The Missing Cross to Purity

The Fallacy in John 3:16
Taken Out of Context


For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 
John 3:16

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This is the most popularly quoted verse in the Bible, BUT it is quoted out of context without the companion verses that qualify its meaning to be totally the opposite of how people interpret it, when looked at alone. Many call this verse "an entire Bible in itself." Unfortunately they are wrong.

Let's look at all the verses after this famous verse, which totally change the traditional, but erroneous interpretation:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  20For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  21But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Everything fits with the common interpretation, out of context, until verses 20 and 21 are included:

Verse 20: For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Whoever still sins hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest (for fear that) his deeds be reproved, (judged).
Because his deeds were evil, he is afraid to come into the light for them to be judged.

Verse 21: King James - But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Verse 21: Amplified - But he who practices truth - who does what is right- comes out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are--wrought with God - divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence upon Him.
A true believer does truth, or practices truth - does what is right. (He is finished with sin, doing what is wrong.) A believer comes out into the light, (without fear) to show that his deeds ( or works) have been: wrought in God; or divinely prompted, done with God's help, in dependence upon God.

Now ask yourself: How many works, or deeds, have I done that have been wrought, or prompted by God and with his help? How many works have I done that God has specifically told me to do, and then helped me to do them? - Not how many works have you done, hoping to please God. The first works for all are repentance - with God prompting or showing you what to repent from, and then you through sorrow, resolving to do do better - repentance.

Paul : I declared.. that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Acts 26:20
Jesus said, unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Luke 13:3. Repentance requires effort on your part.
And, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Rev 3:19
Jesus further said, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Mat 11:29
Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23
Jesus said, I have not found thy works perfect before God. Rev 3:2-3. He wants perfect works, energized by faith.
Hear! Jesus said: Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.  Luke 13:24
The gospel of grace would have you believe striving is unnecessary, yet Jesus ordered us to strive, (to exert much effort or energy).

If you are a believer, you will seek God; you will seek his Kingdom, within you and around you, and his righteousness as your highest priority in life. In this seeking process, you will first hear the living Word of God, Christ instruct you and chastise you. Later the Light of God in every man, Christ, will expose the sins your heart; and if you believe that he who shows you your sin is Christ, loving Christ, you will acknowledge your sin and you will be sorry - you will repent. With sincere repentance, Christ will then remove the desire to sin from your heart, (a work prompted by God and assisted by God's grace). This repentance and resulting cleansing is the purification process, described in 1 John, (click to read). This is a repetitive process, until your heart has been cleansed of all sin, until you are purified. Thus he can now make you perfect in every good work to do his will, Heb 13:11;  a forever cleansing and perfection with resulting union that is now available to all who go to him for change. This is the operation of true grace, which is not salvation - instead, grace brings salvation by teaching us and purifying us over time - as described by Paul in Titus 2:11-14:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,
looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:11-14

After you are purified, made pure in heart, you will be prompted by God to do further works to his glory, according to his will. You will be directed to a virtuous life, and you will have a zeal for good works.

Now when the Light appears in final judgment, you will have no fear of evil works being exposed; instead you will come out into the Light, knowing that your deeds will be shown to have been wrought by, or produced by, or prompted and assisted by God.

But, if you have not been purified in this life before you die, when the Light, Christ appears to judge you, you will shrink back in fear, knowing that you have practiced evil in your life, with fear of the consequences to shortly come - even if you think you are a Christian and call him Lord.

So until you have been changed by grace, listening to His words spoken to you, obeying them, and then watching His light, gently never upbraiding, show you the secrets of your heart, [until having done this] you will fear the light at judgment and will run from the light into darkness.

Further on the verse before John 3:16, quoted out of context:

Examine the verse, just before the 'whoever believes' verse:
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[a] have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Verse 14 refers to the following scripture of the Israelites' journey through the wilderness, seeking the promise land; as below:

And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. Numbers 21:5-9.

While journeying to the promise land, they grumbled, they sinned. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among them. The people asked Moses to pray for the Lord to take them away. But that is not what the Lord did. He told Moses to prepare a fiery serpent and put it on a pole, so that everyone who was bitten could look at it, but not die. Understand, the serpents were not taken away; they were still being bitten as they walked through the wilderness, seeking the promise land, their physical salvation. They were bitten, but they didn't die; as long as they continued to look at the bronze serpent on the pole.

So, as we are seeking the promise land, (the Kingdom of Heaven that is within us and around us, our first priority in life), we will continue to sin, until pure. Part of this journey is supernatural suffering. We are afflicted with fiery trials and tribulations. When these afflictions occur, our selfish sinful nature will even get angry and complain. Like the Israelites we will believe we have been unjustly punished with water of affliction and the bread of adversity, which we loathe; so we will sin against God. We will be tempted to quit; to give up our journey. But if we keep our spiritual eye on the example of suffering by Jesus on the cross, and his payment made for our sins, we will travel on and not spiritually die in the desert. And while seeking, our journey through this spiritual desert is not only dry and famishing, but it includes suffering, for we must participate in His sufferings to arrive at the Kingdom of Heaven, the end of our journey. This is the cross of Christ, at which we must keep looking, to be aware of in our sufferings and ameliorate them. So, while sinning and suffering in the desert, if we believe in the name of Jesus, the Son of God, who died for us on the cross, we will not perish, but will go on to death of the fleshly self, union with God, and entrance in to the Kingdom of Heaven, with everlasting life as a Son of God.

Do not think it strange the fiery trial you are undergoing,
but rejoice that you are participating in the sufferings of Christ,
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Peter 4:12-13

Paul was establishing and strengthening the souls and the hearts of the disciples,
urging and warning and encouraging them to stand firm in the faith,
and that it is through many hardships and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22-23

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps
1 Pet 2:21

For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
2 Tim 2:11-12

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body,
arm yourselves also with the same attitude,
because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires,
but rather for the will of God.
1 Pet 4:1-2

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the sinful nature,
with its passions and desires.
Gal 5:24

Are you really in Christ?

Jesus told us that many people who are convinced they are Christians, who called him Lord, who even did miracles in his name, would be rejected by him at judgment - because they still practiced evil - they still sinned - and therefore were still slaves of sin. They were obviously not in his name, even though they said they were acting in his name. He was obviously not yet their Lord of thought, word, and deed - even though they called him Lord.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?
'Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Mat 7:22-23

Jesus replied,"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
John 8:34

To be in Christ is explained by Paul. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor 5:17. This is not to imagine yourself a new creature; this is to experience the death of the old and the birth of the new. And death of the old is only through the cross of Christ, sharing in the suffering of Christ, sharing in the death of Christ, sharing in the burial of Christ, sharing in the resurrection of Christ - that is NEW - all else is presumption and imagination, or make-believe Christianity.

For more on suffering, as a necessary part of the Christian journey to salvation, click here. For the suffering of the cross is necessary to be purged of the doings (practices) of the flesh..: they are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21. and You can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person..has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Eph 5:5-6

Someone who truly believes seeks and repents, to eventually become pure and produce the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control. Gal 5:22-23

Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance. Matt 3:8

When you bear (produce) much fruit,
My Father is honored and glorified,
and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
John 15:8  

If we really believe in Jesus, we will keep seeking him until we are pure. The cross of Christ is where we crucify our lusts and affections.

Everyone who has this hope in him
purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1 John 3:2-3

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:27

This web site is to destroy the false hope, created by taking a subset of scriptures such as John 3:16 alone, while ignoring the whole; and to show you the true hope. When you can grasp and believe this true hope, the power of God to change you is released. The name of Jesus, faith in the true gospel, and the cross of Christ are the power of God to make you an entirely new creature. Everything else is a make-believe Christianity, falsely based on presumption. Christendom has discarded the cross of Christ, thereby missing the promise of God. Taking a single verse, or even a subset of scriptures, while ignoring the whole of the scriptures, is a disastrous error - universal in Christendom; creating hypocrites - those who talk about being religious while walking in sin. This attempts to make the pearl of great price into a no cost sinner's prayer and getting wet. To save your soul, you must loose your fleshly life, for you cannot please God in the flesh.

For more information on the Light, see the Mystery of the Light.
For more information on producing fruit, see The Evidence of a True Follower, Producing Fruit.
For information on how to receive the convicting, changing power of God, see How to Benefit from the Changing Power of God.
To read about people who have become pure and under the control of God, see George Fox, William Penn, George Whitehead, James Parnell, Francis Howgill, Edward Burrough, William Dewsbury, Isaac Penington, Margaret Fox, and Miguel de Molinos.

This web site's purpose is to show how to become
free from sin
by benefiting from the changing power of God through the cross,
which leads to union with God in his Kingdom.