I love when people come to me with the accusation that the Bible contains contradictions. Well, love is a strong word. I don't enjoy people throwing my favorite book under the bus but I do enjoy the chance to help broaden someones knowledge of the Word of God.... I'm thinking about the supposed contradiction based on the thought that Jesus was a hate-mongor who did nothing but condemn the sinners. while i'm not sure where the foundation for this thought lies this is counter-offered very plainly in a verse that is quite often over shadowed by it's preceding verse; John 3:17 "For God did not send His Son into the world so that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." If you ask me, this is not a verse that should be missed. This is where people get confused, and it's about time to clear it up. I would expect a question similar to this after sharing John 3:17 with the one claiming contradiction; "according to your Bible, and belief system doesn't Jesus condemn those who do not follow Him, to Hell? So how is this not a contradiction?" It's easy to be confused by this passage, a historical knowledge of the Hebrew culture would help, but most people don't have that. You see, what John was talking about was the current state of his world. In the world of John the people going to HEaven we're those who were not condemned by the Jewish law. In case you don't know, there are over 600 commandments (Mitzvot) in the law, and i don't generally like to link to Wikipedia but, I am today so if you want, you can see all of them, as enumerated by the the Jewish philosopher Maimonides (Click here for list, just scroll down some) ... Anyway, I'm not out to question or disqualify these commandments or anything, I just think it's important to know how many there are so you can better appreciate the enormity in what Christ did... OK, back to John. So he is talking about the current world state back in... a long time ago, he's making an emphasis on the fact that following this law has done nothing but condemn them from it's first inception, because of our sin nature. Romans 5:13 kind of touches this stating, "In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a persons account when their is no law." Here, Paul is saying that if someone sinned before the law was established (by God with Moses on Mt Sinai, found in Exodus 19 and 20 ) it was not counted against them individually. Before the law was given, man lived with the result of the fall in Eden, and separation from God because of it. The consequences of the sin in the garden was held against all of humanity equally, and in my opinion (I could be wrong) any sin therefore was held against all of humanity too. But now at Mt. Sinai, the law was established and given to each person and things changed. Now, the Jews had an actual written set of laws they are bound to, and because each was given the law (first God to Moses, then Moses to the Israelites) each is now held accountable for holding fast to it, or breaking it. So, it started with the 10 Commandments, then the Preists and scribes and Levites (the tribe of the priesthood, which interestingly, and off topic, Jesus did not "descend" from disqualifying Him from being a priest in the Jewish religion... just saying) added more on. I have NO idea where they came from, I suggest doing some research, however, i'm not doing it here because it wasn't the point of this post, which i am getting further and further away from....
Paul, once being a Pharisee, ,knew first hand just how much he didn't measure up to the laws of the Old Testament, and He really wants his audience to realize that the world was already under condemnation, which is WHY Jesus came. People tend to understand this backwards. Jesus came to save an already condemned world. He came to provide the world and alternative to what was already happening/already happened. He came to give us another option to condemnation, reconciliation with God the Father. This is HUGE! If you get this mixed up, and don't realize the world was ALREADY CONDEMNED when Christ came in flesh, then His coming is dumbed down in importance. We NEEDED an alternative, all we had was condemnation, and Christ came as that alternative. He came and offered Himself as a vicarious sacrifice which then enabled us to the option of eternity with God, or eternity in hell. Paul makes this blog completely meaningless in the next verse (I put both together so you can see thats it's the same thought...) "For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God."
"Already condemned" is referring to my thought on all this; the current state of the world. I wish that people would not quote John 3:16 by it's lonesome but that they would add 17 and 18 so the entire thought is portrayed properly.
Jehovah Jireh! The Lord will, and did, and has, and is providing!
Man, I love Jesus!
Blessings,
~Jenna
PS I wrote this over the course of a few days so, I apologize if it is choppy in thought!
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