For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

                                                                                                                    John 3:17-18

First things first…why did God send Jesus into the world? God sent Jesus to save the lost, the ungodly, sinners. “World” is used three times in today’s passage and means all of the inhabitants of the earth, the entire human race, the ungodly multitude, the whole mass of mankind alienated from God, and, yes, that includes you and me. When you see this word, think of totality or entirety. There are three implications for the world found in this passage: (1) God loves us…all of us. (2) God did not send Jesus for the purpose of condemnation, rather (3) God sent Jesus in order to save us.

God’s purpose, because of His love for you, is not condemnation, rather salvation. So what is required for someone to be saved? When that question was asked of leaders in the first century church, the answer given was believe in Jesus (Acts 16:31). Salvation is by faith. So in what are we suppose to put our faith? Well, it’s not what you put your faith in, rather in whom you put your trust. Jesus has accomplished salvation for all who will simply believe (trust) in what He has done on their behalf. He was crushed for our iniquities and by His scourging we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). He has rescued us from darkness and He has transferred us into His kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Therefore, we are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26). Although mankind continues to find ways to divide people, spiritually speaking there are only two types of people in the world; believers and non-believers, those that belong to the kingdom of God and those that do not. Notice the criteria for salvation…to believe. Those that believe, which means trusting Jesus completely, will not be judged or condemned. Those that do not believe are already judged. Why? It is because they have not believed in the name of Jesus. It really is that simple. Despite religious focus on you and your performance, that’s not what saves anyone. You may have heard someone say, “Good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.” This is a myth and is the antithesis to biblical truth regarding salvation. Heaven is given to those who have called on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13), placing their faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross (John 3:18). God loves you and you can call on Him today. Don’t pray someone else’s words. God desires to hear from you personally. Cry out to Him today and ask Him to save you and experience the spiritual freedom of fully trusting in Him for your salvation and eternal security.