It is quite common for Christians today to decry a Gospel that is presented as fire insurance. Usually, what is meant by this is that the Gospel is surely more than something we "believe" in which will keep us from going to hell.
I remember being told once that when a person becomes a Christian, the only reason for God not to take them to heaven right away is so that they can share the Gospel with others, so that others might be saved. This is the kind of thinking that is associated with the Gospel as fire insurance. And surely it is a misrepresentation of creation, humanity, and salvation.
But Jesus' statement in John 3 struck me the other day. Here are the two verses immediately following our beloved John 3:16.
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.
One reason the Fire Insurance Gospel is wrong is because insurance is something we get in case something bad happens to us. It will then protect us or restore us somehow. But John 3:18 states that whoever does not believe in Jesus stands condemned. The verdict has been pronounced. Condemned and guilty. It's not a question of whether something bad might happen to us. Like, we might get thrown into hell. We are condemned.
But Jesus offers us great news. We can trade our condemned status for not-condemned status. Who wouldn't take that? Make no mistake, this is no insurance, this is a life-line thrown to someone heading to the gallows.
