John 3:18, “The one believing in Him is not judged, but the one not believing has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Short Thoughts:
How our hearts respond to the gospel of the glory the crucified and risen Jesus gives us a glimpse of the verdict that will be passed over us on Judgment Day.
Long Thoughts:
In verse 17, “judgment” and salvation are contrasted and again in chapter 5, verse 29, the resurrection of life is contrasted with the resurrection of judgment. This gives warrant to the ESV’s translation of “judged” as “condemned” here in 3:18. However, I think that simply saying condemned loses a bit of the nuance of being searched and tested. When someone is judged—in this sense of the word—they are examined, weighed, tested, and found wanting, and thus condemned….it is the first part of that process that I think we can lose when we just say “condemned.”
But, anyway, the reason I say that is because one of the things 3:18 (and other places in John) teaches us is that the nature of our souls is revealed, we are judged based on their response to the revelation of the Name of God manifest in Christ, and most specifically, the crucified Christ. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in Him is already condemned, already judged and found guilty. Why? Because they have not believed in the Name of the Only Begotten Son….and how is that Name communicated? The lifting up of the Son on the cross….and what is that Name? It is the Name of the Father that He has given to the Son, it is the Name, the Identity, the Character of the One True God (17:11, etc.). Those who are not believing are condemned because their unbelief is judgment against them.
The lifting up of the crucified Christ in light of His resurrection through the proclamation of the gospel is a rehearsal, a foreshadowing, a premonition of Judgment Day….and the way we respond to that proclamation is an image in the present of what that future day will hold for us—if things remain as they are until then……if He is embraced as Lord and God and Savior, then we are not condemned! Because we have recognized and received the One True God……But, if He is ignored, refused, hidden from….then we are condemned already and wrath remains on us. Because we have proven ourselves to be—at root—opposed to the Living God.
Whenever we declare the beauty of God in the crucified and risen Son with biblical faithfulness and loving clarity, Judgment Day is happening…..it is happening in us, it is happening around us.
