The Believer of John 3:16

Sermons

Murray Wade
06/08/25 - Sunday

Oak Ridge, TN (6-8-25) – The Believer of John 3:16

The world uses the term believer in certain ways and we may use the term believer in certain ways. There is a large variety of meanings for this term “believer” and I would like to study who the Believer of John 3:16 is? Please open your Bibles and read John 3:14-16 (NKJV). So from this verse we can see that those who believe in Christ, whom God gave to die for us, should not perish but have everlasting life.

Demons (Luke 4:40-41, 8:28, James 2:19): Are these examples of the believer of John 3:16? Will demons have everlasting life?
Judas (Matthew 26:24, 47-50, 27:3-5): Is Judas an example of the believer of John 3:16? Will Judas have everlasting life? He believed in who Jesus was. He saw numerous miracles performed by Jesus. Even when Judas came with soldiers, Jesus called him a friend.
Jewish Rulers (John 12:42-43): These believed, but were afraid they would be thrown out of the synagogue.
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 4:32, 5:3, 9): Ananias and Sapphira saw the great power of the apostles giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They believed that Jesus was the Christ – yet they will not have everlasting life.
Those on Pentecost (Acts 2:37): They were believers but still in their sins (Acts 2:38-41).
Paul (Acts 9:9-12): After Paul saw Jesus he was a believer but still in his sins (Acts 22:16).
King Agrippa (Acts 26:27-29): He was not yet willing to submit to God and become a Christian, a disciple, a saved believer. I would hope that he did at some point after.

It is obvious that not every believer mentioned in the NT is the believer of John 3:16. We know that the believer of John 3:16 will receive eternal life. So what KIND of believer is John 3:16 talking about?

1. The believer that comes to God by faith; faith that one receives by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). A true believer comes to God through faith produced by hearing the gospel, which has the power to save (Romans 1:16).

2. The believer is one with a pure heart (Matthew 5:8, Acts 15:7-9, 1 Peter 1:22-25). Earlier we talked about Ananias and Sapphira. Did they have pure hearts? No; and because of their impure hearts, they lost eternal life.

3. The believer is penitent (sorrowful, repentant, humble) (Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19, Acts 17:30-31, 2 Corinthians 7:10). The believer has a remorseful attitude in order to have everlasting life. The believer of John 3:16 is one who has repented.

4. The believer is one baptized for the remission of their sins (Mark 16:15-16, Acts 8:12-13, 35-39). Notice how intertwined baptism is with belief.

5. The believer is one whose faith works through love (John 14:15, Romans 2:10, Galatians 5:6, Philippians 2:12-13, Titus 3:8).

6. The believer is one who is saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5; 2:8-9, Titus 2:11-14). Disciples have not earned anything! We are only saved by the Grace of the gift of Jesus for our sins.

Closing

The believer of John 3:16 has faith from the Word of God, a pure heart, is sorry about his sins and wants to do better, has been baptized, works with love for God and love for their neighbor, and is saved by grace. Not every believer is the kind referred to in John 3:16. John 3:16 is referring to a saved believer; a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).