Do you realize you are either saved or condemned? Jesus tells Nicodemus, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). Here, Jesus warns that there are only two possibilities. He clearly explains what this means in the verses that follow.

There is the purpose of God's venture. John 3:18 reads, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Jesus also said, "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Paul confesses, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15). We can add with the hymnwriter, Charles H. Gabriel, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene, And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean."

There is the pronouncement of God's verdict. John 3:19-20 reads, "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. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." F. F. Bruce explains, "If men and women are judged by their response to the light, they are judged by their response to such light as is available to them. All true light is in some degree an effulgence from him who is the light of the world." John 8:12 reads, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'"

There is the person of God's vesting. John 3:21 reads, "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term vesting means "granting, to give the ownership or benefit of (something) formally or publicly." 1 John 3:1 reads, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." A sign that you are right with God is that you run to the light not from it.

Those who are saved go to heaven and those who are condemned go to hell. There is only one way to be saved and that is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection for the for forgiveness of sin and for everlasting life. Paul declares, "For 'whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved'" (Romans 10:13).

Are you saved or condemned?

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, of Robertsdale, is the author of "Don't Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah.