What more could God do than he did do to take away
sin? He gave his only begotten Son; Christ gave himself, that whosoever
would believe on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He
pledges himself to every soul who will believe, that he shall not
perish. The word does not read, as too often it is misread, God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. No such
thing. The next verse has the "might" in it: "God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved." It may be, too. When God gave
his Son, in that gift he established the eternal possibility that every
soul in this world might be saved. But there is where the
"might" is. There is where the "maybe" is. Because,
whether any one is saved, depends upon what he chooses. The Lord will
not save us in spite of ourselves. He has made it possible, in the gift
of Christ, for every one of us to be saved. It depends upon us whether
we choose the salvation that he has given; whether we will take the
cross, and adopt the means, that will make it certain to us.
But when one has chosen Christ, and believes in him,
there is no "maybe" about it any more. It shall be,
then. Then the verse comes in where the shall is, and
reads: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not [not, "might
not"] perish, but have everlasting life." Believing in Jesus
Christ takes away all the "maybe" that there ever was in it,
and makes it an eternal shall be. So, then, to every soul who
believes in Jesus, God says, I pledge myself that you "shall not
perish." To every soul in this world, wicked as he may be, God’s
message is that the has made the provision, he has established the
thing, and so firmly fixed it that just as certainly as a soul believes
in Jesus Christ, that soul "shall not perish." That is
a good offer. It is infinitely fair, and infinitely generous. It’s as
fair and generous as is God.