Daily Scripture Reading John 3:1-21
One of the most famous verses in the Bible is John 3:16. It is a basic statement about salvation. It is so famous that all an athlete has to do is write Jn 3:16 on their uniform and everyone knows they are making a religious statement.
Unfortunately, modern Christianity routinely ignores the most essential element of that verse. There are many Christians, including people in ministry, who present salvation as merely praying a prayer, asking Jesus into your heart, or having a relationship with Jesus. Those presentations fall short because they don’t communicate what it is that actually moves a person from the realm of the unsaved into the realm of the saved.
In this episode I am going to read the first 21 verses of John chapter 3. We will see multiple times in these verses the crucial concept captured in the 16th verse that is necessary for salvation.
The 2nd chapter of John tells us Jesus performed His first miracle in Cana of Galilee at a wedding. Then He went to Capernaum for a couple days, accompanied by His mother, brothers, and disciples. The Passover was near so He traveled to Jerusalem and drove the merchants and money-changers out of the temple. The last few verses of the chapter inform us He did various other signs which caused many people to believe in Him.
John 3:1 ¶ Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
Notice the word “ruler”. Nicodemus was not just a common man off the street. He had power and position.
John 3:2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Don’t miss the phrase “by night”. I assume that since Nicodemus knew the Jewish leaders were mostly opposed to Jesus, he wanted to converse with Jesus at a time when few people were around to hear the conversation.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
At one time it was vogue within Christian circles to use the term “born again”. That term is out of favor right now, but it is a Biblical term.
Our first birth is our physical birth, which is the start of our existence. Being born again means having a spiritual birth, which is when we move from the realm of the unsaved into the realm of the saved.
John 3:4 ¶ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Nicodemus took Jesus’ statement literally, not figuratively.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Born of water is physical birth. Born of the Spirit is our second birth.
John 3:6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
We can’t see wind, but wind is real. We can’t see spiritual birth, but it is real. Jesus essentially said there is more to life than what we see with our eyes.
John 3:9 ¶ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
Nicodemus could not grasp the spiritual element of life.
John 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler. Those groups of people should have understood spiritual things, but they did not.
John 3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness of what we have seen, and you do not accept our witness.
John 3:12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
John 3:13 And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
Moses lifting up the serpent is recorded in Numbers 21. The Israelites were being killed by serpents because they had complained about God. God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole. Any Israelite who looked at the bronze serpent after being bitten by a real serpent lived.
Likewise, all humans deserve eternal punishment. Jesus was hung on a cross to pay for the sins of the world.
John 3:15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Notice the word “believes”. Belief is essential to having eternal life.
John 3:16 ¶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
This is obviously a very famous verse. Unfortunately, in recent decades many Christians, including many Pastors, have ignored the essential detail found in this verse.
Notice the word “believes”. Belief is essential to having eternal life. This verse specifically says we have to believe in Jesus.
Today, many Christians ignore this concept when they supposedly present the gospel. They tell people they need to pray a prayer or have a relationship with Jesus in order to be saved. However, they often do not inform people that they have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved.
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? Let me use George Washington as an illustration.
History books tell us there was a man named George Washington who lived in the 1700s. He was a surveyor. Then he led the Continental Army during the War of Independence. Later, he was the first President of the United States. if you believe there was a man named George who did those things, then you believe in George Washington. If you don’t believe that man ever existed, then you don’t believe in George Washington.
Now let’s think about the concept of believing in Jesus. The Bible tells us God took on human form and lived on earth in the 1st century AD as a man named Jesus. Jesus taught and performed miracles. Then He was killed and rose from the dead. If you believe Jesus is God and Master and did all those things, then you believe in Jesus. if you don’t believe what the Bible tells us about Jesus, then you don’t believe in Jesus.
According to John 3:16, if you believe in Jesus you will have eternal life. If you do not believe in Jesus, you will perish.
John 3:17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The word “believe” appears three times in this verse. He who believes is not judged and vice versa. This reinforces the fact that belief is vital for salvation.
John 3:19 And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
The Light refers to Jesus. Unfortunately, many men love darkness rather than Jesus. They will be judged for doing so.
John 3:20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed.
John 3:21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”
There are many Christians, including people in ministry, who proclaim a deficient gospel message because they don’t adequately communicate that belief in Jesus is what actually moves a person from being unsaved to being saved.
How do you and your church present salvation?
What do you and your church need to change about your presentation of the gospel message so that you are accurately telling people how to become saved?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”