Scripture Scribbles: May 31, 2026 - The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
the Gospel
John 3:16-18
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
the scribble
So concise, meaningful, and comforting --- this gospel is one of the most popular passages in the Bible.
God loves the world so much. It is the whole world. It is everyone. His message is inclusive, not exclusive. God loves not just the kind, the obedient, the pious, the humble, the faithful, and all the others possessing positive traits. God loves also the bad, the disobedient, the non-believers, the proud, the doubtful, and all the others possessing negative traits. What an all-encompassing and unconditional love. However, to gain an eternal life, the condition of God is that we believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son. This is just fair, isn’t it?
Our creator has the power to grant salvation, but this will depend on whether we accept or reject Jesus as our savior. God wants us to follow Christ and live well as Christians.
I find “condemn” too strong a word. Perhaps because based on the Bible, whoever does not believe in the name of the only son of God has already been condemned. Sounds so final. No chances anymore. No redeeming words. Then, isn’t it more frightening to face condemnation than to have faith in our messiah?
Yes, accepting Jesus as real and trusting him to save us will cost us a lot but it is worth it. At times, we might stumble and fall because of too many distractions and temptations. At one point, we might have doubts and will question Jesus when things don’t turn out exactly the way we wanted them to. Other times, we might forget to trust Christ first and will trust other things instead, because we have gotten too attached to worldly things and concerns.
Despite the mentioned obstacles, believing the Lord is still the better choice because we do not want to be condemned, do we? We have only two options: salvation or condemnation. We are choosing the former because it is the RIGHT choice.
At the end of the day, we know and we will make the right decision because this is about our redemption. As they say, eyes on the prize. The prize is REDEMPTION. It is not a light matter. It is a very serious matter.
May we be able to maintain and enhance our BELIEF in the Lord as we continue to live our Christian lives. Amen.
Today’s devotion was written by Edwina Yu
