven because they
gave their life to God.
But according to the Bible do we have to give our life to God to be saved?
Or did he give his life for us to be saved? The Bible says he gave his only begotten son.
Jesus Christ willingly offered his life. So according to the Bible we don't have to
give God our life to be saved.
Quite honestly that's the opposite of salvation because salvation is that he
gave his life for us.
And honestly nobody can really say they've given their entire life to God.
I mean that's ridiculous. I mean do you pray for three hours every single day?
Do you read the Bible for three hours every single day? I mean can you honestly say you
live a perfect life?
That's ridiculous. None of us have given our entire life
to God. Obviously we should strive to become a better person and become
closer to God each year but none of us have given our entire life to God.
And it says he gave his only begotten son. So what that is showing us
is that God the Father sent God the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The next verse says God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world.
So God the Father is sending God the Son to be the Savior of the world.
So you see here that Jesus Christ already existed before John 3.16.
He eternally existed. Jesus is not created.
The Son of God was not created. He's not just a manifestation of who God is.
Jesus was here at the very beginning.
In the beginning was the word the Bible says. God gave his only begotten Son.
Why? Because Jesus Christ he already existed.
Then it says that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Whosoever means
anybody. So that includes the person that does not repent of their sins
but believes on Jesus Christ. They would receive everlasting life. So if there's somebody
who's a drug dealer
and you know they're running around on their wife, they're a bad parent,
but they hear the message of salvation and they believe it, but they're not willing to
change their actions.
They're not willing to quit being a drug dealer. They're not willing to change the
turn from their sins.
If they truly believe, they will be saved the Bible says. Because
whosoever believeth in him. Anybody that believes. Now
people go wrong on this because they'll meet somebody who says they believe in
Jesus.
Well look everybody says they believe Jesus existed but
the Bible's very clear that you have to understand that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that it's a free
gift in his everlasting life.
So a lot of people, they might believe Jesus existed, they might believe in God. It doesn't mean that
they're trusting what Jesus Christ did for their salvation.
But the Bible does say whosoever believeth. So if someone truly does believe,
they will receive everlasting life. Now here's the thing.
Since we receive everlasting life by believing according to the Bible, when do we
receive everlasting life?
Do we receive it at the end of our life? Like the Catholics and a lot of these religions
would say that we can't know if we're going to heaven until the very end.
Or do we receive it the moment we believe on Jesus Christ?
We receive it the moment we believe on Jesus Christ because that's how we
receive
everlasting life by believing.
Whosoever believeth. And so what receives everlasting life? Is it
our body or is it our spirit, our soul?
Well it's going to be our soul that receives everlasting life, not our body.
Now if it's everlasting, it must last forever. Now remember the Bible says in Revelation 20,
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. So spending forever in hell is not life. It's death.
Okay? So when God says that your soul receives everlasting life,
that's a promise that you'll never go to hell. So the moment you believe,
you spiritually receive life and that's a promise you're going to go to heaven, you're
never going to go
to hell. It's everlasting life. Here's the thing. In John 3 16, it does not say everlasting life
as long as you don't commit a bad sin like murder. It doesn't say everlasting life
as long as you don't commit a bad sin like suicide. He says it's everlasting life.
If a person committed suicide, they killed their body.
They didn't kill their soul. Or our bodies don't have everlasting life. They're going to die one day.
But the Bible is very clear that when you believe on Jesus, your soul receives everlasting life.
And that's a promise you're going to go to heaven when you die. Because spending forever in hell
is not life. Spending forever in hell
is death, according to the Bible. So John 3 16,
it's honestly, you know, one of the greatest verses or maybe the greatest verse in the entire Bible.
And it's packed full of information. And it's just very clear in that verse that this is the message
of salvation for everyone in the entire world. It's not about us giving our life to God or repenting
of our sins, but it's about us believing on Jesus, that God the Father sent God the Son to be the
Savior of the world, that when we believe, we receive everlasting life and that salvation is going
to last forever. Thank you and God bless.