“condemn” is the Greek krino and literally means to judge, to pronounce an opinion as to right and wrong, particulary in a court of law.

This verse says that Jesus did not come into the world to judge it and yet elsewhere we are told that He will judge the world. Jesus even stated in John 9:39, “For judgment I am come into this world…”  Note also the following references that Jesus will judge all men in the final judgment. (Matt 25:31-46 John 5:22 5:27 Acts 10:42 17:31 Rom 2:16 2Cor 5:10 2Tim 4:1)

John 9:39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

How are we to resolve these apparent discrepancies? By observing the second half of the verse.  God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to save the world, not judge them; they were already judged by their evil deeds.  Holtzmann says that Christ comes to judge the world “as little as the sun comes to throw a shadow.” But “judgment like the shadow is the natural consequence of the world’s constitution and circumstances.” (qt’d in Morris p. 232) Jesus came into the world to save those in it. If He came so that those who believe in Him should not perish, how can those who reject His gift of eternal life do anything but perish?