For Salvation, Not Judgment

The Eschatology of John Part 11: John 3 Part 3

Did Jesus come to judge or did he not? John 3 appears to give two different answers to this question despite the seemingly straightforward passage in John 3:17, which says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Since judgment is often seen as inextricably linked to eschatology, or “the study of the end,” we’ll take the time to dedicate yet another section to John 3:17-21.

The Contradiction

One of the benefits of tackling John 3:17-21 as part of our series on the eschatology of John is that it will help us out later when we come across two seemingly contradictory sayings of Jesus. If one reads John straight through, as we are doing in this study, then the tension between these two passages is explained before it is ever introduced.

The two passages in question are John 9:39 and John 12:47.

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.” John 9:39

I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. John 12:47

John 9:39 “I Came for Judgment”

In John 9, Jesus healed a blind man to demonstrate the “works of God” (John 9:3). After the religious leaders gave the man no little trouble over his audacity to reveal their inconsistency coupled with their perplexity that someone would dare heal on the Sabbath, they “drove the man out” (John 9:34).

When they came face to face with the goodness of God, they chose to reject it because of their presuppositions concerning the character of God.

Several of their assumptions were upended by Jesus’s miracle here: (1) are some people born in sins and punished by God from birth?, (2) what does it mean to keep the Sabbath, and (3) who has the right to teach others spiritual matters?

As the Good Shepherd, Jesus found the man who was driven out and asked him about his faith. The man took no time at all to fall down and worship Jesus.

It is then that Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind” (John 9:39).

It is the explanation provided in the second half of this verse that is key to sorting out this whole thing, but I’ll leave you in suspense for just a little while longer.

John 12:47 “I Came Not to Judge”

In John 12, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, made a pronouncement about his death that was answered by a heavenly voice, hid from the people because of their lack of faith despite the many signs they saw, and summarized his teaching in one last public proclamation.

It is within this last public proclamation that our passage is found:

Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.” John 12:44–50

If you read back over this passage, notice the themes of darkness and light. While we didn’t cite it, Jesus also talked about spiritual blindness earlier in this chapter, which should remind us of the passage we studied in John 9.

The point is that these connections are not incidental and will assist us in understanding all of this.

Now we come to the main point here: Jesus says that he didn’t come to judge, but he doesn’t deny that they would be judged (then and later) by the words he spoke.

In other words, through either accepting or rejecting Jesus’s words, the people have already judged themselves. A decision has already been made.

Back in John 9, Jesus’s words line up with this imagery perfectly: “…so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”

Jesus’s very presence demands a decision. Will one follow Jesus or will they not? While Jesus came into the world to save the world, the fact that people are given a choice means that they either stand condemned or justified depending on whether or not they follow Jesus.

We’ll see the logic behind this in John 3.

John 3:17-21

There are some questions about where Jesus’s words stop and where John’s commentary begins. Since our study is focused on the eschatology of John, neither position alters our final analysis, so we’ll leave those discussions to the critical commentaries.

Condemn or Judge?

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him” John 3:17

Right off the bat, we’re met with a decision to make about the text: should this passage be translated “to condemn the world” or “to judge the world.”

I remember students in Bible class that asked something along the lines of “do Christians have to face the judgment because John 3:18 says that Jesus does not judge believers.” This comes from a possible translation of this passage offered by the NASB95: “He who believes in Him is not judged…”

While I appreciate other versions (NRSVue, NIV, KJV—to name a few) translating this passage as “to condemn the world,” robs the reader of struggling through the very question we are entertaining now. The fact is that the Greek word krinō is used twenty times in John, and of those twenty times, the NASB95 only renders the term “condemn” in one passage—John 8:11, a passage who’s authenticity is debated because of its late arrival in the manuscript evidence.

The NRSVue, on the other hand, is much less consistent, translating krinō as “judge” six times and “condemn” fourteen times.

While this provides an easier experience for the average reader, and captures the sense of this word better than the NASB, the more advance student might miss out on this interpretive decision if they do not consult other translations or the original languages.

What is Meant by Judgment?

I think one of the problems when reading passages about judgment in John is that we go straight to the traditional scene of the judgment we have been trained to envision:

Jesus sits on a throne with several books before him. As people line up before his throne, he begins to recount the events of each person’s life before the whole world and sends them either to heaven or hell. This all takes place in the sky.

But as we will soon see, while some passages in John do deal with the “last day” judgment, as in John 12, John 3 has something more immediate in mind.

The text says,

Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18

The judgment here is not rendered by Jesus or by God at the end of time; instead, the judgment is made “already” and is predicated by one’s acceptance or denial of the name of Jesus.

In other words, the judgment is made by the one who is confronted with the decision to follow Jesus. They judge themselves by their willingness to obey Jesus’s words.

William Barclay, in his book on the Apostle’s Creed, said,

The explanation of the apparent contradiction is that Jesus came with the sole intention of saving the world. But confrontation with Jesus demands a decision. Every man must have a reaction to Jesus Christ. If his reaction is that his heart runs out to Jesus Christ, then it is well; if his reaction is dislike, resentment, evasion, then by that reaction he has condemned himself. If a man finds nothing lovely in Jesus Christ, then he stands, not condemned by Jesus Christ, but self-condemned.¹

The Darkness Hates the Light

And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” John 3:19–21

“This is the judgment.” John is telling us here that whenever we read “judgment” in his account of the gospel, we should use this definition to inform our understanding of future passages.

When reading this passage, it is clear to see at least two things: (1) judgment is already present during the ministry of Jesus, and (2) people judge themselves by their reactions to the presence of Jesus and his teaching.

When one comes face to face with Unimaginable Light, they either run away because it will expose their true nature, or they will run into the light because their vindication has finally come, the lies will be exposed, and the truth will be revealed.

One might pause here and say, “Well if John is speaking of judgment according to deeds here, then shouldn't we all be running from the light?”

This is a fair and reasonable question, but it is a question rooted in debates concerning the relationship between works and faith. John knew of no Christians who had faith without obedience or those who had obedience without faith. To John and the other New Testament authors, good trees produce good fruit.

To answer this question in another way, though, we need to consider a bit of commentary offered by John in 1 John 4:

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 1 John 4:17–18

You see, it’s not that the person who walks in light is morally perfect; instead, they are perfected in love. Love renders debates about justification by faith versus justification by works meaningless because anyone who loves is going to produce good fruit.

To explain this, John wrote, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20).

In other words, you can’t love God without loving your brother or sister, and you can’t love your brother or sister with both the kind and quality of love John is talking about without also loving God.

While debates concerning the relationship between faith and works is needed to some extent, one who walks by love has nothing to fear, for he or she will fulfill the law of Christ just as naturally as he or she breaths, eats, and sleeps.

If someone who walks in love has some fault and approaches this Light, this person will rejoice when the fault is exposed because it means they will be freed from one more relic of the old age. As the Hebrews writer counseled, we should accept the discipline of God with gladness because God is a good Father, and a Father’s discipline leads to maturity (Hebrews 12:3-13).

We will speak more about the relationship between judgment and discipline in a more detailed article on 1 John 4:17-18.

For Salvation

Jesus came for salvation, not judgment. His intentions were to save everyone whom he met, but, being a loving God, Jesus would not take one soul by compulsion. Unfortunately, this opened the door for those who were satisfied with darkness to run as far away as they could from the Christ, but as the Light of the gospel spread and there was no place else to hide, those who loved the darkness more than the Light felt they had no choice but to extinguish the Light.

Yet, despite all this, Jesus came to save the world. His death, as we saw in a previous article, was given on behalf of not “just us” but the “whole world” (1 John 2:2).

The question we must now ask ourselves is how will we react to this Light?

Read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Read it slowly, paying attention to Jesus’s points of emphasis. Anytime you catch yourself attempting to explain away one of the teachings of Jesus, take an account of your own life and see if your resistance comes from some darkness that is fleeing from the light.

If so, present it to Jesus, and let him do what he does best: love you into a new life.

Cast off the useless works of darkness, and allow Jesus to transform you into his image, not so that you can earn salvation but because of the Love of God poured out for you.

If you want this series to continue, please like, comment, or message me to let me know of your continued interest. Also, ask questions, point out typos, and engage in kind discussion.

1. William Barclay, The Apostle’s Creed (1998), p. 272.