Special Delivery (Part 3)
As we looked at previous posts (Special Delivery Parts 1 and 2) that Jesus did not die for one group people, but for everyone. However, it is still up to us to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believe in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (NIV, 1984).
We see in this passage there are two groups: believers and non-believers. These are people who believe in Jesus and those who do not believe in Jesus. As Jesus talks to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, Jesus is exploring how you cannot have a little bit of belief in Jesus. It is either you fully believe in the Son of God or you do not. There is nothing between.
These past few posts (Special Delivery Parts 1 and 2) talk about belief in the Son of God. We have seen that the only way to the Father is through the belief in Jesus Christ. Now, the word “believe” in English does not fully capture the emphasis on what Jesus is talking about. You see, the word, “believe” in English has the same emphasis of belief in Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny. Jesus is not talking about acknowledging that Jesus did walk on Earth. Jesus is talking about trusting that Jesus is the one and only way to eternal life. There is no other way to heaven than through the Son of God.
Society might say that there are several ways to heaven. People might say that you need to be a “good person” in order to enter heaven. But the problem with this philosophy is that everyone can have a different interpretation to the word, “good.” So, if we were to enter into heaven based off of what humans say, then that would be too confusing. If everyone has different regulations, then what is right?. But if we look at what Scripture tells us, then we can see that it is consistent. The Bible says that the only way to eternal life is through Jesus.
Resource
Scofield, C. I., English, E. S., Mason, C. E., Babb, W. S., & Karleen, P. S. (1984). Oxford NIV Scofield Study Bible: New International Version: New Scofield Study System with Introductions, Annotations, and Subject Chain References. Oxford University Press.
