IT’S an intriguing question: “Should a law designed to stop abortion protests be used to criminalise gospel preaching? John 3:16 is a wonderful, famous verse and everyone knows it says nothing about abortion.”

This got me thinking. Can we really say that everyone who knows this Biblical verse would say it has nothing to do with abortion? I would hazard a guess that lots of people in Britain have no idea what it says, let alone what it means. Given this, I couldn’t resist the challenge to make sure that you do, even if you disagree with my interpretation.

John 3:16 summarises the Christian gospel brilliantly because it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Now that may sound fairly innocuous, but I can see why there are those who would find it offensive and react against it. Take the phrase ‘one and only Son’ for example. This stresses that Jesus was divine and in so doing tells us quite bluntly that if we want to know the answers to life, the universe and everything we must accept the teaching of Jesus because He was God incarnate. We may not understand everything He said of course, and we may find somethings difficult to accept but it tells us we have to come to terms with the fact that in the final analysis we have to trust the teaching of that remarkable man from Nazareth.

There’s that reference to ‘perishing’ too. The Greek word was used of faulty wineskins and drowning, all of which point to our sinfulness and the prospect of judgement and hell. Lots of people find that sort of teaching pretty unsettling, if not offensive.

Having said all this, we would be missing the main thrust of His teaching if we failed to recognise the importance of love, a love that is both universal and sacrificial. God is love and wants nothing but the best for us. Indeed, He is willing to go to any length to show us how we can discover life to the full which means we must learn to love one another the way that He has shown His love to us.

No one understood this better than the apostle Paul. “Love is patient, love is kind,” he wrote. “It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

In other words, Jesus has said: ‘If you really want to get the most out of life - both now and throughout eternity - let Me show you the way. Trust Me, I’m the expert.’