Seeking Jesus First Jan. 28, 2026
Not to Condemn, But to Save
Today’s Reading: John 3:1–21
(Read the full passage before reflecting below.)
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already…” (John 3:17–18, NKJV)
Many people can quote John 3:16, but far fewer carry John 3:17–18 with the same familiarity. Yet these verses are essential for understanding why Jesus came and how salvation truly works. John 3:16 tells us that God loved and gave. John 3:17 tells us why—not to condemn, but to save.
If anyone ever had the right to condemn the world, it was Jesus. He is the One sent from the Father, the Son of Man to whom judgment would one day be entrusted. He sees perfectly. He knows every heart. He lacks no authority. Yet He makes something unmistakably clear: condemnation was not the purpose of His coming.
Why not?
Because condemnation was already present.
Jesus explains this plainly in verse 18. Those who do not believe are “condemned already.” This is not because Jesus arrived with a gavel, eager to pronounce judgment. It is because sin had already separated humanity from life. The Law given through Moses had already revealed the verdict: “The wages of sin is death.” The Law exposed guilt, but it could not remove it. It could diagnose the disease, but it could not heal it.
Jesus did not come to add condemnation to an already condemned world. He came to deliver it.
This is why Jesus consistently called sinners to repentance rather than shaming them into despair. He came as light into darkness. Light does not condemn the dark—it reveals what is there. And once the light is on, a person can see clearly enough to avoid what would cause them to stumble. Darkness causes people to fall over things they cannot see. Light gives them a way forward.
John 3:17 echoes the heart of God revealed throughout Scripture. God’s actions toward humanity are motivated by love, not irritation. Salvation is not God’s backup plan—it is the reason Christ was sent. Love explains the incarnation. Love explains the cross. Love explains the invitation to believe.
This also helps us understand the grief in Jesus’ words later over Jerusalem, when He laments that He longed to gather His people, but they were unwilling. Judgment came—not because God withheld mercy, but because mercy was refused. Even then, Jesus’ heart was not cold or indifferent. It was broken.
These verses remind us that Jesus does not delight in condemnation. He delights in rescue. He does not expose sin to shame us, but to free us. Belief in Him removes condemnation because it brings us out of darkness and into the light.
Today, let this truth rest deeply in your heart: Jesus did not come looking for people to condemn. He came looking for people to save. If you are in Christ, condemnation has no claim on you. And if you are walking in His light, you are no longer stumbling in the dark.
God turned the light on—not to accuse, but to lead us home.