Commentary on John 1:29 and John 12:47

Being the Word of God, John 1:29 can only mean exactly that which it states. Jesus came into the world for the actual purpose of removing sin from the world and not just from believers saved by grace. God's project has always been to effect an absolute separation of all the goodness He put into His original creations from all of the sin that has infected it. Jesus came to save the world that God created, not the sinful part of the world. John 12:47. God will save His created world by effecting an absolute separation of all goodness from all evil. Revelation 22:11-12.

God demonstrates this same kind of project in the case of believers saved by grace. God actually saves believers forever while still living on the earth because they put their faith in the blood of Jesus to cleanse their souls and spirits from all sins so that God can recreate them. They experience a separation of their sins from their inner being while still alive in the flesh. God gives them the "born again" experience of John 3:3 and John 5:24. But the fleshly nature of the believer does not get cleansed from sin in the "born again" experience. The fleshly, sinful nature of the believer must await the Rapture of the Church for God to cleanse him thoroughly and give him a recreated body like that of Christ Himself. I John 3:2. God allows only these special believers saved by grace to obtain a home with Him in heaven. When God planned the salvation of the world, He recognized that certain people whom God calls "the elect" would be capable of believing in the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son while still alive in the flesh on the earth. This special class of people constitutes all those who are saved by grace through faith. I Peter 1:2-5.

But the salvation of the world that John the Baptist spoke about in John 1:29 and which Jesus spoke about in John 12:47 extends far beyond salvation by grace. It extends to God's recovery of all His goodness that He originally created, and His recreation of a righteous people to live on His recreated earth. Colossians 1:15-20. The "all things" of verse 16 is the same "all things" of verse 20. Verse 18 also reveals that the Church is but "the beginning, the firstborn from the dead" of God's complete salvation denoted by the phrase "that in all things He might have the preeminence." The phrase "all things" can only mean God's complete creation. But God's complete salvation effected first by grace and then by His recreation of His recovered goodness as a new human race to live on His new earth all connects directly to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Without the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, God's complete salvation would not be possible. God proved that His love for mankind could never be broken when He took the whole of the sins of humanity on Himself on an old rugged cross. God never does anything without a purpose. There would have been no purpose for Christ to take all of the sins of mankind on Himself unless He intended to save all of humanity. Colossians 1:20. In Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, God's Love passed the most extreme test possible. I Corinthians 13:8.