The New Testament message about Jesus is stated in binary terms:  either we’re for him or against him; either we follow him on the road to life or abandon him to take the path of destruction.  John’s Gospel brings this out emphatically:  with Jesus it’s light vs. darkness; sight vs. blindness; truth vs. lies; freedom vs. slavery.

John 3 is crystal clear:  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (3:3).  With­out God’s gift of new birth (1:12-13), people will not enter into the eternal joy of life under King Jesus’ beautiful, benevolent reign.

John 3:16 states the dualism bluntly:  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Either we trust in the saving Son of God lovingly sent to rescue us from sin’s guilt, or we turn away from Christ and perish (see also 3:36).

In John 4 the metaphor changes but not the message:  Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (4:14).  Worshipping Jesus as “the Savior of the World” (4:42) brings eternal satisfaction.  But without his “living water,” we’re spirit­ually parched and lost forever.

Some chafe at Scripture’s binary vision:  “Such stark polarity—surely God must be more open-minded than that!”  But think:  Only dualism acknowledges Jesus’ uniqueness; only a binary vision of reality can show how mag­nificent the living, reigning, all-glorious Christ truly is.  If Jesus were presented merely as the leader for one of many life-path options, he’d be reduced to a non-spectacular figure with nothing to commend him as supreme.  Such a leader would not be worthy of worship, nor could he ever meet our need for mercy or satisfy our longing for eternal joy.  Thank God for biblical clarity:  I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (14:6).