John 3:19-21 (B)

Now, it is not as if these evildoers merely prefer evil, that while they commend the light and those who come to the light, they just feel that they must head toward another way. No, John says, "Everyone who does evil hates the light." They resent and detest the light. Some run away from it, and some actively oppose it. Paul lashed out at the light until the light struck back and made a believer out of him (Acts 9).

The evildoer "will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." You see, there is something wrong with him. There is something wrong with the non-Christian. There is something wrong with the person who hears the gospel but does not believe. There is something wrong with the person who argues against Christianity. And there is something wrong with the person who affirms a religion other than the Christian faith. There is nothing wrong with Christ or Christianity, but what is wrong is that the evildoer fears that his deeds will be exposed. The word rendered "exposed" can also mean to convict or to reprove.

This is the reason why people do not come to Christ and believe in him. It is not because there is something wrong on the side of Christianity, but it is because the unbeliever is evil, and he does not want to be exposed, convicted, and reproved. He resents and fears the light, and so he runs away from it and hides from it. Those who wish to retain their pride sometimes ridicule it, argue against it, and slander it by making up stories about it.

They would give themselves all sorts of reasons for not coming to the light, fearing that they would be exposed for the depraved individuals that they are. For example, some people might base their unbelief on a work of fiction, a novel based on old and refuted theories about the Christian faith. And often their arguments and theories even contradict one another. But they are desperate, and so they will hang on to anything to give them an excuse.

In contrast, "whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." The verse literally says, "whoever does the truth," or as in the NASB, "he who practices the truth." So in these three verses (v. 19-21), John gives us a picture of one who does evil and one who does the truth.

Although John is fond of contrasts and parallels, his description of these two persons do not exactly correspond at every point. The former does evil, but rather than saying that the latter does good, he says that this person does "the truth." In both his Gospel and his Epistles, "truth" is inseparably tied to the person and doctrine of Jesus Christ. Thus the person who welcomes the light is not just one who does good in general, but he is one who follows or practices the teachings of Christ.

He comes to the light "so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." Here is another point where the contrast is not an exact parallel. The evildoer does not come to the light because his deeds are evil, and he does not want to be exposed, convicted, and reproved. On the other hand, John does not say that the one who comes to the light wishes all to see that his deeds are good, but he wishes to make it known that his deeds have been "done through God," or literally, "wrought in God" (NASB). The one who comes to the light does so because God has been working in and through him. The verse thus teaches "a strong doctrine of divine election."

(to be continued)

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