John 3:19

Condemnation. Greek krisis, the process of judging, not krima, the sentence, or the result, of judging.

Light is come. See on ch. 1:4, 5, 9. Here John explains how condemnation comes upon men. It is not because God has willed that some men be lost (see on ch. 3:18), but because some men have preferred darkness to light. The sentence is not arbitrary, but the inevitable result of the law that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Every man’s fate is determined by his own reaction to the light. While men remain unenlightened there is no condemnation (Ps. 87:4, 6; Eze. 3:18-21; 18:2-32; 33:12-20; Luke 23:34; John 15:22; Rom. 7:7, 9; 1 Tim. 1:13), but when the light of truth shines into their hearts “they have no cloak for their sin” (John 15:22). Men who are unwilling to give up their evil ways prefer darkness, and in so doing blind themselves to the light (2 Cor. 4:4). On the other hand, Jesus has promised that those who choose to follow Him “shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12) and that no one shall be able to “pluck” them out of His hand (ch. 10:28).