From Wrath to Life

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

One of the most powerful verses in the Bible, this verse clearly explains what it means to get eternal life.

Let's start at the end of the verse: "...but the wrath of God remains on him."

That statement explains our condition. The wrath of God is already upon us. We are born as enemies of God. God is already angry at us. He has already judged us. And if we do nothing about it, we will stay in that position forever.

No one wants to stay there. We don't even like it when our friends are angry with us for a little while. We certainly don't want the creator of the universe to be angry with us for all of eternity.

So how do we change that?

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life..." To move from wrath to life, we have to believe in the Son. What does that mean?

The Son is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So what do we have to believe about the Son of God to move from wrath to life?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Believing in Jesus has to do with God giving His Son for us. God sent His Son to the world to die for us. We are under the wrath of God, but God doesn't want us to stay there. To make it possible for God to look upon us, a sacrifice had to be made. A perfect, holy sacrifice. The only perfect, holy sacrifice that was sufficient was His only Son, Jesus.

Believing that Jesus died for our sins, paying the penalty in complete, satisfying the wrath of God completely, is what it means to believe in the Son.

Does merely saying, "I believe that Jesus died for my sins" remove the wrath of God from us?

Look at the middle phrase of John 3:36: "... whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life..." If you don't obey, you will not see life. Or to put it positively, if you do obey, you will see life.

Obedience to Christ is not the way to heaven, but the evidence that you believe. If you've been following these posts, you'll see that recurring theme throughout the Bible.

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, you're going to do what He says to get eternal life. Then you will follow that up by doing what He says is best for you. You'll study the Bible and determine what God wants you to do and do it. Not as a way to earn eternal life, but out of obedience and thankfulness.

Trust and obey.