Jesus Christ In The Writings Of John
JESUS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
Lesson Text:
John 3:10-21 (KJV)
Subject:
The Kingdom of Heaven and How to Become a Member
Golden Text:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16)
Lesson Plan:
1. JESUS RECEIVES AN EVENING VISITOR (VS. 1, 2)
2. A CONVERSATION CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (VS. 3-8)
3. THE AUTHORITY BEHIND THE TEACHING (VS. 9-13)
4. THE WAY TO THE NEW LIFE (VS. 14-17)
5. A PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT (VS. 18-21)
8. CONCLUSION
Setting of the Lesson:
Time: Sometime in April, A.D. 27, during Jesus’ visit at Jerusalem for the Passover.
Place: Some room in Jerusalem at a house where Jesus was a guest. Reached by an outer stairway. Jesus: With five or six followers. One miracle. One typical deed. One sign given. John: Still preaching in the wilderness. Place in the Life of Christ: Early in the first year of His ministry. The Judean ministry. The year of beginnings.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Make a study of Bible teachings concerning the kingdom of heaven and its nature, using any good concordance under the titles “Kingdom of heaven,” “Kingdom of God.”
b. A study of the conditions of membership in it, such as “faith,” “repentance,” “confession,” “baptism,” “born again.”
c. From these write out a summary of your conclusions.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 3:1, 2
1. JESUS RECEIVES AN EVENING VISITOR
When, in what period of Christ’s ministry did this teaching occur?
During the Passover feast, after the cleansing of the temple, and after Jesus had performed some miracles (John 2:23). It was one evening in the spring. Jesus spent the larger part of the first year of His ministry in Judea, giving the first opportunity to leaders, men of dominant personality, men of learning, wisdom and influence.
Describe the man who came to Jesus one night
3:1 ... “A man of the Pharisees.” The most religious sect of the Jews; the most learned, the most devoted to the study of the Bible; the least entangled in Roman politics, cherishing the hope of a coming Messiah and Deliverer. At the same time many of them did not live up to their belief, and were selfish at heart, holding false notions concerning the Messiah and His kingdom.
3:1 ... “A ruler of the Jews.” That is, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court and Senate, or Parliament, combined. The members were scholars of authority, of great dignity, and of supreme control in state and church, always one in Jewish polity. He was probably a man of wealth and prominence among his fellow members.
3:1 ... “Names Nicodemus.” “Victory of the people,” or “Conqueror of the people.”
Why did he go to Jesus by night?
a. It is unjust to Nicodemus to charge him with cowardice because of this. He shows no sign of fear, but he does show wisdom and prudence, and the kind of timidity that is connected with these qualities.
b. He was probably busy during the day, and no doubt Jesus was not at home during the day, being out and about doing good.
c. The quiet evening hour, “far from the madding crowd,” was the best time for his purpose, and he could have as long a conversation as he pleased.
d. It was a matter of the commonest prudence not to commit himself publicly to the new Teacher till he knew more about Him. Why? Because if so prominent a man as Nicodemus had been seen consorting with Jesus all sorts of reports would have spread around, created misunderstandings, invited interference and hindering the accomplishment of his purpose. Sometimes courage is required to be viewed by others as being afraid.
“Similarly the founder of the Megaric school of philosophy, visited Socrates by night when Athens was closed against his people by an edict” (Grotius).
Compare the Queen of Sheba coming to see the wisdom of Solomon (Matt. 12:42; 1 Kings 10:1-13).
What was his object in visiting Jesus?
This is plainly seen in the statement he made to Jesus.
3:2 ... “Rabbi [Teacher, Master; a very respectful address], We know [and he soon gives his reason] Thou are a teacher come from God.” Not that he was a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, but he accepted Him as a prophet revealing the will of God.
3:2 ... “For no man can do these miracles [signs] . . . except God be with Him.” The signs were such that only God could do them. The Prophet could not do them of Himself. They were worthy of God and His messenger
Nicodemus, a learned man, certainly spoke admiringly of Jesus. As one “teacher” to another “Teacher,” Nicodemus saw in the “signs” Jesus performed evidence of God’s power and blessing. Did Nicodemus see more? Not necessarily. We know, however, that God was building up to revealing the true nature of His Son. The progressive revelation of God continued.
Jesus was a Jew. His stature, learning, life, and activities led the Sanhedrin Rabbi Nicodemus to address Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher” (John 3:2a). Jesus knew the Torah; the teachers of the Torah were aware that He knew well the Sacred Writings. Therefore, when Jesus used the Scriptures as testimony of His divinity, the teachers did not miss His point. They were aghast and incensed because they knew that He was serious. They knew He was claiming to be God.
Nicodemus did not ask anything, yet his statement implies that he came to learn about the kingdom of God, and perhaps other questions being discussed among the people, such as “What message do You bring from God that will throw light on these stirring and perplexing questions?” “Is the kingdom of God at hand?” “Is John the Baptist taking the right course with his baptism of repentance?” etc.
Who were present at the interview?
Besides Jesus and Nicodemus it is likely the Apostle John was there, reporting what he heard and saw. The other four or five followers of Jesus were probably with friends in various parts of the city.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 3:3-8
2. A CONVERSATION CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
(It's Nature Shown by the Conditions of Belonging to It)
What is the kingdom of heaven?
It is that condition or state where God reigns as King, where He is the supreme object of love and service, where His will is the law, and men obey it as naturally as they breathe, where all His subjects are formed in His holy image and inspired with His spiritual life. It is that for which we pray in the first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Belonging to God’s kingdom means many things. He belongs to God’s kingdom:
Who recognizes God as his Father; Who hallows His name; Who constantly seeks to obey God’s will without hesitation; Whose supreme desire and aim is that His kingdom shall grow; Who does God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven.
And when all men have been offered and have accepted this supreme love and grace of God, then this world will have truly been transformed into paradise, the kingdom of heaven.
Paul expresses the essential meaning when he places the “fruits of the Spirit,” whose source and inspiration are the Holy Spirit,1 in contrast with the “works of the flesh.”
This kingdom naturally required some form or organization to best accomplish its work. But the two ideas, however closely allied, are as distinct as body and soul. One may have form without the spirit, as well as spirit without the organization.
What was Jesus teaching about belonging to the kingdom of God?
3:3 ... “Verily, verily [repeated for the sake of emphasis], I [the Teacher sent from God] say unto thee [this is My message], Except a man be born again.” “Anew,” as in the R.V. Whosoever is “born again” is “born anew” and “born from above.”
Although alive physically, we may be dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1). Death means separation. If we are spiritually dead, we are separated from God. Therefore, we must be born again of water and the Spirit in order to have “newness of life” (John 3:1-8). This new birth occurs when we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-11) and receive the Person of the Holy Spirit as a gift (Acts 2:38-41). Spiritual life begins when the Holy Spirit enters in. If one allows the Spirit to continue to live within, “the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8b). Except a man have a new spiritual life imparted by the Holy Spirit, in addition to his natural life received through his parents.
3:3 ... “he cannot see [understand, know the meaning of, feel the motives, realize the presence of] the kingdom of God.”
What is it to be born anew, from above?
a. We have a natural physical life. We live in a world of sense. Our supreme choice may be to enjoy this life, making its pleasures and desires supreme, possessing the things that minister to it, at any cost, at the expense of other people, at the expense of conscience, duty and love. This is the life of the flesh, of this world. A thousand good, lovely and charming things may come into this life. But when one or the other must give way, the test of life becomes: what is our supreme choice?
b. There is a life of supreme love to God and His commands, a spiritual realm, belonging to the higher nature. Whosoever enters into this realm is alive to God, righteousness and love. His chief controlling motives are love to God and love to man. His deepest choice is to serve and obey God. It is the beginning of a character that will grow into the heavenly life, perfection of the human being.
This life is imparted by the Spirit of God, enabling one to choose God, gaining the victory over the lower nature. It is by this power, through this inspiration, under this influence that we are enabled to bear the fruits of the spirit which are the virtues of the kingdom of heaven.
In his book “Brain and Personality,” Thomson points out that the will is the ranking official in man. The will is king in man. “It is the will which creates the man.” It is through the decision and choice of the will that the decision is made regarding which kingdom we will serve. And the Spirit of God works on this will. “Our wills are ours, we know not how, Our wills are ours to make them Thine.”
“Everywhere the issues of life are chiefly determined by the will . . . Christian discipleship begins where all excellence begins, in the dedication of the will to goodness . . . Seek first God’s kingdom and its righteousness. This is not the whole of the Christian faith, but it is its first article . . . The reason is like the sails of a ship, which give momentum and lift; the feelings are the waves, thrown off tumultuously on either side; but the rudder, which direction and control to life, is the will.” (Peabody)
“Science seems to me to teach in the highest and strongest manner the great truth embodied in the Christian conception of entire surrender to the will of God . . . I have only begun to learn content and peace of mind since I have resolved at all risks to do this.” (Harrison)
“I resolved to devote all my life to God, all my thoughts, words, and actions.” (Wesley).
“I have been for the last hour on the seashore, not dreaming, but thinking deeply and strongly, and forming determinations which are to affect my destiny through time and eternity. Before the sleeping earth and the sleeping sea and stars, I have devoted myself to God – a vow never (if He gives me the faith I pray for) to be recalled.” (Kingsley)
Does this new birth imply a perfect Christian character?
The word “born” implies that this new life from above is the beginning of a process of growth. There has begun the child-like of the kingdom which, through the continued influence of the Spirit, will grow into “the perfect man in Christ Jesus,” and through stress and storm and battle become at last complete, like the fisherman’s hut in Goethe’s, Tale of Tales, transformed, by virtue of the light within, into an exquisitely beautiful temple of solid silver. At any time during the process the unchanged portions of the rough timbers can be seen, and homeliness form of untransformed parts. But the Seeing Eye perceives the process.
Why is one not born again unable to see the kingdom of God?
Life is full of illustrations. A stingy man cannot see the blessedness of giving. One who has no ear for music cannot understand the seventh-heaven exaltation of those who are filled with the spirit of music. Those who live and move and have their being in the works of the flesh do not understand, for they have not experienced the meaning, the blessedness, the glory of a life filled with the fruits of the Spirit. Becoming absorbed in the forms and organization of religious systems can easily make any elder, deacon, preacher, teacher, and leader blind to the reality of the spiritual life it is intended to foster.
Why was Nicodemus so astonished at this teaching?
Because as a leader among the chosen people of God – representatives of the kingdom of God for ages – to whom were given the promises, who possessed the only temple of the true God, who were the one organization of the true religion, it was hard for Nicodemus to realize that all this was just the outward expression of the means leading to the real spiritual kingdom of God. The real spiritual kingdom of God, wherein dwells righteousness; whose atmosphere is love, devotion, worship of the heart, all that makes heaven what it is. The lamp-stand was made for the light. In his own view, Nicodemus had already been born into the kingdom, a child of Abraham, an inheritor of the promises, a worshiper of the true God.
What further explanation did Jesus make?
Jesus replied by repeating His teaching with an explanation.
3:5 ... “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.” The new birth “of water and of the Spirit” is one birth, not two, despite there being two elements in it.
Born of water
One of these elements “born of water,” is water baptism; the element of the new birth which man must do and for which man is responsible. “For this reason, in Acts 22:16, Saul of Tarsus was commanded, ‘Get thyself baptized.’” (Vine)
“Born of water” is a reference to the ceremony of baptism; but there is no magic in water, nor does the ceremony itself contribute anything to sanctification, as often alleged. Millions of faithful Christians can testify that submission to the commandment of baptism did not automatically give them a new nature, the new nature coming through a growth process in consequence of the endowment of the Spirit. Care should be taken to distinguish between “baptism”2 as a reference to the immersion ceremony, and “baptism” meaning the new birth of which the ceremony is an element. Jesus Himself used the word in this latter sense in Mark 16:16.
What then does the ceremony of baptism do?
a. It is the last of the preconditions of salvation, the others being: believing, repenting, and confessing Christ. Once the sinner has complied with the preconditions of salvation, God then forgives all previous sin, granting a state of absolute innocence in God’s sight. Fulfilling these preconditions does not merit or earn God’s forgiveness. It does not place God under any obligation other than His own gracious and merciful promise, i.e., to endow obedient sinners with a status of absolute innocence in His sight. This is accomplished, not by the ceremony of baptism, but by God when the ceremony is obeyed – not before. This is clear from “Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).
b. The penitent sinner receives a clear conscience by submitting to the ceremony. This is affirmed by the apostle Peter (1 Pet. 3:21). Even many of the religious organizations denying the necessity of baptism have not dispensed with it altogether, no doubt because of conscience. The universal rejoicing attending submission to the ordinance of baptism was in New Testament times (Acts 8:38; 16:34, etc.), as in the 21st Century, certain evidence of a clear conscience.
c. The ceremony of immersion called baptism is the appointed device by which God inducts the penitent into corporate union with the Son of God, i.e., into His kingdom, church, or spiritual body. This status uniquely belongs to the baptismal ceremony. “Baptizing into the Name (Matt. 28:19) would indicate that the baptized person was closely bound to, or became the property of, the one into whose Name he was baptized” (Vine). Three times the New Testament declares that men are baptized “into Christ,” or into His “body” (Gal. 3:26, 27; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:13). “Baptism is the occasion when the Spirit brings to new life him that believes in the Son of Man!”3
d. The baptismal ceremony is retrospective regarding past sins of the believer, i.e., the pivot separating believers from all sins, endowing a new status of innocence. Is it earned? No. The new status is a gracious gift of God to unworthy sinners. But only to those who penitently take God at His Word and obey the Gospel. God, not men, adds the baptized believer to the kingdom or church of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Acts 2:47).
e. But there is more. The new baptized believer, having a clear conscience, forgiven of all past sins, and added to the spiritual body, receives the Holy Spirit, not to make him a member of Christ (baptism did that), but because he is a member (Gal. 4:6). This is the second element in the new birth. Isn’t the Holy Spirit all that really matters? Perhaps in a sense; but this all-important thing is connected with the ceremonial element (baptism), made a contingent of it, a consequence following Christian baptism. That is why both are required; why both are essential; not separated births but one new birth. The apostles honored this requirement of both elements before there can be a new birth. On Pentecost, Peter said: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
Born of the Spirit
The other element of the new birth, “born of the Spirit,” is the receiving of the promised Holy Spirit, an earnest of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13, 14). Born of water is done by man. Being endowed with the Holy Spirit is God’s work. How can we possibly think that if someone omits their part, not being baptized, that God will go ahead and endow the Holy Spirit anyway, when John 3:5 clearly teaches that both elements are absolutely necessary in the new birth?
Whereas the ceremony of baptism is retrospective regarding past sins, the reception of the Holy Spirit is prospective, looking to the perfection of the believer in Christ. It is this progressive work of the Holy Spirit that leads to a greater and greater degree of sanctification in the heart of the saved.
Summary
When a person is truly baptized (and only believing, penitent, confessing persons can be truly baptized), as Christ commanded, God sends the Holy Spirit into his heart (the second element of the new birth). When viewed in connection with this divine fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, baptism is the new birth. But it is not a birth of water only, but of “water and of the Spirit” as Jesus said. On the other hand, when baptism is thought of as the water ceremony only, it is only part of the new birth, though a vital and necessary part. It is proper to use baptism as a synecdoche for the new birth in its entirety, as Jesus did in Mark 16:16.
What does it mean to follow in the steps of Jesus? Jesus came to do the will of His Father. The will of God for Jesus meant baptism, temptation, and the cross. What does God’s will mean for us? It means the baptism of the Great Commission, for one thing (Mark 16:15). Jesus invited us to do God’s will and showed us how that following in the steps of Jesus means doing the will of God. If Jesus was so serious about John’s baptism, how serious should we be about a greater baptism, the baptism of the Great Commission?
The baptism of the Great Commission is greater than John’s in its duration. John’s was only for a brief period; the Great Commission baptism is for the Christian Age. The baptism of John was administered by John; the baptism of the Great Commission was administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19-20). The baptism of the Great Commission is mentioned in the seven “ones” (Eph. 4:4-6), and John’s is not.
3:6 ... “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” etc. “By the word ‘flesh’ He signifies the appetites, desires, faculties, which animate and govern the body, as well as the body itself – the whole equipment with which nature furnishes a man for life in this world. This natural birth gives a man entrance into much, and forever determines much, that has important bearings on his person, character, and destiny.” (Dobs)
3:6 ... “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To belong to the spiritual kingdom it is essential to be born of the Spirit, just as it is essential to be born of the flesh to enter life in this world. This is the scientific law of biology. Even Aristotle lays down the same law, “every nature generates its own substance”4
3:7 ... “Marvel not,” because of the reason given in v. 8. Natural life is as full of mysteries as spiritual life.
3:8 ... “The wind.” “The same word in Greek as ‘spirit’ in the previous verses, occurring about three hundred and seventy times in the New Testament, meaning ‘wind’ only once, in a quotation from the Old Testament” (Exp. Greek Test.). Therefore two translations are possible, both teaching exactly the same truth.5
3:8 ... “The wind bloweth where it listeth,” or pleases, according to its own laws, absolutely beyond human knowledge and control.
3:8 ... “Thou hearest the sound thereof,” etc. You see the results, but the causes are beyond your reach. Even today, when we have daily reports from the weather bureau’, no one knows where and when a storm will arise. They see the storm and its direction, telling with great probability the place it is heading for and when it will get there. But regarding the beginning and end, they know not
3:8 ... “Whence it cometh and whither it goeth.”
3:8 ... “So is every one that is born of the Spirit.” We cannot know the Spirit’s methods. However, fruits of the new life are as plain and certain as forest trees bending in strong wind. We may not know much about how we are born again, but we know we are by the fruits. Even in the brightest light of science, the impartation of life to man, to animal, and to plant is still as great a mystery as ever. But the fact of life is a certainty.
Summary
In these verses Jesus helps Nicodemus believe and understand the invisible power of the new birth. It’s easy to understand that a baptismal ceremony can be seen; but forgiveness, a clean conscience, and receiving the Holy Spirit cannot be seen. Like the invisible wind’s profound power. “Jesus tells him that he should not reject a doctrine merely because he could not understand it. Neither could the wind be seen, but its effects were well known, and no one doubted the existence or power of the agent.” (Barnes)
Is this teaching a hindrance to becoming a Christian?
On the contrary, it is the greatest help, because the Holy Spirit is always present. It is no more hindrance than sunlight is a hindrance to seeing. You cannot see without light. Is that a reason for keeping the eyes shut when the light is always ready for open eyes?
Can we know when we are born again?
Does anyone really believe that Jesus was telling Nicodemus he could not tell “when” the wind was blowing? We all know when the wind is blowing. Christ also revealed the “when” of the new birth. It was “when” we are baptized into Christ. As Paul said, “Being then made free from sin” (Rom. 6:17, 18 A.V.), that is, “when” we have been baptized. Paul was discussing Christian baptism in that passage. He did not hesitate to make the Christian’s baptism the exact moment, the “then” of being made free from sin, becoming a servant of righteousness.
Briefly stated
We must be born again of water and the Spirit in order to have “newness of life” (John 3:1-8). This new birth occurs when we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-11) and receive the Person of the Holy Spirit as a gift (Acts 2:38-41). Spiritual life begins when the Holy Spirit enters in. If one allows the Spirit to continue to live within, “the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal. 6:8b)
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 3:9-13
3. THE AUTHORITY BEHIND THE TEACHING
(The Witness of Jesus to It's Truth)
What was Jesus’ authority for this teaching?
First, the authority of Scripture. To Nicodemus’ exclamation
3:9 ... “How can these things be?” Jesus refers him to the Scriptures.
A few similar questions might be:.
How did God create the heavens and earth?
How does God answer prayer?
How are the dead raised up?
Illustration
The chemist Farraday received an engraved cup of pure silver with his name and inscription on it. One day a workman knocked it into a jar of nitric acid and it was quickly consumed. The workman was frantic with concern, but Farraday only smiled. He added other chemicals to the jar, precipitated the silver from the solution, and returned it to the original craftsman; within six weeks, the same cup was sitting in its accustomed place, perfect as before, inscription and all. If man with his little learning can do something like that, how easily may God recall our human spirits and re-clothe them with robes of flesh. Shall we dare disbelieve it, simply because God has not permitted us to photograph Him in the process?
3:10 ... “Art Thou a Master [a teacher] of Israel,” your business being to study and explain the Scriptures.
3:10 ... “And knowest not these things?” You will find this truth in the Scriptures you teach.6
Is it not strange that the same pattern of evil is endlessly repeated? Just as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day stumbled at being “born of water,” i.e., at being baptized, so many in the 21st Century stumble at the very same thing; and it is no less a marvel now than it was then.
Second, the authority of personal knowledge and experience.
3:11 ... “We speak.” “We,” referring perhaps to God the Son, God the Spirit and God the Father. Or “We” including perhaps the disciples gathered with Jesus, sharing in the witness of the power of the new birth.
3:11 ... “That we do know … have seen.” If “We” is referring to His disciples, it would have the force of saying, “Nicodemus, I am not merely speaking the truth to you, but the demonstration of it is also before your eyes in the person of My disciples; and yet you do not receive the truth.”
3:12 ... “If I have told you earthly things,” the need of the new life, the new birth, and its fruits, things which can be experienced, seen and tested here.
3:12 ... How shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” “Heavenly things” refers to such things as the incarnation, Christ dying for the sins of the world, the existence of the spirit world, the final judgment, heaven, hell, and all the great spiritual realities lying utterly beyond earthly vision. It was of some such heavenly things that Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus.
In other words, these truths, i.e., divine forgiveness, perfect, free, universal love of God, the divine nature of Christ, the atonement, the reality of life beyond the grace, the way to obtain it, the blessedness of heaven, the glories of the Messiah’s kingdom, cannot be learned without a revelation from heaven;
3:13 ... “No man hath ascended up to heaven [and brought back the testimony of an eye-witness], but He that came down from heaven.” The “Word” of John 1:1-3, 14, Who “was with God, and was God,” and, therefore, knew absolutely the things which He revealed to men about spiritual and heavenly things.
3:13 ... “Which is in heaven.” “Here Jesus claimed His unique office as God’s messenger Who descended to man out of heaven, and yet, in a sense, Who was still in heaven. This verse, admittedly difficult, has led to the view that heaven is a state rather than a place, and that Jesus could say the Son of man was in heaven even while He was on earth. Another view supported by this is that during the personal ministry of Christ He continued in the full possession of His heavenly attributes. Still another concept that finds support is the doctrine of the ubiquitousness of Jesus.” (Coffman)
While on earth, Jesus’ home was still in heaven, and He continually maintained a vital connection with heaven. As Coffman pointed out above, so far as heaven is a state, Jesus was always in heaven. The whole universe is heaven to Jesus – His senses always open to perceive and receive.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 3:14-17
4. THE WAY TO NEW LIFE
3:14 ... “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.” This refers to the last of Moses’ miracles, on the borders of Canaan (Num. 21:4-9: 21:7ff). Because of rebellion and disobedience, the Israelites, on their wilderness journey to the Promised Land, were bitten by the fiery serpents, and many died. The bite was incurable. Moses was directed to make a brazen serpent, place it on a pole, and carry it through the camp, so that everyone could see. Anyone looking on this brazen serpent was cured. The looking was an act of faith, implying repentance and a return to obedience and God.
“It does not appear that the brazen serpent was ever intended as a type of Christ. It is possible to draw likenesses out of anything; but, in such matters as these, we should take heed that we go no farther than we can say, ‘Thus it is written.’” (Clarke)
3:14 ... “Even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” By His whole life, teaching, and character, but especially by the cross and its redeeming love, containing all motives and powers that attract men to Him.
Today the crucified Jesus is the best known, most exalted person in all history, in the entire world, past or present and so will He be forever.
Points of comparison:
The painful and deadly nature of sin, like the bite of the fiery serpents.
It is incurable by human power.
The “mode” of lifting up, so that all may see.
The “design” was similar – to save those who were dying.
The “conditions” of cure were the same – looking, believing and obeying.
What is the faith that saves?
3:15 ... “Whosoever believeth in Him.” Faith does not mean believing just any creed, doctrine or teaching of man’s religious systems. Romans 3 provides us with a clear understanding of the kind of faith that saves.7
a. Faith is a personal trust in Jesus, as King, Savior and Teacher.
b. Faith is total commitment to His guidance, to His revealed Truth.
c. Faith is trusting Christ so much that we seek out in God’s Holy Word how to be born again.
d. Faith is accepting and trusting Christ to put His obedient disciples under His personal influence and teachings.
e. Faith is accepting and trusting Christ so much that we believe what He says in the Holy Scriptures.
f. Faith is trusting Christ so much that we follow and obey all His directions and teachings as revealed in the Bible.
He knows the way; and we trust His guidance. He brings promises from God, and we accept them all as true.
3:15 ... “Should not perish” from the effects of sin, the natural result of which is the ruin of the soul.
We need to always be on guard and not be fooled by teachings of men, when in contradiction with God’s Holy Word, especially the misconception that is sometimes substituted for the verse now under consideration, changing its meaning to: “All believers shall be saved, whether or not they are ever baptized into Christ.” But, those souls, who, by faith, have been born again and who are now striving daily to obey God through studying, accepting and believing His Holy Word will never perish.
3:15 ... “But have eternal life.” Eternal life is the life which nothing can destroy, which endures beyond the grave, growing fuller and richer as the ages roll on. It is a Christian’s present possession, and does not begin with the world to come, but continues in it. It is more than mere endless existence. It is goodness, fullness of life, joy, peace, love. It is the kind of life lived in heaven, the kind of life God lives.
Dr. Harrison often spoke about everlasting life. Toward the end of one of his sermons, he said: “I may lose fame, I may lose money, I may lose friends, I may lose everything – no, there is something I can never lose. Praise be to God, I shall always keep it – everlasting life.”
How do we know that the faith in Jesus that obeys will save us?
We know it because the coming of Jesus and the death of Jesus are the highest proofs that God loves us, even when we were sinners; that He has done all that wisdom and love can do to save us from sin; and, as we have studied in this lesson, He has provided the means of salvation.
3:16 ... “God so loved the world.” Not merely heavenly beings, angels, seraphim, and saints, but this poor, sinful, unworthy world, so far from Him in character. It was this wonderful fact which the angels sang on the fields of Bethlehem.
The greatest demonstration of that love in history is God’s great love offering – Jesus Christ, His Son. That was “agape,” the all-giving love: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest expression of human love that the world will ever know, because it was the perfect pattern of the love of God the Father made visible for all to see.
3:16 ... “That whosoever believeth.” The offer is unlimited. Faith is the great principle of Christianity, motivating every act of obedience, securing the believer in times of bewilderment or temptation, sustaining the disciple through tribulations and distress, enlightening the soul through every darkness. Faith is the first of the preconditions of redemption in Christ Jesus, and it is also the last in that there is never a single moment of the Christian pilgrimage when faith is not required. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Glorious as faith assuredly is, it is faith “in Christ” that saves, not faith “in faith,” as detailed in footnote 7 below.
It is no more a hindrance than the stairs are a hindrance to coming out from a burning building, or a road is a hindrance to reaching a place. Faith is that first step toward. It is faith that makes us yearn to obey Jesus Christ and it is faith that makes us burn inside to say, as the old gospel song, “Take Me to the Water.”
3:17 ... “Not ... to condemn the world.” Or “to judge” as in the R.V., for the world was already in sin, condemned, under judgment, as in v. 18.
3:17 ... “But that the world through Him might be saved.” The condemnation is no part of the Gospel, any more than the disease is a part of the doctor’s remedy. He might have to make men feel that their hidden disease is dangerous, so that men may be willing to be cured; but his work is to cure.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 3:18-21
5. A PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT
These verses repeat the truth in various ways “that there may be no possibility of missing the point that so far as God’s purpose was concerned it was one of unmixed love that all men might be saved” (Exp. Greek Test.).
The condemnation, darkness, deeds of darkness, the love of darkness are already in the world.
Christ came to remove the condemnation, to bring the light, to save.
Decision Day
The one great essential, both for the individual, the State and the Nation, is a new life in the soul that supremely loves the good and hates the evil. This is the one way to the best life both here and hereafter. The State and nation is made up of individuals, and therefore if everyone had this new life the whole country would be free from its corruptions and crimes. The newspapers, radio and TV would give us the morning news about good deeds, instead of a flood of crimes and wrongs.
Each of us needs a new heart, a new choice, a new source for a right life. There is a story about an old Spartan, who, after vainly trying to make a dead man stand upright, said: “It lacks something inside.” There is a story about a man whose clock would not go. It needed a new mainspring. Will we put ourselves in Nicodemus’ place and decide now to believe and obey Jesus with all our heart? Will we be born again of water and Spirit? Will we receive eternal life?
6. CONCLUSION
Technology and Faith
The human condition since World War II has remained agonizing. The Korean conflict reminded us that World War II was not the war to end all wars. The Vietnam bloodshed raised the specter of doubt as to whether peace on Earth is possible. The cold war of fifty years has yielded to provincial outbreaks of conflict with their atrocities, misery, and death.
This human cauldron so characteristic of much of the twentieth century has been exacerbated by the bewildering advance of scientific technology in all fields of human endeavor. We are left reeling and uncertain, confused and fearful, shattered, with no solidarity, adrift, with no anchor. The feel of impending doom is heightened in the minds of many as our millennium draws to a close.
In times like these, many people become “religious” for the first time. They often turn to some charismatic leader and find relief in escapism, cults, and “end-of-the-world” (eschatological) thinking. Others, influenced by doomsday evangelists, turn to Jesus on a spiritual high that is carried along by excess emotionalism and sustained by showmanship and sensationalism. .”
Back to the Bible
The preceding observations are intended to be a reminder that it has become intellectually valid to study the Scriptures as accurate historical accounts of the life of Christ.
The search is not always easy; neither is it simplistic. However, if it is done diligently, the rewards are many and wonderful. Many different methods are being utilized today by advanced students of the Scriptures who have a deep faith in the veracity of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. It can be said with confidence that we cannot legitimately be branded as naive or foolish for turning to the scriptural accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. On the contrary! In the Bible we find Him Who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life!”
Footnotes:
1 For more information on the Holy Spirit, see God the Spirit in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
2 For more information on baptism, see God’s Salvation in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
3 G.R. Beasley-Murray.
4 Ethics Maj. 1:10.
5 It is possible that during the pauses of the conversation the wind was heard.
6 For instance: Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26; Jeremiah 24:7; 31:33.
7 When we understand Romans 3:21-26 we understand the Gospel, all of Romans and the Bible. The 1885 English Revised Version changed “the faith of Christ” to “faith in Christ” in Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16, 2:20, 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; and Philippians 3:9. In his “Commentaries on the Old and New Testament,” Coffman concludes that the King James Version is a correct translation of all these verses, a fact confirmed by the total agreement of the Emphatic Diaglott in each case. James Macknight, Adam Clarke, as well as other older commentators, also agree with the King James Version translation of these verses – “the faith of Christ”, like the “faith of Abraham” in Romans 4:16. On this subject, a full-time minister wrote: “God provides righteousness to those who believe. If through the faith of Jesus – everybody would be saved.” A Bible professor wrote: “Both ideas . . . are biblical . . .” An elder of the church wrote: “The believer’s faith causes him to respond to that perfect justification which is and was brought by Christ in His obedience to God’s will of offering His son as the perfect atonement for all mankind (sins).” We concur with the elder, older commentators, and Coffman, whose commentary on this verse is a scathing rebuke of many modern-day professors and preachers, pointing out that we should stay with the King James Version in this verse, because changing it represents the same tampering with the Word of God that resulted in the monstrosity of changing “the righteousness of God” to “a righteousness” (Rom. 3:21 & Rom. 1:17). Coffman writes: “the true Scriptural justification by faith has absolutely no reference to the faith of stinking sinners, but to the faith of the Son of God. The only end served by this change was to bolster the faith only theory of justification.” He further writes: “the true grounds of justification cannot ever be in a million years the faith of fallible, sinful people, would appear to be axiomatic. How could it be? The very notion that God could impute justification to an evil man, merely upon the basis of anything that such a foul soul might either believe or do, is a delusion. Justification in any true sense requires that the justified be accounted as righteous and undeserving of any penalty whatever; and no man’s faith is sufficient grounds for such an imputation. On the other hand, the faith of Jesus Christ is a legitimate ground of justification, because Christ's faith was perfect.” In the absolute sense, only Christ is faithful – “Faithful is he that calleth you” (1 Thess. 5:24). Only He is called “the faithful and true witness” (Rev. 3:14). The faith of Christ was also obedient; a perfect and complete obedience, lacking nothing. Therefore, we conclude that the sinless, holy, obedient faith of the Son of God is the only ground of justification of a human being – Christ only is righteously justified in God’s sight. How then are we saved? We are saved “in Christ,” having been incorporated into Him – justified as a part of Him. Our study prompts agreement with Coffman’s conclusion that faith is not the ground of our justification; it is not the righteousness which makes us righteous before God. The “faith of the Son of God” is the only basis for our justification, and that faith is definitely included in the “righteousness of God” mentioned in this verse. Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ shows the principal constituent of God’s righteousness. In conclusion, God’s righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ – His absolute, intrinsic, unalloyed righteousness – implicit in His perfect faith (mentioned here) and His perfect obedience (implied). The contrary notion that God’s righteousness is some imputation accomplished by the sinner's faith is unfounded. Any righteousness that could commend itself to the Father and become the ground of anything truly worthwhile would, by definition, have to be a true and genuine righteousness. That righteousness was provided by the sinless life of the Christ, summarized in this verse as “through faith of Jesus Christ,” the idea being much clearer in the King James Version, “The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.” We concur with Coffman on this subject, including his final conclusion, “. . . the word believe in this verse refers to sinners” faith (believer’s faith) which is no part of God’s righteousness at all, but, like baptism, is but a mere condition of salvation – being neither more nor less important than baptism.”
