“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "Shall not perish." Ponder those three little words. Some people perish.They don't make it.
Here's another verse from John 3. This one is less well-known, but it is just as true as John 3:16.
- Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him (John 3:36).
Or we can see it even more plainly in 1 John 5:12.
- He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Or if you want to go to the end of the Bible, consider the solemn words of Revelation 20:15.
- If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. I wonder how God could make it any clearer.
You + Jesus = Eternal life.You - Jesus = Eternal death.
Here is the difference between the church and the world.
The true church -- that is, those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, those who know him and love him and believe in him and follow him -- is delivered from sin and guilt and given eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The world -- that is, those who live without knowing Jesus, who follow their own way, who trust in religion but not in Christ, or who reject all religion, who believe that this world is all there is, or who believe in salvation through self-effort, or who think they don't need to be saved, or who simply become so immersed in the pursuit of sex, money or power or the glory and fame this world offers that they have no time to consider their own soul -- perishes forever in hell.
The people of the world are lost, doomed, and sent to destruction just as surely as the ancient Egyptians perished in the Red Sea.
