John 3:18

Joh_3:18

He that believeth on Him is not condemned

A real acquittal

In the reign of George III.

the son of a member of this Church lay under sentence of death for forgery. Dr. Rippon, after incredible exertions, obtained a promise that this sentence should be remitted. By a singular occurrence the present senior deacon learned that the reprieve had not been received, and the unhappy prisoner would have been executed had not Dr. Rippon gone posthaste to Windsor, obtained an interview with the king in his bed-chamber, and received from that monarchs own hand a copy of that reprieve, which had been negligently put aside by a thoughtless officer. I charge you, doctor, said His Highness, to make good speed. Trust me, sire, for that, said he; and he returned to London only just in time, for the prisoner was being marched, with many others, to the scaffold. That pardon might have been given, and yet the man might have been executed. But, blessed be God, our non-condemnation is an effectual thing. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Faith must rest on Christ

Not long ago a man said to me, I cannot believe. Whom? I asked. He stammered, and again said, I cannot believe. I said, Whom? Well, he said, I cant believe. Whom? I asked again. At last he said, I cannot believe myself. Well, you dont need to. You do not need to put any confidence in yourself. The less you believe in yourself the better. (D. L. Moody.)

Believing the one step into the kingdom of God

I am told that at Rome, if you go up a few steps on your hands and knees, that is nine years out of purgatory. If you take one step now you are out of purgatory for time and eternity. You used to have two steps into glory--out of self into Christ, out of Christ into glory. But there is a shorter way now with only one step--out of self into glory, and you are saved. May God help you to take the step now! Flee, my friends, to-night to Calvary, and get under the shadow of the cross! (D. L. Moody.)

The doom of unbelievers

I recollect how those words condemned already rang in my ears, as I should think the bells of St. Sepulchres used to sound in the ears of the condemned in Newgate, warning them that the time was come to go out upon the scaffold. When the shadow of eternal wrath falls upon the heart, nothing worse can be imagined; for the conscience bears sure witness that God is just when He judges, condemns, and punishes. When a man feels the shadow of death upon him, infidel arguments are silenced, self-conceited defences are banished, and the heart consents to the justice of the law which declares, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Neglect is ruinous

Neglect is enough to ruin a man. A man who is in business need not commit forgery or robbery to ruin himself; he has only to neglect his business, and his ruin is certain. A man who is lying on a bed of sickness need not cut his throat to destroy himself; he has only to neglect the means of restoration, and he will be ruined. A man floating in a skiff above Niagara need not move an oar, or make an effort to destroy himself; he has only to neglect using the oar at the proper time, and he will certainly be carried over the cataract. Most of the calamities of life are caused by simple neglect. Let no one infer, therefore, that because he is not a drunkard, or an adulterer, or a murderer, that therefore he will be saved. Such an inference would be as irrational as it would be for a man to infer that, because he is not a murderer, his farm will produce a harvest; or that, because he is not an adulterer, therefore his merchandise will take care of itself. (A. Barnes.)

Believing is laying hold on Christ

Mark you, said a pious sailor, when explaining to a shipmate at the wheel, mark you, it isnt breaking off swearing and the like; it isnt reading the Bible, nor praying, nor being good; it is none of these; for even if they would answer for the time to come, theres still the old score; and how are you to get over that? It isnt anything that you have done or can do; its taking hold of what Jesus did for you; its forsaking your sins, and expecting the pardon and salvation of your soul, because Christ let the waves and billows go over Him on Calvary. This is believing, and believing is nothing else. (New Cyclopaedia of Anecdote.)

Not condemned, and condemned already

I. THE BELIEVER NOT CONDEMNED.

1. Christ has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

2. Faith in Christ identifies us with His sacrifice.

3. Identification with the sacrifice of Christ removes all personal guilt.

4. So the believer is not regarded or dealt with by God as a sinner. He is not condemned

(1) by God;

(2) by the law;

(3) by Himself: remorse subsides, fear vanishes.

II. THE UNBELIEVERS ALREADY CONDEMNED.

1. What does unbelief seem to do?

(1) It despises Gods unspeakable gift as superfluous, or insufficient, or comparatively unimportant.

(2) It dishonours the Son of God Himself.

(3) It refuses to listen even to Gods testimony concerning His Son.

2. The cause of unbelief must be evil, and what is evil is foolish.

3. The nature of unbelief.

(1) It is sin both in the spirit and in the letter (1Jn_3:23).

(2) It is the greatest folly (Act_4:12).

4. The doom of unbelief (Mar_16:16; Pro_1:34-36; Mat_11:23; Luk_12:47; Heb_10:29). This doom is confirmed by the conscience of the unbeliever. (S. Martin.)

Condemned already

The condemnation here spoken of is not of the judge but of the architect. It is a customary thing to appoint a committee to examine a bridge or a building, but if either is condemned as unfit for use, the architect merely proclaims that repair is needed: he refers to the past, not to the future. He says, not that they are to be destroyed, but that he will not guarantee them for a single moment, that the hall or building is not safe for a meeting-place, and that the bridge is not fit to he a vehicle of commerce between man and man. The whole word lies in the word already. Some here may have read that wonderful story of George Eliots, Daniel Deronda, and remember the marvellous character in it, Mordecai, who, by the mysticism of his mind, is represented as having gone back. He became possessed with the idea that he was a bridge over which the whole world was passing; he felt the feet trampling over his life, and they weighed him down with agony, Never was Mordecai so little of the madman as when he possessed that thought. Whether we realize it or not, the idea is true. Every one is a bridge for the whole world. The world would not have been the same if you bad not lived, and what is that but saying you are a means of transport for the generations? Therefore it is of the more value that some are labelled, Condemned already; to hear a voice warning us back from the gilded parapet, from the painted structure, from the gaudy edifice; for the frail planks are ready to fall into the mighty cauldron, seething below. Stand back till the rotten materials are renewed and welded together. (G. Matheson, D. D.)

Faith

A person who had noticed a flower of a very rare kind growing on a narrow ledge on the face of a precipitous rock, was very desirous to gain possession of it. There was no possibility of reaching it except by a person being let down from the top suspended by a rope. The person interested engaged a boy of the neighbourhood, and brought him to the spot for this purpose. But the boy, when he saw the situation of the flower, hesitated. His employer tried to tempt him by the offer of a larger reward, but still he hesitated. At last, when a very considerable sum was named, he turned to the gentleman, and said, Yes, I will get it, if I may fetch my brother to hold the rope. Here is an example of implicit trust consciously exercised under extraordinary circumstances. (A. J. Parry.)

Salvation through union with Christ

In primitive times there was a law or custom that if a man or woman would consent to marry, under the gallows, a person condemned to death, the criminal would thereby be saved from execution. There are instances on record of this custom having been carried out. We have here a faint picture of the grand truths of the text. The sinner is condemned already, is under sentence of death, but Christ consents to raise him into union with Himself, and so thereby deliver him from his terrible doom, but faith working through love must be the bond of this mystical union. And this faith regenerates the man. By it the greatest sinner is transformed into a saint. (A. J. Parry.)

The great alternative

Let us consider, then, this sin of unbelief, and the two reasons, furnished by my text, for its being made the ground of condemnation.

I. First of all, in regard to the sin itself, you will notice how entirely everything is made to hinge on the fact of a mans believing or his not believing. The difference between these two is all the difference between condemnation and acquittal. Doubtless it was well for Nicodemus, during whose interview with our Lord the statement of my text was uttered, that the issue should be narrowed to so definite a point. It was well he should know that however far he might be inclined to go in his acknowledgment of Jesus, nothing short of personal trust in Him as his Messias would suffice. Nor is it enough, to make a man a Christian, that he accepts, in a general way, the teaching of Scripture, and seeks to bring his life into accord with the Divine commands. There must be something much more precise and radical than this. There needs an uprooting of the life out of its old soil, a transplanting of it into new conditions, the committal of your whole nature into the hands of a Divine Person, out of whose deep inexhaustible being it shall henceforward draw its succour and support. And if this be wanting, then all is wanting. Whatever your connection with Christianity may have done for you, if it has failed to connect you with Him it has failed of the one thing it seeks to accomplish. It may have begotten within you anxious thoughts and surmises about its mysteries. If your convictions of guilt have not persuaded you to have recourse to the great Pardoner and Purifier of sinners, then they have failed of their marl;. He that believeth not, whether he be serious or careless, whether he be the profane scoffer or the regular church-goer, is condemned already. Notice particularly, I pray you, the force of that word already. Sentence is not suspended till it be seen whether you succeed in attaining a certain pitch of moral excellence or fall below it. It is not unfixed and unsettled till the end of your life, and then for the first time shaped into a verdict. Then it will only be revealed and made manifest. Then it will only be pronounced and read aloud from the page of that book on which it now stands recorded. Already you are condemned if you do not believe in the only-begotten Son.

II. I pass on now to consider why unbelief should be made the ground of condemnation. Two reasons are given.

1. The first is, because it involves rejection of the only-begotten Son of God. He came, as we have seen, not to condemn men, but to save men who were condemned already. And His coming was not one of a number of similar expedients, that had been tried before. To reject Him, then, is to reject the only possible means of escape from a doomed state. It is to remain separate and apart from God, that is, in a condition of death and condemnation. If you can find any sin, or ingrained force of habit, which

He cannot conquer and break, then you may hesitate to appeal to Him for help. But the fact of His Divine Sonship precludes all this. It is important to notice here the turn that takes place at this point in our Lords reasoning. He wishes to bring out the personal responsibility of each individual. The unbeliever is condemned, not because he is involved in the sinfulness that is common to humanity, but because of his unbelief; that is to say, not because of his sharing a guilt which was brought upon him by the offence of another, but in virtue of his own deliberate deed--because he hath not believed. It has been a matter of conscious choice with him. He has had the alternative placed before him, and he has preferred to be without Christ and perish, rather than take refuge in His grace. Now, this is true of every unbeliever. And if you are not receiving and trusting Him you are choosing to reject Him.

2. The second reason specified for the condemnation attached to unbelief is, that it involves the greatest immorality. It is a very common impression that unbelief leaves a man no worse than it found him. Other sins may render him an object of suspicion. Untruthfulness may strip his statements of credibility. Fraud may exclude him from the dealings of honourable men. Excess in eating or drinking may brutalize him, and make him an unsteady customer in business. But he may be as good for all practical purposes whether he believes or not. That is a matter confined to the sphere of opinion, and need not affect his actions, to any appreciable extent. A creed does not make a Christian, unless it be wedded to a life. And a true believer in Christ is different from other men by a vast difference, a difference that works through his whole nature, turning it in a new direction, and shaping it to a new end. Do not suppose that to believe in Him is a mere act of the intellect, and nothing more. If that were all you might do so or not do so, and the effects would never extend beyond your intellect, just as one may not be a whit the worse because he rejects some purely scientific or formal truth. Faith is not a mere assent to certain propositions. It is an act of the whole moral nature, closing with Christ for moral and spiritual ends. In coming to Him, then, you come that He may achieve within you that for which He came to you. You come that you may be pardoned and purified, that He may impart peace to your conscience, and touch you with the living power of His quickening Spirit. And when you refuse to come it is because you object to this process of renewal. And in refusing to be like Him you refuse to be like God, you show your deliberate preference for the evil which He hates. So that unbelief is the most terrible of all sins, the sin in which the innermost, deepest aversion of the heart to God comes to a head and acts. Having looked upon the light, and having looked also upon the darkness, and having wished that you might live in the sunshine, but wished also still more that you might abide in the shadow of some pet sin, or of some habit of self-righteousness, have you turned away, away from Christ, away from God, away from hope? Then do not disguise the reason from your eyes. Do not set it down to a mere exercise of intellect. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (G. Mornet, M. A.)

Unbelief arraigned and condemned

I. THE NATURE OF UNBELIEF.

1. A denying of the truth of the gospel.

2. A doubting or wavering uncertainty of mind about the truths of the gospel.

3. When, though a person may be convinced in his mind, by rational arguments, that the Bible is the Word of God, he does not fall in with the great design of the Scriptures by receiving Christ, and resting upon Him alone for salvation as He is there presented and discovered.

II. THE CAUSES OF UNBELIEF.

1. The devil has a great hand in it.

2. Ignorance.

3. Pride.

4. A pretended humility and self-denial is another great bar in the way of believing, to many; they thrust away Christ and the mercy of God from them, under a pretence that they are not fit for it.

5. A secret jealousy, as if God were not in good earnest with us, when He offers Christ and His salvation to us in the gospel.

III. THE SENTENCE.

1. Prove that the sentence is passed against the unbeliever. He that believes not in the Son shall not see life (Joh_3:36).

2. The unbeliever is condemned already.

(1) In the court of the law, as a covenant by which he is seeking to be justified and saved: There is one that accuseth you, even Moses Rom_3:19).

(2) The unbeliever is already condemned in the gospel court. The sentence passed against him in the court of the law is aggravated and heightened by his contempt of gospel grace (Heb_2:3; Heb_10:28-29).

(3) The unbeliever is condemned already in the court of his own conscience.

(4) The unbeliever is already condemned in the court of the Church; or, may I call it, in the ministerial court.

(5) The unbeliever is condemned in the court of the great God. Consider this, ye that forget God (Psa_50:22).

3. A few qualities of this sentence of condemnation passed against the unbelieving sinner.

(1) A most mature and deliberate sentence.

(2) A most righteous sentence.

(3) A most awful and terrible sentence.

(4) An irrevocable sentence.

Application:

1. See hence a very sufficient reason why ministers of the gospel do so much urge the necessity of faith.

2. See hence the miserable and mournful condition of the generality of gospel hearers; they are a company of condemned men, under sentence of death.

3. How ill-grounded the joy and triumph of a Christless, unbelieving sinner!

4. See hence how fitly the gospel is called a joyful sound (Psa_89:15).

5. It is every mans duty and interest to examine and try whether be be under this heavy sentence or not. (Pulpit Assistant.)

This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world

Gods condemnation of men

The first entrance of light produces two effects--it makes manifest and it separates. By this well-known result of the dawn we understand that when the Light that saves entered the world His appearance at the same time became the complete condemnation of men. But these words do not refer simply to the immediate effects of Christs advent. They contain a truth for all time.

I. THE PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE CONDEMNATION. On what ground does. God condemn humanity? It has been said that God deems men for evils which it was beyond their power to avoid; as saving some few, and sending the rest to perdition because he chooses to do so. Christ here affirms that God finally condemns men, not for being sinful, but for content to be sinful.

1. Contemplate sin as a power slumbering in human nature. It is there, even in the child. The most virtuously educated, when thrown suddenly into some unusual companionship, will show it. God cannot doom a man for sinful impulses which any temptation may draw forth.

2. Pass on to the rise of sin into conscious deeds. Has man power in himself to free himself from its slavery?

(1) Every act of sin darkens the light of conscience. God has given man a conscience whose eye is quick to detect evil; but the misery of sin is that the very first action begins to darken the light which was given to guard against sins blinding power.

(2) Every step decreases the power of resistance; for the longer a man lives in sin, the more deeply he becomes conscious of self-degradation. Destroy a mans self-respect, make him feel that his character is gone, and see how carelessly and recklessly he will act. If, then, sin has such a power, do you think that God finally condemns a man for being sinful? Is it not rather for being content to remain in sin, for loving darkness rather than light?

II. THE MANIFESTATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE IN THE COMING OF CHRIST. When the light came, every man who rejected Him proved his contentment in sin. Two things are requisite to prove this.

1. Man must be brought into a state in which he shall be able to choose deliberately between God and sin: and into this state the coming of Christ brings him. Through Christ the strongest and holiest powers--love, pity, sorrow act in mans nature and appeal to him to enter the light and liberty of the sons of God.

2. Man must show his contentment in sin, and thus doom himself. The rejection of Christ is utter self-condemnation.

(1) Within man is an evil power, and from that power Christ comes to deliver, but man chooses subjection to that power rather than deliverance.

(2) Behind man is a blackened past--man says I accept it; before man is an awful future springing out of his evil--man says I dare its doom: although Christ came to forgive the one and avert the other. (E. L. Hull.)

The cause of present and future condemnation

I. A FACT STATED. Light is come in the world.

1. The light of conscience which

(1) Condemns or approves now.

(2) Is prophetic of future acceptance or condemnation.

2. The light of nature.

(1) Astronomy teaches us the existence of an Almighty Creator.

(2) Microscopy reveals one infinite in resources.

(3) The wonderful order of nature shows one manifold in wisdom.

(4) The beneficence of providential arrangements exhibits one conspicuously good

3. The light of Divine revelation.

(1) Confirming the lessons of natural theology.

(2) Making known to us the provisions of redemption.

4. The light of the Holy Spirit.

(1) Enlightening the mind.

(2) Teaching the way of salvation.

(3) Guiding into all truth.

(4) Witnessing to our adoption.

5. The light of reason.

(1) To this faculty God directs His revelation.

(2) This faculty vindicates the claims of Christianity as consistent with the principles of human nature and the attributes of God.

II. MANS PERVERSENESS ILLUSTRATED. Men loved darkness rather than light. Darkness signifies ignorance and sin; light, knowledge, and purity. How strange the sinners infatuation.

1. Instead of paying attention to the inward monitor, he seeks its destruction.

2. Men walk about the temple of nature and admire its workmanship, but see no Supreme Being.

3. Men have the Word of God and treat it as a fable:

4. They resist to grieve the Holy Spirit.

5. They reject the great salvation.

III. THE REASON ASSIGNED FOR THIS MORAL OBLIQUITY. Because their deeds were evil.

1. Sin is not an accident of our lives.

2. Sin is the choice and love of our hearts.

IV. MANS CONSEQUENT CONDEMNATION.

1. Sinners are condemned in this life.

2. Sinners will be condemned in the life to come. (R. Sergeant.)

Love of darkness rather than light

When the Bastille was about to be destroyed a prisoner was brought out, who had long been lying in one of its gloomy cells. Instead of joyfully welcoming his liberty, he entreated that he might be taken back to his dungeon. It was so long since he had seen the light that his eye could not endure the light of the sun. Besides this, his friends were all dead, he had no home, and his limbs refused to move. His chief desire now was that he might die in the dark prison where so long he had been a captive. (W. Denton.)

Light come into the world

This is one of the most important announcements ever made in a sinful world, and to lost mankind.

I. LET US EXAMINE THE ASSERTION, that--Light is come into the world. It is a strong and beautiful metaphor, signifying knowledge--salvation--happiness.

1. It is revelation. It dawned on Adam, rose upon the patriarchs and prophets--but has arrived at noonday by Christ and His apostles.

2. What it reveals.

II. THE WORLD IS REPRESENTED AS IN A STATE OF DARKNESS. It may have natural light and intellectual light--but it is in moral darkness.

1. What this darkness is. Ignorant of God as the true God--ignorance of sin and guilt of sin.

2. This darkness I preferred. Sinners avoid the means of conviction--are afraid of the light-neglect the word, the house, and the service of God.

III. THE REASON WE DARKNESS IS PREFERRED.

1. The innate love of sin. It is their element--the delight.

2. They find ease in sin. No alarms--conscience lulled.

3. The few rays of light that do occasionally break in are unwelcome and painful. They excite suspicion and fear.

4. If the light were admitted it would require an abandonment of evil practices which are pleasant; hence darkness is preferred because it is more congenial with sin.

IV. THIS PREFERENCE OF DARKNESS IS THE OCCASION OF AN AWFUL CONDEMNATION.

1. God condemns all that refuse the light He has condescended to impart. He will send on such strong delusions, that they should believe a lie.

2. Christ condemns all that refuse His light.

3. Unbelievers will condemn themselves in retirement, on a sick bed, and in a dying hour.

4. All will condemn them at the judgment because they loved darkness, not for want of light, but because they hated it: preferred sin and darkness, not from force or necessity, but from the love of it.

Application:

1. Consider the awful state of sinners under the light of the gospel. Their greater light exposes to a greater condemnation. Not like heathens.

2. Their condemnation will be final--eternal.

3. The condemnation is now come, but not the execution of the sentence, therefore there is yet time for repentance.

4. The Redeemer waits to translate us out of darkness into His marvellous Heb_10:29). (The Evangelist.)

The test of condemnation--loving darkness rather than light

What is a test of this condemnation? Our Lords words are so very liberal that I would not have used them if He had not; I would have been afraid of the presbyteries. He does not place the test upon inadequate belief or doctrine, or even on deficient morality, but on deadness of aspiration. This is the condemnation, that men have loved darkness rather than the light. But that alone does not prove unfitness; our Lords liberality is not yet exhausted. There is another condition--the light must have come into the world. If you get up at midnight and enter your dark sitting-room the mirror that was wont to flash in the daytime will show no light. Why dont you smash the mirror? It seems to love the darkness, and why? Because its light had not yet come. And there are hundreds in this city in precisely the same position. They are dark because no light has come to them. Suppose I ask you if you have the spirit of a poet, and you say, Oh no, I havent; I never wrote a line of poetry in my life. I once tried and failed miserably. I have no idea of metre or scansion. But I take you to the top of a mountain when the light is coming, when the morning is dawning and nature is about to drench the dark world in a liquid bath of gold; and I watch the gleam of enthusiasm brighten over your countenance as from your heart rise the words, Oh, it is beautiful! Then, my brother, I know you are a poet, though Tennyson be ignorant of you and Wordsworth acknowledge you not. So if you want to know if you are within the pale of Christianity stand on the mountain when Jesus passes by, and should you feel one fond desire, one punting aspiration which makes you cry, O to be like Thee, to be near Thee I then, though your Thirty-Nine Articles be reduced to ten, though your morality lags faintly behind, by that thrill of aspiration in your heart you will know you have seen the Bright and Morning Star and that your light has come. How could it be possible for any man or woman to love darkness rather than light? The answer to that, too, is here, Because their deeds are evil; and this condition comes at the end of a long process. No man ever stretched his hands to Satan and prayed, O Prince of the Power of the Air, I want to be bad, to break hearts, to bring tears to loving eyes, to cultivate malice and envy and all uncharitableness. No, he began by evil deeds, and his beautiful aspirations continued to survive long after. I have heard the birds singing in October, and they seemed to say, It was once summer, it is summer no longer. It is a survival of old culture and the golden summer-time. Young man, listen to them, and go back. I knew a youth, brimming over with music, poetry, and aesthetic culture, but he returned, all his high aspirations gone through a life of intemperance and debauchery. Sin had taken away the aesthetic glow and his power of admiration. Is there any hope, then, for those who have got to this stage, who have put out their eyes? Yes, by retracing their steps over past deeds, never seeking to go into the past but keeping their hands from past sins in the future; and the beauty will come back in the way by which it went. In the words of the Israelitish Psalmist, the first joy comes back after a life of abstinence. The beauty of old days returns when in Gods law he doth meditate day and night. The 33rd of Isaiah is grander still, telling us we must begin by the life of self-denial if we would see the glory of the Lord. By traversing the narrow defiles of duty, the morning at last shines. A few more strokes of the oar, a little more straining of the muscles, a few more struggles against the angry foe, and, courage! you will see the land at last. (G. Matheson, D. D.)

Ignorance may be wilful

There is a sort of ignorance, which is not an ignorance of an empty understanding, but of a depraved heart; such an ignorance as does not only consist in a bare privation, but in a corrupt disposition; where the understanding is like that sort of blind serpents, whose blindness is attended with much venom and malignity. This was such a blindness as struck the Sodomites: there was darkness in their eyes, and withal villany in their hearts. (Dr. South.)

Refusing the physician

Two gentlemen were fellow-passengers in a vessel bound for a distant port. One was in vigorous health, and the other emaciated with disease, and manifesting premonitory symptoms of a speedy dissolution. He was young and intelligent, but had not made what he knew to be the necessary preparation for the event which was rapidly approaching. His fellow-passenger, as they were drawing near the port whither they were bound, advised him to consult an eminent physician who resided there. No, he replied, I shall not consult him. He was asked, Why? To which he answered, It is not because I do not entertain the highest opinion of his skill, but he will honestly tell me that my disease is incurable, that I must die; and I do not wish to receive the announcement from such a source. It is just so with the multitudes who know that they must die, and that they are totally unprepared for the event. They are afraid to consult the great Physician, lest they should be told the worst of their own case. In opposition to their better judgment, they endeavour to hide from their eyes the doom which awaits them. Their deception is voluntary; it is of their own choosing. They wish it to be so, and therefore do they avoid the means of detecting and exposing it.

It is madness to refuse Christ

Suppose I was going over London Bridge, and saw a poor miserable beggar, bare-footed, coatless, hatless, with no rags hardly to cover his nakedness, and right behind him, only a few yards, there was the Prince of Wales with a bag of gold, and the poor beggar was running away from him as if he was running away from a demon, and the Prince of Wales was hallooing after him, Oh, beggar, here is a bag of gold! Why, we should say the beggar had gone mad, to be running away from the Prince of Wales with the bag of gold. Sinner, that is your condition. The Prince of Heaven wants to give you eternal life, and you are running away from Him. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. (D. L. Moody.)

Light and liberty

Going to Helena I saw piles of boxes and goods and all manner of things on the landing, and I said to the superintendent, Do the slaves buy as much as used to be bought for them by their masters? A great deal more. Well, what things do they buy? Buy? Looking-glasses and candles. Looking-glasses, of course: candles, however? said I. What do they want with candles? In the old slave-times a slave was never allowed to have a lighted candle in his cabin after it was dark; nothing, unless it was a fire, was allowed, and the candles became in their eyes the signal of liberty; and the moment that they were free they said, Give us light. (H. W. Beecher.)

Two great wonders

There are two wonders, one from above, the other from the depths of Satan: God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son--and the world so loved darkness that it rejected the only-begotten Son of God who was given for it. (R. Besser, D. D.)

The action of light

The world of darkness is a world of false terrors and confused appearances. In the night, old and familiar objects fake new forms; common things seem to stand out like strange dangers in our way; well-known things are changed; and we cannot distinguish shadows from realities, or the dangerous from the secure. But the first morning beam that pierces the dark world restores the confusion to order; the shadowy perils fly, and the strange night-world disappears. That first beam manifests things in their reality, and by making manifest it separates the false from the true. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

The blessedness of light

Imagine a traveller passing through a wild and unfrequented country. He misses his road. Night overtakes him. The storm rages; winds howl around him; the rain descends in torrents; thunders break in loud and terrific peals; whilst lightning fires occasionally discover dangerous precipices, rendering his condition imminently perilous. At length a faint but steady light comes gleaming from a distance; he follows the light, he treads the bright pathway, it leads to a human habitation--to shelter, warmth, and security. Sinner, you are that traveller. Human life is a wilderness. You are in the night of sin; wandering on the dark mountains of transgression; in imminent danger. The next step you may be irrevocably lost. But light has come into the world. Oh follow it! It will lead you to peace, security, and heaven. (R. Sergeant.)

The wilful folly of rejecting the light

None of us can prevent the sun from shining, but all of us can prevent the sun from shining on us. The great orb of day still floods the earth with undimmed lustre; but we can shut ourselves away from his beams, in caves and holes of the earth. So we may shut ourselves away from that Sun of the soul who lighteth every man that cometh into the world. We cannot make God less loving, less merciful, less gracious than He is; but we can stand apart from that love, that mercy, that grace. Behold the Lords hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated--are separating--between you and your God, and your sins have hidHis face from you, that he will not hear. Would you have the Sun shine on you? Tear down the wall and roof of separation which you have built between you and him. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The doctrine of responsibility for unbelief, Joh_3:18-21.

Jesus here explains to Nicodemus how men are guilty for rejecting him. 1. His coming into the world is a great, world-wide, glorious fact, too important to be ignored unless wilfully. 2. His coming, like the entrance of light into the world, evidences itself by its own nature. 3. Love of evil prevents men’s accepting the good; they prefer the dark and hate the light because they prefer the evil. 4. The experience of the light is from voluntarily preferring good to evil. Hence men reject Christ and religion because they are evil; and they are evil because they reject Christ and religion. Irreligion and wickedness are one. See our notes on Mar_16:16.

18. Believeth on him—This belief must not be a half belief, intellectually, from miracles, such as Nicodemus had. In addition there must be, with faith in his atonement, that efficient act of faith by which the man is born again, before he can see the kingdom of God.

Not believed… Son of God— Christ’s coming was the act of God; it was an act of the most stupendous character. It obligates man to God to a most intense attention. If, however, whole bodies of men, whole communities or whole nations, combine to neglect, to ignore, and then to deny it, keeping each other in countenance by the universality of that denial, they stand condemned. If God sent his Son into the world duly authenticated, man’s duty is to respect and accept that coming.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:18 As light penetrates and exposes the world’s darkness, God’s judgment on the world has already begun. Those who see this light and recognize the tragedy of their own situation have the responsibility of believing in God’s . . . Son (3:16-17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 3:18. Κέκριται, is judged [condemned]) This word is employed κατʼ ἄνθρωπον, in condescension to human notions. He who does not believe, already has that [judgment, condemnation], which he falsely supposes the Son of God brings upon [into] the world.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_3:18. More exact explanation of the negative part of Joh_3:17. Mankind are either believing, and are thus delivered from condemnation (comp. Joh_5:24), because if the Messiah had come to judge the world, He would only have had to condemn sin; but sin is forgiven to the believer, and he already has everlasting ζωή;or they are unbelieving, so that condemnation has already been passed upon them in idea (as an internal fact),[165] because they reject the Only-begotten of God, and there is no need of a special act of judgment to be passed on them on the part of the Messiah; their own unbelief has already passed upon them the sentence of condemnation. He who does not believe, already has hell on his neck, Luther; he is αὐτοκατάκριτος, Tit_3:11. Joh_3:18 does not speak of the last judgment which shall be the solemn and ultimate completion of this temporal judgment,[166] but it does not call it in question, in opposition to the Jewish Messianic belief (Hilgenfeld). See on Joh_5:28-30, Joh_12:31. Well says Euthymius Zigabenus: ἡ ἀπιστία κατέκρινε πρὸ τῆς κατακρίσεως. Comp. Joh_3:36.

πεπίστευκεν] has become a believer (and remains so); the subjective negation in the causal clause (contrary to the older classical usage), as often in Lucian, etc., denoting the relation as one presupposed in the view of the speaker. See Herm. ad Viger. p. 806; Winer, p. 442 [E. T. p. 602]. Otherwise in 1Jn_5:10.

τοῦ μονογ. υἱοῦ τ. θεοῦ] very impressively throwing light upon the ἤδη κέκριται, because bringing clearly into view the greatness of the guilt.

[165] Hence it is clear that the signification of κρίνειν as meaning condemnatory judgment is correct, and not the explanation of Weiss, Lehrbegriff, p. 184, according to whom the judgment here means in general only a decision either for life or death. In that case, not οὐ κρίνεται, but ἤδη κέκριται, must apply also to the believer. But this very distinction, the οὐ κρίνεται used of the believer and the ἤδη κέκριται of the unbeliever, places the explanation of a condemnatory κρίνειν beyond doubt. This is also against Godet, who with reference to the believer hits upon the expedient of supposing that the Lord here anticipates the judgment (viz. the constater létat moral). But according to the words of Jesus, this suggestion would apply rather to the case of the unbeliever.

[166] This temporal judgment of the world is the worlds history, the conclusion of which is the last judgment (Joh_5:27), which, however, must not (as Schleier-macher, L. J. 355) be dissipated by means of this text into a merely natural issue of the mission of Jesus. See on Joh_5:28. See also Groos in the Stud. u. Krit. 1868, p. 251.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 3:18 . ὁ πιστεύων … τοῦ θεοῦ . Expansion of previous verse. God sent His Son not to judge but to save; and whoso accepts the son and His revelation is not judged. It is no longer “every Jew,” nor “every one chosen by God,” but every one that believeth. All here is spiritual. Although judgment was not the object it is the necessary result of Christ’s presence in the world. But it is a judgment very different from that which the Jews expected. It is determined by the attitude towards Christ, and this again, as afterwards shown, is determined by the moral condition of the individual. ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται , “he that believeth not is already judged”: not only is left under the curse of his own evil actions; but, as the next clause shows, lies under the condemnation of not believing. ἤδη κέκριται , he is already judged: it is not some future assize he doubtfully awaits and which may or may not convict. He is judged, and on a ground which to John seems to indicate monstrous depravity, ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν … τοῦ θεοῦ . Not to perceive the glory of this august Being whom John so adored, not to receive the revelation made by the Only Begotten, is proof not merely of human infirmity and passion, but of wickedness chosen and preferred in presence of revealed goodness.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 18. “He that believeth on him is not judged; but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only- begotten Son of God.”

The idea of this verse is as follows: “I do not judge any one, for the reason that he who believes is not judged, and he who does not believe has already judged himself.” As has been well said: “Here is justification by faith, and condemnation by unbelief.” Jesus does not judge the believer, because he who accepts the salvation which He brings is no longer a subject of judgment. Meyer, Hengstenberg, etc., and our translators [A. V.] render the word κρίνειν here also by condemn. Weiss, Keil, Westcott acknowledge that this sense is arbitrary.

The passage in Joh 5:24 shows that it is contrary to the true thought of Jesus. To judge is, after a detailed investigation of the acts, to pronounce on their author a judicial sentence deciding as to his innocence or his guilt. Now the Lord declares that the believer, being already introduced into eternal life, will not be subjected to an investigation of this kind. He will appear before the tribunal, indeed, according to Rom 14:10; 2Co 5:10, but to be recognized as saved and to receive his place in the kingdom (Matthew 25). If faith withdraws man from the judgment, there is in this nothing arbitrary. This follows precisely from the fact that, through the interior judgment of repentance which precedes and follows faith, the believer is introduced into the sphere of Christian sanctification which is a continual judgment of oneself, and consequently the free anticipation of the judgment (1Co 11:31).

The present οὐ κρίνεται, is not judged, is that of the idea. Jesus does not judge the unbeliever, because he who refuses to believe finds his judgment in this very refusal. The word ἤδη, already, and the substitution of the perfect (κέκριται) for the present (κρίνεται) show clearly that Jesus is thinking here of a judgment of a spiritual nature, which is exercised here below on him who rejects the salvation offered in Christ. Such a man has pronounced on himself, by his unbelief, and without any need on the part of Jesus of intervening judicially, his own sentence. It is self-evident that this sentence is a sentence of condemnation. But the word does not say this. The meaning is: The one is not to be judged; the other is judged already; consequently, the Son does not have to intervene personally in order to judge.

The use here of the subjective negative (the first μή) belongs, according to Baumlein, to the decline of the language. According to Meyer, this form has, on the contrary, its regular sense: in not believing,” or “because he does not believe.” The title of only-begotten Son sets forth the guilt of those who reject such a being and the work which He accomplishes. The more glorious the Saviour is, the more grave a matter it is to turn away from Him. The more holy He is, divine in His entire manifestation, the more does unbelief towards Him bear witness of a profane sentiment. His name: the revelation which He gives us of His essence (see Joh 1:12). The perfect μὴ πεπίστευκεν, has not believed, denotes not the act of not believing, but thestate which results from it. “Because he is not in the favorable position of a man who has given his confidence to such a being.” The μή is used here as among the later Greeks (e.g., Lucian) to denote the cause in the thought of the speaker. The moral separation between men, described in Joh 3:18, constitutes the judgment in its essence; this is the idea developed in Joh 3:19-21. By the position which men take with regard to Jesus, they class themselves as reproved (Joh 3:19-20) or saved (Joh 3:21). Thus far, Jesus has proved that He does not judge, but He does this by contrasting with the outward judgment, which was expected, a moral judgment of which no one dreamed. This judgment it is which He now explains.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

is not condemned--Having, immediately on his believing, "passed from death unto life" (Joh 5:24).

condemned already--Rejecting the one way of deliverance from that "condemnation" which God gave His Son to remove, and so wilfully remaining condemned.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. He that believeth] As stated before on Joh 3:16.

Is not condemned] For past sin, that being forgiven on his believing in Christ.

But he that believeth not] When the Gospel is preached to him, and the way of salvation made plain.

Is condemned already] Continues under the condemnation which Divine justice has passed upon all sinners; and has this superadded, He hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God, and therefore is guilty of the grossest insult to the Divine majesty, in neglecting, slighting, and despising the salvation which the infinite mercy of God had provided for him.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. He who believeth in him is not condemned. When he so frequently and so earnestly repeats, that all believers are beyond danger of death, we may infer from it the great necessity of firm and assured confidence, that the conscience may not be kept perpetually in a state of trembling and alarm. He again declares that, when we have believed, there is no remaining condemnation, which he will afterwards explain more fully in the Fifth Chapter. The present tense — is not condemned — is here used instead of the future tense — shall not be condemned — according to the custom of the Hebrew language; for he means that believers are safe from the fear of condemnation.

But he who believeth not is condemned already This means that there is no other remedy by which any human being can escape death; or, in other words, that for all who reject the life given to them in Christ, there remains nothing but death, since life consists in nothing else than in faith. The past tense of the verb, is condemned already, (ἤδη κέκριται,) was used by him emphatically, (ἐμφατικῶς,) to express more strongly that all unbelievers are utterly ruined. But it ought to be observed that Christ speaks especially of those whose wickedness shall be displayed in open contempt of the Gospel. For though it is true that there never was any other remedy for escaping death than that men should betake themselves to Christ, yet as Christ here speaks of the preaching of the Gospel, which was to be spread throughout the whole world, he directs his discourse against those who deliberately and maliciously extinguish the light which God had kindled.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) He that believeth on him is not condemned.—Again, judged is better than “condemned.” There is, moreover, an important change of tense in this verse, which the Authorised version does not mark clearly. He that believeth on Him, is not judged: but he that believeth not hath been (and is) already judged.

Because he hath not believed.—The human spirit fulfils the end of its being, and finds its highest good, in communion with God. It cannot, then, fail to recognise and believe in a revelation of God. This revelation has been made in the only way in which it can be fully made (comp. Joh_1:18), in the person of the only begotten Son. The very fact that He is rejected is the judgment of the spirit which rejects. It has lost by neglect its power to perceive, or by will it hides itself from God. “I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Gen_3:10).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. is not condemned … is condemned already] Better, is not judged … hath been judged already. The change of tense from present to perfect must be preserved. Unbelievers have no need to be sentenced by the Messiah; their unbelief is of itself their sentence. The next verse explains how this is. ‘Judge’ and ‘judgment’ are among S. John’s characteristic words.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this is the condemnation,.... Of him that believes not in Christ; that is, this is the matter and cause of his condemnation, and by which it is aggravated, and appears to be just:

that light is come into the world: by which is meant, not natural or corporeal light; though natural darkness is, by some, preferred to this, being more convenient for their evil works; as by thieves, murderers, and adulterers: nor is the light of nature designed, with which every man is enlightened that comes into the world; which, though but a dim light, might be of more use, and service, than it is; and is often rejected, and rebelled against, by wicked men, and which will be the condemnation of the Heathen world: but rather the light of divine revelation, both in the law of God, and Gospel of Christ; especially the latter is here intended; and which, though so great a favour to fallen men, is despised, and denied by the sons of darkness: though it may be best of all to understand it of Christ himself, the light of the world, and who is come a light into it; see Joh 8:12, who may be called "light", because he has set revelation in its clearest and fullest light; he has declared the whole mind, and will of God concerning the affair of divine worship, and the business of salvation: grace, and truth, are come by him; the doctrines of grace, and the truths of the Gospel, are most clearly brought to light by him; the types, and shadows of the law are removed; and the promises, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, are most largely expounded by him, and most perfectly fulfilled in him: and besides; he is the author and giver of the light of grace, by which men see themselves to be what they are, lost and undone sinners; and see him to be the only able, willing, suitable, sufficient, and complete Saviour: and he it is that now gives the saints the glimpse of glory they have, and will be the light of the new Jerusalem, and the everlasting light of his people hereafter. He, by his incarnation, may be said to "come into the world" in general, which was made by him, as God; and as he was in it, as man; though he was not known by it as the God-man, Mediator, and Messiah: and particularly he came into the Jewish world, where he was born, brought up, conversed, lived, and died; and into the Gentile world, by the ministry of his apostles, whom he; sent into all the world, to preach the Gospel to every creature, and spread the glorious light of it in every place:

and men loved darkness rather than light: the Jews, the greater part of them, preferred the darkness of the ceremonial law, and the Mosaic dispensation, and even the traditions of their elders, before the clear Gospel revelation made by Christ Jesus; and the Gentiles also, for the most part, chose rather to continue in their Heathenish ignorance, and idolatry, and to walk in their own ways, and in the vanity of their minds, than to embrace Christ, and his Gospel, and submit to his ordinances, and appointments; and the generality of men, to this day, love their natural darkness, and choose to walk in it, and to have fellowship with the works of darkness, and delight in the company of the children of darkness, rather than follow Christ, the light of the world; receive his Gospel, and walk in his ways, in fellowship with his saints: the reason of all this is,

because their deeds were evil; which they chose not to relinquish; and Christ, his Gospel and ordinances are contrary to them; for the doctrine of the grace of God, which has appeared, and shone out in great lustre, and splendour, in the world, teaches men to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts; and therefore it is hated, and rejected, by men.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Ver. 18. Is condemned already] The sentence is passed, the halter about his neck; there wants no more than to turn him off the ladder of life, and he is gone for ever. In the meanwhile he hangs but by one rotten twined thread over hell fire.

Because he hath not believed] He saith not, because he hath committed adultery, murder. There is no righteousness now but of faith; no sin (saith one) but from unbelief; for thy sins against the law are not imputed unto thee, if thou do but believe the gospel. It is unbelief that shuts a man up close prisoner in the law’s dark dungeon, whence faith only can fetch us out, συγκεκλεισμενοι, Gal 3:23.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that believeth - He that has confidence in him; that relies on him; that trusts to his merits and promises for salvation. To believe on him is to feel and act according to truth that is, to go as lost sinners, and act toward him as a Saviour from sins; relying on him, and looking to him “only” for salvation. See the notes at Mar 16:16.

Is not condemned - God pardons sin, and delivers us from deserved punishment, because we believe on him. Jesus died in our stead; he suffered for us, and by his sufferings our sins are expiated, and it is consistent for God to forgive. When a stoner, therefore, believes on Jesus, he trusts in him as having died in his place, and God having accepted the offering which Christ made in our stead, as being an equivalent for our sufferings in hell, there is now no further condemnation, Rom 8:1.

He that believeth not - All who do not believe, whether the gospel has come to them or not. All people by nature.

Is condemned already - By conscience, by law, and in the judgment of God. God disapproves of their character, and this feeling of disapprobation, and the expression of it, is the condemnation. There is no condemnation so terrible as this - that God disapproves our conduct, and that he will express his disapprobation. He will judge according to truth, and woe to that man whose conduct God cannot approve.

Because - This word does not imply that the ground or reason of their condemnation is that they have not believed, or that they are condemned because they do not believe on him, for there are millions of sinners who have never heard of him; but the meaning is this: There is but one way by which men can be freed from condemnation. All people without the gospel are condemned. They who do not believe are still under this condemnation, not having embraced the only way by which they can be delivered from it. The verse may be thus paraphrased: “All people are by nature condemned. There is but one way of being delivered from this state by believing on the Son of God. They who do not believe or remain in that state are still condemned, for they have not embraced the only way in which they can be freed from it. Nevertheless, those to whom the gospel comes greatly heighten their guilt and condemnation by rejecting the offers of mercy, and trampling under foot the blood of the Son of God, Luk 12:47; Mat 11:23; Heb 10:29; Pro 1:24-30. And there are thousands going to eternity under this “double” condemnation:

1.For positive, open sin; and,

2.For rejecting God’s mercy, and despising the gospel of his Son. This it is which will make the doom of sinners in Christian lands so terrible.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Is not judged. He that believeth, viz. by a faith working through charity, is not judged; that is, is not condemned; but the obstinate unbeliever is judged; that is, condemned already, by retrenching himself from the society of Christ and his Church. (Challoner)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Whose firmly and steadily assenting to the propositions of the gospel, revealing Jesus Christ as the only and all sufficient Saviour, commits the care of his soul unto him trusting and hoping in him alone for eternal salvation, which no man can indeed do without doing what in him lieth to fulfil the condition upon which Christ hath promised life and salvation, that is, keeping the commandments of God, is exempted from condemnation by the law of grace. But he that believes not the doctrine of Christ, and does not upon the terms of the gospel receive him for his Saviour, is already condemned for his obstinate infidelity, which is the certain cause of damnation: as we say of one mortally wounded, that he is a dead man, though he breathes for a while; and we speak in the same manner of a malefactor, convicted and attainted of a capital crime, though the sentence be not executed; because their death is inevitable. The not believing in the only Son of God, who is able to save to the utmost all that regularly trust in him, is such a contempt of the merciful, all sufficient, and sole means of salvation, that it is absolutely necessary, and most just, that all those who refuse to be saved by him, should perish by themselves. From this scripture arise two questions: the first concerning the heathens, who never heard of Christ. The second concerning infants, who die before they come to years of knowledge. As to the former, the apostle hath determined, Rom 2:12, As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. There is the same reason for those who sin without the gospel; they shall not perish for not believing on him of whom they have not heard, Rom 10:14, but for not obeying such revelation of the Divine will as they had. The case of infants is excluded from this text (speaking only of adult persons). It is certain, that so many of them as belong to the election of grace shall he saved, and that by virtue of the blood of Christ; but which way God brings them to heaven is a secret to us. Some from this text have concluded, that unbelief is the only damning sin; which is no further true, than that no sin will damn that soul which shall truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Salvation is the Divine result of believing on him, and salvation lifts the saved man from the necessity of the judgment, of the moral discrimination which awaits every man, and is passed upon every man by his own conscience and by the providence of God. The word krinw does not necessarily mean "to condemn" (see ver. 17), and whensoever the unfavourable issue of judgment is emphatically referred to, then katakrinw is used. (Rom_2:1 Rom_8:3 1Co_11:32 Mat_27:3) Still, this first clause shows that the predominant sense in which it is used throughout the passage is condemnatory. He that believeth on himi.e. whoso submits and yields to the truth confessed and conspicuous in the Christ he who accepts the mission of the Logos, both before and after the Incarnation (see notes on Joh_1:12-14) is not judged. If there be a judgment, it is one of acquittal. In his case judgment is salvation, salvation is the judgment. Faith, affectionate confidence in the supreme Judge, transforms the judgment into mercy, anticipates the Divine and gracious result. But he that believeth not (subjective negative) has been already judged, and is now so adjudged (here the word seems necessarily to assume a condemnatory character) that he hath not believed on the Name of the only begotten Son of God. Such non-belief reveals insensibility to truth, indifference to the reality of things, unsusceptibility to the light, and a moral perversity which has been persisted in. The approach to such a one of the Eternal Logos did not move him, the unveiling of the Divine face did not awe him into reverence. The sin of his life had blinded his eyes, closed his ears, hardened his heart, and the consequence was that when the Name of the only begotten Son was made known to him, like all previous Divine self-revelations, it exercised no commanding influence upon him, no convincing power, no saving grace. To refuse Christ, to manifest unbelief under such circumstances, proves that the laws of Divine judgment which are always going on have already enacted themselves. He has been (and is) condemned. He is "judged already," and the unbelief is the judgment which the self-acting moral laws, or rather which the Logos actively at work in every human being, pronounces upon him. The manner in which any man receives Divine revelation is the judgment passed upon his entire life up to that moment by the unerring and infallible wisdom of the supreme Judge. The final judgment is thus anticipated, but it is not irreversible, and, should repentance and faith supervene by Divine grace on this stolid indifference and damnable unbelief, the once unbeliever will become the believer, the judgment upon whom is no more a judgment of condemnation, but one of life and peace. Nothing can indicate a more untractable, unspiritual, and carnal state than a refusal to admit so great and imposing a manifestation of the Divine nature as the Name of the only begotten Son of God.

Faith and judgment.

Man"s life is full of alternatives. Choice between different paths that offer themselves, often between two paths, determines the direction and the character of the journey. If it is so in the decision men form as to a profession, an abode, a friendship, etc., is it not also thus with regard to religion, with regard to the principle which shall govern our moral life and decide our lasting destiny? Immediately after propounding one of the fullest and riches statements of the gospel, our Lord reverts to the moral probation which is distinctive of human life, and which is only intensified by the privilege of bearing of and knowing himself. The question for those thus privileged is Shall they or shall they not believe on the Son of God?

I OUR JUDICIAL RELATION TO GOD NECESSARILY INVOLVES ONE OR OTHER OF TWO SENTENCES. Because he has devised and provided the gospel, God does not therefore cease to be a Judge, wise, holy, and just. As such he will pronounce upon all who are subject to his authority a sentence either of

(1) condemnation, which is the due of sin and the desert of sinners; or of

(2) acquittal, which proceeds from Divine grace, and which is the condition of true well being. This being the alternative, it is for us a question of supreme moment Can we in any way affect this sentence?

II OUR MORAL RELATION TO GOD DETERMINES OUR JUDICIAL RELATION. In other words, his sentence will be according to the attitude, so to speak, of our hearts. It is open to us:

1. To reject or disbelieve in Christ the Saviour. The "only begotten Son of God" claims our reverence and our faith. But the language of Jesus makes it evident that we may withhold what he claims; and to neglect and disregard is the same thing as to refuse and despise salvation. Such a choice is falling back upon our own deserts; and to appeal to justice is to court condemnation. Or we may:

2. Accept or put faith in Christ. Such a choice is opening the eye of the soul to the light that shines, and welcoming it and walking in it. This is to fall in with the gracious proposals of our heavenly Father, to obey the call to spiritual liberty and life. If it be said that God judges righteously according to the character of those who stand at his tribunal, this is admitted; but it should be observed that faith is the means of forgiveness, and forgiveness is the spring of obedience and of conformity to the mind and will of the All-holy.

III THE SENTENCE OF ACQUITTAL OR CONDEMNATION IS THEREFORE VIRTUALLY PRONOUNCED BY OURSELVES, AND THAT IN THIS PRESENT LIFE. There is an awful meaning in these words: "He that believeth not hath been judged already." Condemnation is virtually passed upon the unbelieving, even in this life; and it may be said that it is pronounced by themselves. This doctrine of Christ is in no way inconsistent with the scriptural declaration that there shall be a day in which God shall judge all men by Jesus Christ. But it reminds us of the far-reaching, the eternal influence of cur present decision, and bids us "flee from the wrath to come. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that believeth on him is not condemned - Is acquitted, is justified before God. The name of the only-begotten Son of God - The name of a person is often put for the person himself. But perhaps it is farther intimated in that expression, that the person spoken of is great and magnificent. And therefore it is generally used to express either God the Father or the Son.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He that

See, Joh 6:40; Joh 6:47; Rom 8:1

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The contrast between light and darkness:

v. 18. He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.

v. 19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

v. 20. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

v. 21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world, and yet the bulk of the world is condemned. This is neither the will nor the fault of Jesus, however, but that of the unbelievers themselves. The believer accepts the redemption of Christ, and thereby is saved from the judgment of damnation. Just as gaining mercy is a matter of God’s grace, so believing is a free gift of His hands. But though the same gift was gained for, and is offered to, the unbeliever, he refuses to believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And therefore this unbelief condemns him. By his unbelief he deliberately excludes himself from salvation, from eternal life. All men whom the judgment of condemnation strikes have only themselves to blame, since they refuse to accept the Redeemer and His atonement. Unbelief is thus the sin of sins, for it rejects the salvation which has been gained and is offered for all sins. There is a distinguishing mark, a touchstone, for all men in the fact that the true Light, Jesus the Savior, has come into the world, is now present before the eyes of men. Jesus was sitting before Nicodemus at that time, and He is present just as truly now, in His Gospel. But the majority of men did not, and still does not, pass the test. They find no pleasure in the Light nor in the illumination of His Gospel. They prefer the darkness of sin and unbelief. They have no love for the light and for the Author of light. They want nothing of Jesus the Savior. Their sin is no longer the result of ignorance, but of deliberate choice and preference. Their whole life and their works are evil, are the results of their love of darkness and its deeds. They are offered light, but they prefer to remain in darkness; they are offered salvation, but they prefer damnation. The unbelievers hate the light because their works are morally rotten, they will not bear exposure. Such is their dull, senseless, sullen objection to light that they shun it with all their might. They fear the revelation of their sinful, shameful, paltry, ugly, vulgar deeds and the subsequent reproof. They want to continue their base activity in murky darkness, where nothing of the radiance from above can reach them, as they think. It is a pity that men prefer their sin and its deeds even now, when Jesus has come to bring them deliverance from its bondage. This is a most impressive warning not to submit to the tyranny of sin, not to serve sin in any form. On the other hand, he that does the truth, that performs the deeds of truth, lives in accordance with the demands of purity, honesty, integrity, does the works that flow from a regenerated heart, such a one comes to the light.. He is glad to have his works revealed in order that they may speak for him. For they are in reality not his own, nor are they dune for his own glorification, but they are done and performed in God, who giveth both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Those are truly good works that are done in communion with God. The strength, the ability to do them must be found in God and come from God. They bear the divine character. It is impossible for an unregenerate person, for an un-believer, to perform good works. Truly good works can be done only by him in whom the Lord has kindled faith, who lives ill and with God. Note: This statement of Jesus is a strong argument for the performing of good works. God works faith, God gives strength to do truly good works, God has the glory for them, and this he shares with us by giving us an ever greater amount of light of understanding. "Now we, in our turn, may not remain without works, as the impudent heads say: Why, then I shall do no good work anymore that I may be saved. Yea, thou darest not do any more that serves for salvation; for forgiveness of sins, for the redemption of the conscience, thou hast enough in thy faith; but thy neighbor has not enough, him thou must also help. Therefore God also lets thee live, otherwise people would soon be compelled to take off thy head. But therefore livest thou that thou with life servest not thyself, but thy neighbor."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. He that believeth on him is not condemned. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Faith in Christ is essential to salvation, because it is the power that leads to obedience to him. Is condemned already. “He that believeth not shall be damned.” The unbeliever condemns himself. He is lost and refuses to be saved by Christ.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. οὐ κρίνεται … κέκριται. Change of tense: is not judged … hath been judged. The Messiah has no need to sentence unbelievers; their unbelief in the self-revelation (ὄνομα) of the Messiah is of itself a sentence. They are self-condemned; comp. Joh 3:36. Note the change from fact to supposition marked by οὐ followed by μή: Winer, pp. 594, 602.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18.] On πιστ. εἰς αὐτ. (which is John’s usual phrase) the remarks above on ver. 15 apply with little distinction; εἰς giving more the direction of the belief towards, and its resting upon, ἐν its abiding in, Jesus as the Saviour.

οὐ κρίνεται] See ch. 5:24, where the same assertion is made more fully; and note there.

ἤδη κέκριται, implying,—by no positive act of judgment of mine,—but by the very nature of things themselves. God has provided a remedy for the deadly bite of sin; this remedy the man has not accepted, not taken: he must then perish in his sins: he is already judged and sentenced.

μὴ πεπίστευκεν] The perfect implies more than ‘that faith is a definite act in time’ (Lücke, De Wette); it sets before us the deliberate choice of the man, q. d. ‘he hath not chosen to believe’ (Lange, in Stier, iv. 93, edn. 2): see 2Th 2:11, 2Th 2:12.

εἰς τὸ ὄν., not without meaning: that name was Ἰησοῦς, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν, Mat 1:21.

The μονογενοῦς also here sets before us the hopelessness of such a man’s state: he has no other Saviour.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. To the thought of Jn., ζωὴ αἰώνιος begins in the present, and is not only a hope of the future (see on 3:15 above); so also the κρίσις, or the inevitable distinction between man and man, determined by the use or abuse of his free will, begins in the present life.

Here for Jn. is the supreme test of the human spirit, whether the man “believes in” Christ or does not believe. ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν οὐ κρίνεται, or, as it is expressed later on, εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται, ἀλλὰ μεταβέβηκεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν (5:24). The believer has eternal life in Christ; he has passed into life. There is no uncertainty as to the final judgment for him.

But there is also the man who is not willing to come to Christ that he may have life (5:40), i.e. not willing to “believe.” Of him Jn. says ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται, “he has been judged already” by his unfaith, the present judgment being anticipatory of the future. This is, indeed, the judgment which will declare itself at the Last Day (12:48). But that the judgment will be manifested at the Last Day is not inconsistent with its having been already determined in the present life by the unbelief and blindness and disobedience of the man. So it is said of the prince of evil that he “has been judged” (16:11), although the exhibition of this tremendous judgment is not yet.

The rec. text has ὁ δὲ μὴ πιστ. κτλ. with ALTbΓΔΘ; but אBW ff2 l om. δέ. The two sentences ὁ πιστεύων … and ὁ μὴ πιστεύων are co-ordinate and complementary; and it is quite in the Johannine manner to place them side by side without any adversative or connecting particle.

Jn. uses μή with a pres. part. over 20 times.

ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν …, “because he has not believed,” a continuing movement of unbelief being indicated by the pft. tense. Abbott (Diat. 2187) compares with ὁ μὴ πιστεύων … ὅτι μὴ πεπίστεύων … of this verse, the passage 1Jn 5:10 … ὁ μὴ πιστεύων … ὅτι οὐ πεπίστευκεν … “In the latter ὅτι οὐ states the fact objectively; in the former ὄτι μή states it subjectively, as the judgment pronounced by the Judge.” ὅτι μή is a very unusual construction (see Diat. 2695), and demands some such explanation here.1

For the phrase πιστεύειν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα, see on 1:12.

For μονογενής, see on 1:14. It is possible that the repetition of the adjective here is intended to mark, not only the greatness of the Father’s love (as in v. 16), but also the uniqueness of Jesus as a Saviour. There is no other (cf. Act 4:12).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is condemned already [ηδη κεκριται] . Rev., more correctly, hath been judged already. Unbelief, in separating from Christ, implies judgment. He has been judged in virtue of his unbelief.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.