Forgiven and Free
John 3:17 comes right after one of the most famous verses in the Bible, and it continues to clarify the manner in which Jesus brings us eternal life. The great gift of God through Jesus comes to all who believe in Jesus as the way to salvation.
John tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world because of its sin, but rather to save the world through His life, death, and resurrection.
It can be easy to feel condemned or guilty because we don’t often see ourselves as worthy of God’s love. But this verse tells us something important—regardless of who you are or what you’ve done, you are loved by God.
God is not trying to fill you with guilt or make your life difficult. He wants the best for you and desires a relationship with you. He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to the earth to give us grace and life that we did not deserve.
While it is true that Jesus exposes the darkness of this world (John 3:19), anyone who believes in Jesus and follows Him will experience salvation, and all that God has to offer.
If we choose to follow the ways of this world rather than Jesus, then our actions and thoughts will lead us to condemnation and death. But if we follow Jesus and believe in His Word, then we will experience eternal life in relationship with God.
Spend some time thanking God for the amazing gift of eternal life that He has given to you for free. Continue to walk in the light of Jesus knowing that you are no longer condemned, but forgiven and free.
Power, Love, and Discipline
One of the miracles of salvation is that when we have faith in Christ, God not only saves us—He also gives us the power to live according to His will. Your life in Christ is one that is empowered by the Holy Spirit living within you.
This is a great gift, but a big shift. It often takes time to change how we think and act. We may have bad habits that take hard work to correct, or patterns of thought that are challenging to break.
Thankfully, God promises to be with us and to empower us to make these changes in our life. When Paul is writing to his mentee Timothy, he encourages him to continue to develop the gift that God has given to him. While we are saved in an instant, it takes a lifetime to develop and work out what God is doing inside of us.
Paul reminds Timothy that God’s Spirit does not give us fear or cowardice. Those things are tools of the devil who is trying to keep us from God. But the Spirit of God empowers us with confidence in Him. He gives us the ...