“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.” – John 3:18
PICTURE, IF YOU WILL, A MAN charged with heinous crimes – crimes which, if he is found guilty, will bring upon him destruction. See him as he is declared to be guilty of violating the law, that his innocence has been thoroughly disproven, and that for his guilt a most stern punishment shall be inflicted. But suddenly he is informed that another has already paid the price which he ought to have paid, and that he therefore will not be condemned, but contrariwise set at liberty. The bliss which this man will feel must needs exceed anything that even the greatest artists may depict.
The situation above described perfectly parallels the plight facing every man who is yet to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sadly, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and if that man dies in his sins, he will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). Whether you think this to be just, or right, is immaterial to the facts of the matter. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), and should you reject him, you will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).
Yet one has already paid the price of iniquity. One has already bore our sins on his own body on the tree. One has already been wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And since the only begotten Son of God shed his blood to pay for your sins, you need not spend eternity in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Though you are guilty, you need not be condemned. The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world offers eternal life to you – free of charge. He offers it to you, free of charge, out of the great love wherewith he loved us. You need only accept it.
How then may you receive this free gift? Simply by acknowledging that you are a sinner who has violated God’s holy law and, as such, doomed to pay for your sins in hell for eternity, wholly incapable of delivering yourself from this wretched fate. All of your good works are worthless with regards to saving your soul, for it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” (Titus 3:5). Therefore, you must instead look to Jesus, and believe that he, as the sinless Son of God, died on the cross to pay for your sins, was buried, and was bodily resurrected three days later unto the justification of all who believe on him. And if you will believe these things, you will thereby accept him as your Savior, and receive the wonderful classification of “not condemned.”
Eternal life is entirely free of charge to you, dear reader. I pray that you receive Christ, lest you needlessly perish under a woeful condemnation, and endure for eternity the inexorable suffering of flaming fire.