ABCs of Salvation
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ABCs of Salvation
John 3:9-15
April 30, 2023
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Image: Scissors?
INTRO:
We need to remember that we are jumping into a conversation in the middle of key discussion points. When we read God’s Word, it is so important to understand that it was not originally written in chapter verses and spaces between passages. The important principles are not intended to be taken in isolated chunks. So, we need to do some review before getting into our passage for the day.
First, we need to understand that our Lord is talking to Nicodemus, a leader of leaders, he could have been one of the wealthiest individuals in Jerusalem at the time. He was also on the Sanhedrin council making him “THE” teacher of the Law and was supposed to be the spiritual teacher that all other leaders would look to. Nicodemus represents all of us. He represents the lost soul who is at odds to God. He comes to Jesus at night and has a discussion that has a direct effect on him and us some 2000 years later. Some theologians will say that this conversation holds the most valuable and powerful principles in all of the Bible.
Next, we see the complete sovereign act of God’s salvation of the lost. Last week we discussed that the act of saving starts by God and God alone. We discussed that saving the lost is a monogamistic act by God, by Grace alone (sola gratia) to the glory of God alone. Meaning, it was His act of regenerating our soul. This action on His part is the LORD taking residence in a spiritually dead soul. It is He who turns us from our sinner’s nature and points us to Him. This salvation by God is life-giving, transformative, radical, purifying and permanent.
We talked about order last week and I said that it is critical to get this right. If we mess it up, it puts us as the center of the saving work and that is idolatry. The order is: Be born again (from above) then believe. It is not the other way around. God is the one who acts, then we do. It is a loving God that must act upon a dead sinner in order for it to be BORN again. This new birth is a work by HIS will.
We saw that Jesus uses three imperative statements given in three ways. Each one is more exact to break down the hardness of a lost heart, Nicodemus and us today.
Like I said, we are joining this discussion right in the middle. Jesus uses another two statements to get the lost souls who will read these words to see the work of God to save the lost. Our Lord teaches humanity to look to the son for salvation. Today we will see the effects of earthly wisdom compared to heavenly wisdom to understand the ABCs of salvation.
1. Worldly teachers understand worldlythings.
John 3:9
“Nicodemus said to him, “how can these things be? “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”
The teacher of teachers sat across from Jesus and had only one thing to respond to Jesus with. “How can this be.” Before we believers come down to hard on Nico, we need to do a hard break check for a minute. It is easy for us who are saved to look hard on Nicodemus and others who do not “get it”. Before we are quick to sit on our perch in judgement, we need to recognize that he had not seen how the book ends and even though he had the OT, the truth was being clouded by his worldly vantage point. Not being saved, or regenerated makes his and our eyes clouded and blind. John MacArthur ones stated that “no nonbeliever EVER interpreted the Bible correctly.” This includes people today and Nicodemus back then.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Before we are too hard on ol Nicodemus, look closely at what the god (satan) of this world does. He blinds the minds of the unbelievers and keeps them in their sin so that seeing the light is not possible. Nicodemus was NOT a believer at this point, so it is understandable that even though Jesus was literally using the same language of the OT, Nicodemus was still missing the point. The point being one must be born from above to see the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 4:17-19
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
Sin clouds the understanding of the mind AND the soul. It makes it IMPOSSIBLE to see, hear or comprehend the truth. It is no wonder that Jesus used three analogies to get Nicodemus to understand. He uses, “birth”, and “wind” and in a few minutes, Moses to get Nicodemus to see that it is GOD who makes the re-birth happen, not earthly wisdom, not earthly efforts and defiantly not earthly standards. The imagery is to teach the listener that WE have no control of what is about to take place.
We see that Nicodemus asks multiple times, “how can this be”. You see, Earthly wisdom and effort does one thing well. It creates more questions.
I love this quote by Robert Jarsaw in his book God and the Astronomersbecause it is PERFECT here:
“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”
The issue with man’s reason or knowledge is that it is always climbing, always seeking and yet when at the end, it learns that there is yet another mountain to keep climbing. There is no “top” to come to, and no “arrival” spot.
Proverbs 4:19
“The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.”
Human reason and thinking is not wrong. The problem is that earthly things are not equipped to be used to point to heavenly things. Our thinking and logic are God given, but we take what God has given us and use it to pursue our natural desires of the world and in our rebellion we do not seek His council or what He wants us to seek. Look back at John 3:10-11
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.”
Allow me to break down that verse really quick. We need to make sure and not project emotion on this text. I would like to add the sarcasm here but to do that may be risky. You can’t do that without projecting what you want on the verse. Also, the “we” speak means we all know, it means, “everyone” knows this, and the word “YOU” is plural. We will see Jesus shifting from just talking with Nicodemus to speaking now to everyone, us included. He is teaching us all that our reason, our Earthly wisdom is falling short.
The problem with us and Nicodemus was that he was trying to apply Earthly understanding to the new birth (birth from above) by his earthly understanding. Many unbelievers are trying to make it make since. It must pencil. That is why works-based religions make since to them. But those are NOT what gets it done. They all fall short. That is effort or earthly things to try and understand spiritual things.
2. Christ teaches heavenlythings.
There is absolutely no better teacher then Jesus. He was and will be for all time the best teacher to mankind. He alone knows and searches the hearts and minds of the audience and points the hearer to the exact conclusions that they need to hear. The Gospel and it’s message does not tell people what they want to hear. The lost love 3:16 but hate 18. We will get there next week. The Gospel may not be welcomed, but oh man is it needed!
Jesus speaks right where the hearer is. A great example is how he spoke to the woman at the well; in kindness, patience and understanding while not allowing her to escape her sinful past all the while directing her towards true repentance.
He did that completely different then Nicodemus (a seemingly righteous man full of knowledge). Jesus uses his own words against him and for Nicodemus’s benefit and ours. I got this from A.W. Pink:
1. Nicodemus declared, “We know,” verse 2.
Christ said, “That which we know we speak” (Gk.), verse 11.
2. Nicodemus said, “Thou art a teacher,” verse 2.
Christ said, “Art thou a teacher?” verse 10.
3. Nicodemus said, “Except God be with him,” verse 2.
Christ said, “Excepta man be,” verse 3.
4. Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born?” verse 4.
Christ answered, “Except a man be born,” verse 5.
5. Nicodemus asked, “Can he enter?” verse 4.
Christ answered, “He cannot enter,” verse 5.
6. Nicodemus asked, “How can?” verse 9.
Christ asked, “How shall?” verse 12.
7. Nicodemus asked, “How can these things be?” verse 9.
Christ asked, “knowest not these things?” verse 10.[1]
Jesus used his own thought process and words to teach him exactly the main point. The main point is this. One must be BORN from above. The word above is a heavenly above or born on high. Being born is natural for any human being. But, being BORN AGAIN is 100% UN natural for the human being! It is completely against the human nature or existence to be born from above. Remember this: “born twice and die once.” Born twice and you enter the Kingdom, but born once and die twice to eternal condemnation.
That is why Jesus uses another image for Nicodemus that I skipped last week for the sake of time.
Look at John 3:8
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
This verse is so very powerful! Where does the wind originate? We say, the wind is from the East, West but do we know where it originates? No, the wind is owned by God who drives it across the ocean, desserts and plains. We no more can control the wind then the aging process. God owns it and the effects of it. That is exactly why Jesus uses it to prove that the act of regenerating the soul is put onto the ones HE chooses. He is the one who turns the heart of the sinner and saves. NOT us.
ANALOGY: Mason jar
Even today, that stumps some in this room just like Nicodemus. We want to put our minds around that. It would be like you going outside with a mason jar, attempting to put all the wind in that jar, and claiming you have it all. No, this work is God’s and at times we do not understand why or who He calls. But he does it.
The final analogy that Jesus used to get Nicodemus and us to understand the importance of salvation is the one with Moses in vs 14.
John 3:14
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up..”
For us, this verse is strange. It’s almost like the grandpa conversation where he drifts off to a memory and you want to shake him back to today. But, what Jesus was saying was 100% fitting and right. Let me show you where this reference comes from.
Numbers 21:4-9
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. [2]
This example was the exclamation point of the analogies that Jesus used. All three analogies, birth, wind and now Moses and the staff pointed to what God was doing to the human conscience. God punished the sin of the people, but, in His undeserved, und warranted, and completely unbelievable love, provides a way to be saved.
If we only look to what has been lifted up, you will be saved! Look at this application! Look to what has been lifted, and you will have salvation. God puts the soul of mankind in a position to choose or not to choose to look up to Christ. It is as if we are placed in a vice. Look up and you will be saved! If we only look to the Son, you will be saved. He is elevated above all names and if we only look to the son, there is salvation. Choose to not look to the son, and we will perish. In love, Our Lord has provided a way to be saved. In love he paints us into a corner. In love he is saying LOOOOOOOKKKKKK!!!
When we as believers who have been given the end of the book, we only read that passage in light of the prophetic statement that Jesus will be lifted up on a cross. But that is only 50% of that text. Jesus is saying, you must look at what is being lifted up. What is being lifted up is the Son of Man.
3. The A. B. Csof salvation is to look upon the Son of Man.
In the last two verses of John 3:14-15, we see the culmination of this section leading up to John 3:16. Up until this point, Jesus is setting the foundation to the verse 16. But, in 14 and 15 we see the ABCs of salvation. He is clearly showing us the most important principles that we must understand before jumping into verse 16. I call these verses the ABCs of salvation.
A: A stands for “ALL MEN MUST BE BORN from above. This is a review from 1-13. But look at vs 15: “whoever” is quite plural and exclusive. It implys that not all will look to Christ for salvation. Thus, Jesus is saying, all men must be born from above in order to see the kingdom of God.
B: B stands for BELIEVE in the SON OF MAN. This is a strange title so let me describe why Jesus liked it so much.
Jesus had many names for himself. He is referred to as:
10. Cornerstone – Isaiah 28:16
9. Messiah – John 4:25
8. Alpha and Omega – Revelation 1:8
7. Sacrifice – Ephesians 5:2
6. High Priest – Hebrews 4:14-16
5. The Vine – John 15:5
4. The Christ – Mark 8:29
3. Savior – 1 John 4:14
2. Wonderful Counselor – Isaiah 9:6
1. Jesus – Matthew 1:21
None of these were what He preferred to call Himself. His favorite term used to describe himself was “Son of Man”. This is not the term I would have picked. I would have picked Lion of Judah, Supreme Ruler or Conqueror.
The Son of Man means:
God the Son is the divine person who is the Word spoken by God the Father; he is the perfect image of the Father; he is one in being with the Father, who begat the Son from eternity and in the fullness of time sent the Son to be born in human flesh in order to redeem those the Father has given him.
The title “son of man” is a direct reference to Danial 7:13-14
The Son of Man Is Given Dominion
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed. [3]
The Son of Man is a direct reference to His Heavenly post and position. The title was employed by Christ to describe a major role (only role). The Son of Man is a term used to describe the humanness of who He is. The title fits exactly what his role was intended. God’s divine plan called for a perfect payment that was fully God, and fully man. It was truly an act of submission to the Father, His plan of salvation and love for humanity. Thus the “Son of Man”. In the Gospels and New Testament, the term was used some 81 times. It was truly a favorite term.
Let’s now turn to the last two verses in our text. In this text, Christ gives us the C of the ABCs
John 3: 14-15
C: Christ must be lifted up. We talked about this already a bit. Christ had to be lifted up both physically, (His crucifixion, and in the minds of the lost). The “lifting” was a description to the lost soul. By God elevating Christ, it was God taking the human soul and placing into a vise. You and I must recognize that He had to die for OUR sin. It is a personal payment for each of us for the justified payment for our sin. It should have been us, but, Christ was lifted up instead of us. His act was the final payment “propitiation” to appease the wrath of the Father.
The vise comes from the fact that you could turn away from what was lifted up (Christ) and it leads to you paying your own cost of sin. OR you could look to Christ as the payment of your sins and be saved. It really is that clear. It’s either you are paying the penalty of sin or Christ. Therein lies the issue for the non-believer.
People ask why He had to die. Was it really needed? To ask that means we don’t’ have a grasp on the weight of our sin and we don’t have even a remotely accurate view of who God is. God’s word says in Hebrews:
Hebrews 9:22
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. [4]
The payment for this sin is steep but there must be a payment. That payment had to be 100% perfect. Your blood wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of your own sin. What God required; God provided in Christ Jesus. That is why, the last letter of the ABCs must be Christ. God is telling the lost in the text today there is nothing you can do to save yourselves. He expects something you can’t do (be holy, pay you for your rebellion). He clearly teaches you cannot do this yourself, you must ask for help. Now, in love, His response is “I love you so much that I am going to do this for you.” He does it in such love! The way the Word describes and shows us how is to bring us to true repentance.
To the non-believer I recognize that the Word of God will always sound crazy to someone who is not saved. The call to believe and have faith in something you cannot reason out and fit into the box of your mind is very hard. I get it. But, my plea to the non-believer is this, recognize that ALL men and women must be BORN again in the risen CHRIST. The ABCs of salvation is so simple to those who believe. But to those who rely on their own mental capability to reason it out, it is very difficult.
CONCLUSION:
Today we talked about earthly wisdom and the fact that it is completely inadequate in understanding matters of the Spirit. We saw how Christ used Nicodemus’s own understanding to teach him Heavenly things and yet, he still did not understand. Finally, we learned that salvation of All men comes from being Born from above, through the belief in the Son of Man while He is lifted up.
ABCs of Salvation
John 3:9-15
April 30, 2023
1. Worldly teachers understand worldly things.
(John 3:9-11, 2 Cor 4:3-4, Eph 4:17-19, Prov 4:19)
2. Christ teaches heavenly things.
(John 3:3-14, Num 21:4-9)
3. The A. B. Csof salvation is to look upon the Son of Man.
(John 3:14,15, Heb 9:22)
Kids study questions:
1. What are the ABCs of salvation?
2. Who is the one who does the saving? Us or God?
3. Why did Jesus talk about being lifted up?
4. Name the three examples Jesus used to describe salvation in John 3:1-15.
Adult study questions:
1. Go through the ABCs one by one. Does this describe your spiritual journey?
2. Would you say you have a good understanding of the process of salvation?
3. Has that process changed, strengthened, or challenged what you thought before? Why?
4. Is there an area of your spiritual journey you have relied on your own reason to process? How is that working for you? Are there gaps in your understanding?
5. How can you do better to look up to Christ? Is he elevated in your life?
[1]Pink, Arthur Walkington. 1923–1945. Exposition of the Gospel of John. Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.