1. v17, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
God the Father didn’t send His Son to punish the world but that the world through Him might be saved. God is carrying out the solution to the penalty of sin through the death of His Son in His first coming, not the execution of condemned sinners (cf. Lk 9:56; 19:10).
2. v18a, He who believes in Him is not condemned
Those who believe in God’s Son is no longer condemned (cf. Jn 6:40). I think of Paul summation on condemnation,
(Rom 8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation [no verdict or adverse sentence] to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
(Rom
8:2) For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of
sin and death.
3. v18b, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (emphasis mine).
Those who do not believe in God’s Son is condemned already (cf. Jn 12:47-48). This is a great reason to believe, yes! Now, to our text under consideration,
(Jn 3:19) And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
(Jn
3:20) For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed.
(Jn
3:21) But he who does the
truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have
been done in God.
And this is the condemnation, v19
Note that John employs 3 verbs (Gk, krino) translated, condemn or judge, once in Jn 3:17 and condemned or judged twice in Jn 3:18. Then John shifts to the noun form, condemnation or judgment (krisis), in Jn 3:19, and this is the condemnation.
As its root krino (condemn or judge), the noun krisis (condemnation or judgment) in v19 carries the idea of separating or distinguishing, rather than carrying the weighty sentence of judgment (krima, as seen in Mt 7:2; Jn 9:39).
With
that said, latent within this spiritual crisis or condemnation (krisis),
in my opinion, is the adverse sentence of judgment though the immediate context
is not using it in that manner here but simply distinguishing attitude and
action with the interplay of the metaphors of light and darkness.
I say that because if this darkness plays out in a life all the way to physical death, then the second death or spiritual separation from God for an eternity shifts from theoretical to practical; s(he) is consigned to the dungeon of hell, awaiting the final sentencing at the great white throne judgment, and afterward, s(he) is immediately transported to the lake of fire by God’s holy angels (Jn 15:6; Rev 20:10-15).
That judgment is just but heartbreaking, nonetheless, because it could have been avoided (cf. Mt 25:41), but we will see here that this is a personal choice that was made by all the current human inhabitants in hell as suggested by the verb loved (agapao) darkness rather than light, and is the present choice being made with those who are willfully living in darkness! This twisted passion for darkness and rejection of God in the life didn’t start with Jesus simply talking about it to Nicodemus and His disciples that night. With the fall of man, darkness manifested itself very quickly (cf. Gn 4:8).
Keep in mind that we are still at pre-Passion in John’s account, but John reveals some things about this condemnation. We glean these truths (cf. Psa 36:9, the light of God enables us to see things as He does) on the basis of man’s reaction to the light,
that the light has come into the world
The light (Gk., phos)
This Greek word translated light is exclusively Johannine, occurring 23x only in his Gospel. Light refers to Christ (Jn 1:9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46).
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil, v19b
Unregenerate man has a serious spiritual heart problem. How do we know this? Through their disobedience to God, because their deeds were evil [Gk., poneros, wicked, attached to a pattern of life, cf. Jn 7:7], revealing their obedience to or love for the darkness. Contrast this with how we as believers show our love for God,
(Jn 14:15) If you love [agapao] Me, keep My commandments.
(1Jn
5:2) By
this we know that we love [agapao] the children of God, when we love [agapao] God and keep His
commandments.
(1Jn
5:3) For
this is the love [agape] of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments
are not burdensome.
Those
who keep the commandments of Jesus reveal a love for God. Those who disobey the
commandments of Jesus reveal a love for the darkness rather than the light. It
is just that simple.
Anyone who is not born again (Jn 3:3) prefers evil over righteousness because of their passion for the darkness and the true nature of their deeds (evil). Note that it did not say that “men loved darkness more than the light” but rather than the light (NASB). It is spiritually impossible to love the darkness and to love the light. They are antithetical in nature as seen by the object of its passion.
You either love the darkness or you love the light; it is analogous to being condemned or not condemned, unbelief or belief. This is not a have your cake and eat it, too, kind of truth but an either/or spiritual reality: a binary choice of the darkness or of the light.
Darkness, v19 (Gk., skotus)
One of the themes in John’s Gospel are the metaphors of light and darkness. It can refer to the partial or absence of light. In this context, it is the total absence of light. It refers to a spiritual realm where an unregenerate man walks in darkness, purposely distancing himself from the light of life (Jn 8:12). This darkness is not a place where a man accidentally finds himself.
There is a strong preference (agapao) for the darkness rather than the light. “It refers to wickedness or evil, accompanies ungodliness and immorality, spiritual darkness implying ignorance or error, light versus darkness, good versus evil, the wickedness of sin, and the evil inseparable from it” (Hengstenberg).
With the darkness, there is no love for the moral and spiritual light of Christ (Jn 3:21; 8:12). Since light and darkness cannot mix, neither can love for the darkness and love for the light dwell together; so many believers fail to grasp this fundamental truth and attempt to straddle or conjoin both worldviews: light and darkness. It not only is impossible but frankly, it is sin (Jn 8:12; Eph 5:8; 1 Jn 1:6; 1 Pet 2:11; 1 Jn 2:15).
You can see the hatred of Jesus intensify by this love for the darkness the closer we get to the Passion in John’s Gospel! On the eve of the crucifixion, the tension between the light and the darkness is at the tipping point! This is thick spiritual darkness enveloping lost men with strong and powerful affections toward the darkness because their deeds were and are evil.
Those who love their sins do not want them exposed (cf. Jn 15:22). God so loved the world, but lost men so loved the darkness because of sin and unbelief (2 Cor 4:4). Though such a quality of affection is deeply rooted in the soil of darkness, only the power of God can uproot it. What is tenaciously keeping it rooted in the ground is not the evil one, but a love (agapao) for the darkness.
men loved [agapao] [the] darkness rather than [the] light
It is ironic that we find in John's Gospel his first usage of agapao (loved) found on the summit of St John 3:16, and the very next usage of agapao by John is found three verses down in v19 where the same verb is used of men that loved [agapao] literally [the, NASB] darkness [egapesan (loved) to (the) skotos (darkness)], rather than [the, NASB] light.
We need to be reminded that John wrote this under inspiration (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21), so there was no misfire here. Other instances of agapao behavior associated with the lost are loved the best seats (Lk 11:43), loved the praise of men (Jn 12:43), loved this present world (2 Tim 4:10), and loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet 2:15).
So, concerning the usage of agapao, the verb form of agape (love), we can conclude that agapao is used of God, believers, and unbelievers, but the noun form (agape) is used exclusively of God and believers only. When I first came across this spiritual reality, I thought to myself how can this be? No man has God’s love (agape) until spiritual regeneration (Rom 5:5)? How can a lost man, having not the Spirit, express God’s love? And yet, here we read of men who loved (agapao) the darkness, v19, in contrast to God so loved (agapao) the world, v16! Now, there are some remarkable differences, but the fact that God the Holy Spirit used agapao to show unregenerate man’s passion for the darkness is stunning and revealing!
Obviously, preference and purpose are dramatically different, but the intensity of God’s love for the world reveals a “similar” passion of men for the darkness. So, why did the Holy Spirit choose to employ the verb agapao with the deeds of evil men?
Because
it was the best verb to make us aware of what we are up against in this
struggle between the light and the darkness; that the ungodly are not to be
taken lightly in their opposition to the light and their love for the ways of the
darkness. Colloquially speaking, they are dug into the darkness like a tick,
and they are not going to take too kindly to being exposed. They nailed Jesus
to some wicked wood for it, yes? <><
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