For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.(John 3:17 KJB)
First of all what does that word "condemn" mean? The lexicons and Vine never come right out and say it means "damnation". Thayer comes close but you would not know that this means damnation. "... contextually, used specifically of the act of condemning and decreeing (or inflicting) a penalty on one: John 3:18; John 5:22; John 12:47; Acts 7:7; Romans 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 10:30; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 4:6 ". Since he mentions 2 Thess 2:12, here is what that verse says in the KJB: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Is this the damnation of eternal Hell? Of course it is and there are dozens of verses to support that.
Christ did not come into the world to pronounce damnation, since it is already revealed to us in the OT and NT. The focus of that verse takes us back to verse 16, which reflects the truths that (1) Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and (2) He came to seek and to save that which was lost. To then claim that this verse also means that Christians are to be merely passive spectators while the world goes to Hell, is to distort the truth.
The pollution of the temple in Jerusalem while Christ was on earth is a good analogy to the corruption of Christendom today. The Bible says in Psalm 69 how Christ felt about this: "For the zeal of thine house has eaten me up". So what did He do (already knowing that the evildoers were under condemnation)?
And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. (John 2:13-17)
Did Christ stand by passively or did he take drastic action (which would be shocking today if Jesus entered into a church and did just that)? And is He an example to all believers? When the churches and denominations are being corrupted, and tele-evangelists are making merchandise of the Gospel, what should Christians do? When churches are encouraging sexual perversion, are we to simply stand by?
Now when we come to the world which is already under condemnation, what did Christ do?
MATTHEW 23;14-33: THE DAMNATION OF HELL PRONOUNCED BY CHRIST
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
That is extremely strong language, and these men were already under condemnation. Therefore Christians are exhorted to reprove and rebuke the works of darkness and have no fellowship with them (Eph 5:11). And Timothy was commanded by Paul to reprove and rebuke within the church when there was sin and evil and false doctrine. Christ told almost all the seven churches in Revelation to repent, and today all of Christendom must be told to repent.
Christ also pronounced woes on the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their unbelief (Mt 11:21; Lk 10:13). And would He not pronounce woes on the cities of America right now? In view of all this, no one has the right to promote false ideas about what Christians should do or not do. The Word of God is there to teach us.
First of all what does that word "condemn" mean? The lexicons and Vine never come right out and say it means "damnation". Thayer comes close but you would not know that this means damnation. "... contextually, used specifically of the act of condemning and decreeing (or inflicting) a penalty on one: John 3:18; John 5:22; John 12:47; Acts 7:7; Romans 2:12; 1 Corinthians 11:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 10:30; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 4:6 ". Since he mentions 2 Thess 2:12, here is what that verse says in the KJB: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Is this the damnation of eternal Hell? Of course it is and there are dozens of verses to support that.
Christ did not come into the world to pronounce damnation, since it is already revealed to us in the OT and NT. The focus of that verse takes us back to verse 16, which reflects the truths that (1) Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and (2) He came to seek and to save that which was lost. To then claim that this verse also means that Christians are to be merely passive spectators while the world goes to Hell, is to distort the truth.
The pollution of the temple in Jerusalem while Christ was on earth is a good analogy to the corruption of Christendom today. The Bible says in Psalm 69 how Christ felt about this: "For the zeal of thine house has eaten me up". So what did He do (already knowing that the evildoers were under condemnation)?
And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. (John 2:13-17)
Did Christ stand by passively or did he take drastic action (which would be shocking today if Jesus entered into a church and did just that)? And is He an example to all believers? When the churches and denominations are being corrupted, and tele-evangelists are making merchandise of the Gospel, what should Christians do? When churches are encouraging sexual perversion, are we to simply stand by?
Now when we come to the world which is already under condemnation, what did Christ do?
MATTHEW 23;14-33: THE DAMNATION OF HELL PRONOUNCED BY CHRIST
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
That is extremely strong language, and these men were already under condemnation. Therefore Christians are exhorted to reprove and rebuke the works of darkness and have no fellowship with them (Eph 5:11). And Timothy was commanded by Paul to reprove and rebuke within the church when there was sin and evil and false doctrine. Christ told almost all the seven churches in Revelation to repent, and today all of Christendom must be told to repent.
Christ also pronounced woes on the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their unbelief (Mt 11:21; Lk 10:13). And would He not pronounce woes on the cities of America right now? In view of all this, no one has the right to promote false ideas about what Christians should do or not do. The Word of God is there to teach us.
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