John 12:46-50

 

John 12:46 (KJB)

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

 

Jesus once again teaches that He has come into this world as a light. The world was and is filled with dead religion and sin. No world religion can save. Jesus is the only one who is able to bring to light a person’s sinful condition and then by salvation, remove those sins for all eternity. He came into the world with the true Gospel which supersedes all religions. Just like the physical sun displaces night when it rises in the morning, Jesus displaces all the darkness of false religion and sin when He comes on the scene. When the true Gospel is preached in a false church, it is displacing the false gospel for the time it is being preached and when the person is asked to leave, then the light goes out and the church is once again in darkness.

 

John 12:47 (KJB)

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

 

The first time Jesus came to this world was not for the purpose of judging it but for the purpose of bringing the true Gospel which will eventually be preached in every country in the world until the time of the end when the last one is saved. Then when the Lord returns the second time, it will be for the purpose of judgment. (Heb 9:28 KJV) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. For now, Jesus came to proclaim the true Gospel of Grace which will be sent out to the whole world and then the end shall come. (Mark 16:15 KJV) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Right now the mission of Jesus is to build the body of Christ with those whom the Father named unto salvation before the foundation of the world.

 

John 12:48 (KJB)

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

 

Building upon the last verse, Jesus is not allowing those who do not believe on Him to think that it is some kind of personal choice without consequences. There will come a day when those who have rejected Christ, and that is, all those down through the ages who have rejected Christ and got others to do the same. Those who are unsaved will be raised on the last day and will be judged according to their sins, and that includes, the Jews. Many in the Pre-Trib churches believe that the Jews are all saved because they are God’s chosen people. God has only one chosen people on this earth and they are the ones who are born again in Christ. There is nothing in Scripture about two chosen people groups. Jesus is also saying that the words which He is speaking now to them concerning who He is and the relationship with His Heavenly Father will be brought up again at their judgment and they will see that He was telling the truth and also their words of rejection will be brought up and then sentence will be passed. The one who is judging these unbelievers at the present time when Jesus was speaking to them was God the Father because of their rejection of His Son. Remember, if you do not have the Son, you do not have the Father. This verse contains the sixth usage of “last day” which teaches that both the believer and unbeliever will be raised in a general resurrection at the last day as we read in John 5:28-29. (John 5:28-29 KJV) Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, {29} And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

 

John 12:49 (KJB)

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

 

The reason why these people are going to be judged is because the words which Jesus was speaking was not His own but were from the Father. This was why if you saw and heard Jesus, then you were seeing and hearing the Father. Jesus was like an ambassador sent from Heaven on behalf of His Heavenly Father. When they rejected Jesus, they were in essence rejecting the authority of God the Father and this is why they were judged immediately for this. Jesus came to reveal the father to these people and that revelation was rejected with extreme hostility which will not go unanswered on Judgment Day. This verse shows the extreme intimacy between the Son and the Father.

 

John 12:50 (KJB)

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

 

This is a very interesting verse in that the commandment which God the Father gives is eternal life. (Acts 17:30 KJV) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Acts 17:30 builds on that principle where God commands all men, that is, all the Elect He has chosen from before the foundation of the world. Those whom God did not name for salvation will not respond to His command so it is only those whom He named will respond to the command to be saved. Since it is a command of God, this means that there is no such thing as a person’s free will in salvation. Jesus continues on in this verse that whatever the Father spoke unto Him, He is speaking to all who are hearing Him. This also means when we read the Scriptures, that God is speaking to us through the written word. God’s command of salvation continues down through the ages until the last one is saved. Jesus had said many times that He was speaking the words the Father gave Him and here He confirms it.

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