[Zguy28]

Originally Posted by PsyOps

Obviously I haven’t been clear. The term condemn that I am using is to condemn someone to eternal damnation. In other words telling someone they are going to hell if they don’t believe.

When Jesus was crucified he said “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do”. Although Christ condemned the act of crucifying him, he forgave them because they were completely ignorant of the spiritual implications of the act. Jesus also said: “… I’ve come not to condemn the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47). He did say that we condemn ourselves by not accepting Him and, by our own choice, subject ourselves to God’s judgment.

I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t use the Bible to convey the message. I’m just not one to throw it in someone’s face while telling them they are going to hell if they don’t believe in it. When the rich man approached Jesus and asked how to get into heaven Jesus gave him His answer. When the rich man rejected it, Jesus didn’t go chasing him down, with a more stern tone. He simply said to others how hard it is for a rich man to enter into heaven and left it at that.

DO you think it is proper to use this passage in preaching the Gospel?

John 3:16-18

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.