It was dark and 15 degrees below zero — nearly twice that with the wind chill — when a 20-year-old woman who “wasn’t feeling well” stumbled the few blocks with her mother toward Humber River Regional Hospital’s Finch campus early last Sunday morning. Not quite making it down the streets of Toronto’s most notoriously dangerous neighbourhood, the young woman dropped down on the cold hard sidewalk and gave birth to a child at 6 a.m.
Upon their arrival, paramedics tried to get the newborn baby’s heart beating — to hear that telling cry. Once they made it to the hospital, the baby was declared dead, shrouded with a cloth and guarded by two police officers for about 90 minutes as they waited for the coroner to arrive. But then, out of the corner of his eye, one of the officers saw a slight movement under that blanket. He whipped it off and found the little girl’s once absent pulse.
Now, as the baby recovers and the Humber River Hospital launches a review of its procedures followed early Sunday, the public is trying to make sense of how a newborn baby can appear to be dead and come back to life. (http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/18/did-deep-hypothermia-help-bring-a-toronto-newborn-back-from-the-brink-90-minutes-after-she-was-declared-dead)
Last Sunday we heard the account of Nicodemus in John 3:1–10, trying to make sense of the concept of being born again. He was told that religious rituals, good works, and self-reformation cannot solve the problem of spiritual death (Eph. 2:8–9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). Only the radical transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) wrought by God in regeneration can impart spiritual life to the spiritually dead. Although the Lord’s teaching on the new birth was solidly grounded in the Old Testament, Nicodemus was unconvinced. He struggled to accept that his religious efforts were useless and needed to be abandoned altogether as a means to gain God’s kingdom.
You may have left last week scratching your head to discover or being reminded that human effort cannot bring to life the spiritually dead. Being born again, the God-wrought work of regeneration is God generating the spiritually dead. Yet I presented Jesus’ message of repentance and faith. I did so to tie into what we are going to see this morning, in the doctrine of conversion: What is the human response to the call of repentance and faith.
Because Nicodemus responded in unbelief, he apparently walked away from his conversation with Jesus unconverted. (He did become a believer later, however.) His initial response typifies those who reject the gospel. Unrepentant unbelief is the sin that ultimately condemns all lost sinners (cf. Matt. 12:31–32), for unless they confess Christ’s lordship, and repent of all sin, including the sin of trying to earn heaven, they cannot be saved. In this discourse on the meaning of salvation, Jesus addressed 1) The Problem of unbelief (John 3:11-12) , provided the 2) Answer for unbelief (John 3:13–17), and warned of the 3) Results of unbelief (John 3:18-21).
1) The Problem of Unbelief (John 3:11-12)
John 3:11-12 [11]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. [12]If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (ESV)
Chapter 3 began by recounting Nicodemus’s nighttime interview with Jesus. But after his question in verse 9, the renowned Pharisee added nothing more to the conversation (at least nothing that is recorded), as the dialogue between the two men moved into a discourse by Jesus. Although Nicodemus twice professed ignorance of Jesus’ teaching (3:4, 9), his real problem, was not a lack of divine revelation. He was highly educated in the Old Testament (3:10) and had just dialogued with the Teacher who was the source of truth. Nicodemus did not receive/accept the truth to which Jesus testified, because he refused to believe it. For the third time in this conversation Jesus uses the solemn “truly, truly/I tell you the truth” (vv. 3, 5). This time it is not the truth that one must be reborn that is underlined, but the other truth that Jesus can be relied on (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (196). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Please turn to Romans 1 (p.939)
Paul wrote, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14). Even those who have never heard the gospel are still culpable for their ignorance, because they reject the truth that they do have:
Romans 1:18-21 [18]For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19]For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20]For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21]For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (ESV)
In a statement introduced by the solemn declaration truly, truly, I say to you (cf. 3:3), Jesus affirmed, “We speak of what we know and bear witness/testify to what we have seen, but you do not receive/accept our testimony.” The plurals we and our provide a contrast with the “we” in verse 2 (which referred to Nicodemus and his colleagues). It is unlikely that Jesus identifies Himself here with His disciples. At this point in their pilgrimage, they could not be described as speaking of what they know and testifying to what they have seen, viz. heavenly things (v. 12) (Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary (198). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.)
The Pharisees and their fellow Jews were ignorant of the new birth, but Jesus as being sent by the Father through the power of the Spirit were certain about regeneration—the truth to which they testified. Moreover, Nicodemus spoke with human authority, but Jesus with heavenly authority (cf. Matt. 7:28–29).
The twofold reference to witness/testify (see on 1:7). It emphasizes the reliability of what Nicodemus has heard. “Testimony” (or “witness”) does not point to opinions that may be debated, but to objective fact. Jesus is not hazarding a guess, but telling Nicodemus about things of which he has perfect knowledge (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (196). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
• When we are called upon to testify for Christ, it is not so much of our subjective experience, but what Christ has objectively done. If we are not familiar enough with the facts, our testimony will be disregarded as mere subjective experience. Yet it is our embracing, faith in and submission to the author of those facts that personalize the information in a relatable way.
The Lord’s use of the plural pronoun you indicates that His rebuke went beyond Nicodemus to include the nation of Israel, of which Nicodemus was a representative. The Jewish people did not receive/accept the testimony of Jesus and His true followers (cf. 1:11); their unbelief was what perpetuated their spiritual ignorance. It is expressed in the present tense which indicates no occasional thing, but the regular habit (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (196). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Jesus’ pointed rebuke in verse 12: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” shattered Nicodemus’s self-righteousness. His shallow profession of faith in Jesus as a teacher sent from God (v. 2) was meaningless, as was his misconstrued understanding of salvation (cf. v. 10). Jesus had spoken, as he did in his parables, of common and familiar subjects—birth, wind, and water. These earthly things receive their permanent value from heavenly and spiritual concepts, such as love, mercy, faith, truth, and goodness (Redford, D. (2007). Vol. 1: The life and ministry of Jesus: The Gospels. Standard Reference Library: New Testament (110). Cincinnati, OH: Standard Pub.)
The “earthly things” of which Nicodemus has heard, but which he does not believe, must denote the teaching on the birth from above, recorded in vv 3–8. It is “earthly” in that it relates to man’s situation in the world and his incapability to “see” the kingdom. It is ‘earthly’ in that it takes place here on earth when people are born again. More important, Jesus’ teaching on the new birth is elementary (Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary (199). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.)
The “heavenly things” which have not been declared to Nicodemus will relate to the eschatological dimension of the salvation which the Redeemer brings through his “descent” and “ascent” to heaven via the cross; these form the subject of the reflections that follow in vv 13–21 and 31–36 (Beasley-Murray, G. R. (2002). Vol. 36: John. Word Biblical Commentary (49–50). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
There were two sides to Nicodemus’s unbelief. Intellectually, while he acknowledged Jesus to be a teacher sent from God (3:2), he was unwilling to accept Him as God. Spiritually, he was very reluctant to admit that he himself was a helpless sinner, since that was unthinkable for proud members of the Pharisees, the self-righteous, self-confessed religious elite of Israel. Further, he was a privileged member of the Sanhedrin and thus viewed as a prominent spiritual leader by the people (3:10). To humble himself to admit that he was in spiritual darkness and needed to come to the light of true salvation and righteousness (cf. 3:19–21) would have been to confess his sinfulness and lack of righteousness. Like many who were impressed by Jesus’ miracles (2:23–25), Nicodemus refused to commit himself to Christ as Lord and Savior.
• It is often easy for those who have physically little, to see their need for spiritual wealth. It is often difficult for those who have physical wealth, to confess their spiritual poverty.
Illustration: The problem of unbelief is immediately event in what it produces:
Early in his ministry when Dr. Harry Ironside lived in the San Francisco Bay area, he conducted a meeting for the Salvation Army. At the end of the sermon, a well-known socialist handed Dr. Ironside a card on which he had written, “Sir, I challenge you to debate me with the question, ‘Agnosticism vs. Christianity’ in the Academy of Science Hall next Sunday afternoon at 4:00 P.M. I will pay all expenses.”
Ironside read the card aloud, then agreed to the debate on certain terms. First, that the socialist bring to the debate a man whose life had been wrecked by sin but now redeemed for righteousness and goodness because of agnosticism. Second, that he would bring a woman wrecked by sin, an outcast prostitute, who had been rehabilitated and now lived a virtuous, happy life because of agnosticism. Ironside agreed to bring one hundred such people saved by the power of Jesus Christ whose lives would be “present-day proof of the truth of the Bible.” As the story ends, the man left the hall unwilling to take up such a challenge (H. A. Ironside, Random Reminiscences from Fifty Years of Ministry (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1939), 99–107..).
Unbelief does not truly change a life to raise a person up nor does it out of its tenants produce benefit for others. It only produces deception from ultimate consequences.
2) The Answer for Unbelief (John 3:13–17)
John 3:13-17 [13]No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. [14]And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15]that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. [16]"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17]For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)
Only someone who has been to heaven can truly know what it is like. Yet human beings, short of death, do not have the ability to visit heaven since they are confined to time and space. Thus Jesus said that no one has ascended into heaven (cf. Prov. 30:4) because it is humanly impossible to do so. The statement, is probably elliptical: “No-one [else] has ascended into heaven and remained there [so as to be able to speak authoritatively about heavenly things] but only the one who has descended/come down from heaven [is equipped to do so].” This characterization is reminiscent of the prologue’s portrayal of Jesus as the incarnate Word and the one-of-a-kind Son from the Father, who has given a full account of him (1:14, 18). (Köstenberger, A. J. (2004). John. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (127). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic).
The only one possessing true knowledge of heavenly reality is He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. When Jesus descended from heaven it does not mean that in his omnipresent, divine personhood he completely left all fellowship with the Father, but rather that the focus of his activity became his earthly life as one who was now both God and man (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2025). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Please turn to Numbers 21 (p.129)
Beginning in verse 14, Jesus appealed to an Old Testament illustration to make His point, further emphasizing that there was no excuse for Nicodemus, an expert in the Scriptures, to be ignorant of the way of salvation. As a type of His sacrificial death on the cross, the Lord referred to an incident recorded in Numbers 21:5–9.
Numbers 21:5-9 [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. (ESV)
The point of Jesus’ analogy was that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (crucified; cf. 8:28; 12:32, 34). God is shown to send poisonous snakes to judge rebellious Israel. When Moses intercedes for his people, God provides a way of salvation in the form of a raised bronze serpent, so that “when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.” The details of the analogy are remarkable. The snakes are symbolic of sin—in fact, the perfect symbol of sin because it was a serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, thereby bringing sin into the world. Our very natures have been polluted. Paul says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Our Lord became sin (or a serpent) for us (cf. Rom. 8:3, 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13(Hughes, R. K. (1999). John: That you may believe. Preaching the Word (83). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.)
Jesus likens the restoration of people’s physical lives as a result of looking at the bronze serpent to people’s reception of eternal life as a result of “looking” in faith at the Son of Man (cf. 3:15–18). Yet as in the case of wilderness Israel, the source of salvation ultimately is not a person’s faith, but the God in whom the faith is placed (cf. Wis. 16:6–7). (Köstenberger, A. J. (2004). John. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (128). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)
The term must emphasizes that Christ’s death was a necessary part of God’s plan of salvation (cf. Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; 17:25; 24:7, 26; Acts 2:23; 4:27–28; 17:3). He had to die as a substitute for sinners, because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
The verb ‘lifted up’ (hypsoō) is used five times in the Fourth Gospel (3:14 [2×]; 8:28; 12:32, 34), and in every case it is used as an allusion to Jesus’ crucifixion. The lifting up of Jesus on the cross denotes, paradoxically, not only his suffering but also the means of his departure from this world and his return to glory. As the lifting up of the snake in the desert was God’s provision for salvation from physical death for rebellious Israelites, so too the lifting up of the Son of Man (his crucifixion) will be God’s provision for salvation from eternal death for people from all nations (Kruse, C. G. (2003). Vol. 4: John: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (112–113). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
In the same way, as verse 15 notes, whoever looks in faith alone to the crucified Christ will be cured from sin’s deadly bite and will in Him may have eternal life. This is the first of fifteen references in John’s gospel to the important term eternal life. The notion of time is there. Eternal life will never cease. The important thing about eternal life is not its quantity but its quality. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. Eternal life is life in Christ, that life which removes a person from the merely earthly. It originates in a divine action, the action wherein one is born anew. It is the gift of God, and not a human achievement (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (201). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
The speaker in verse 16 and following may be the narrator expanding on Jesus’ teaching or Jesus still speaking with Nicodemus. The Greek manuscripts did not use punctuation that would indicate a change of speaker. The content of this short discourse reflects themes typical to John such as the light and darkness opposition (see note on 1:5). For that reason, the speaker is most likely the narrator (Barry, J. D., Grigoni, M. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 3:16–21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
God’s purpose in sending (apesteilen; 3:17) his only Son as described in verse 16 (monogenē; 3:16) was not to destroy the world or humanity. God is not angry and self-centered as Marcion and the Gnostics interpreted the God of the Old Testament. God is a caring God. Loving-kindness (ḥesed) is a principal characteristic of the God of the covenant (Borchert, G. L. (1996). Vol. 25A: John 1–11. The New American Commentary (184). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
God’s infinite love was made manifest in an infinitely glorious manner. In this love we see: 1. its character (so loved), 2. its Author (God), 3. its object (the world), 4. its Gift (his Son, the only-begotten), and 5. its purpose (that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life) (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 1: Exposition of the Gospel According to John. New Testament Commentary (139). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
World is a nonspecific term for humanity in a general sense. In John’s writings “world” (Gk. kosmos) is not a reference to the natural world of trees, animals, and plants. For John kosmos (used seventy-eight times in this Gospel, twenty-four times in his letters) is the realm of humanity arrayed in opposition to God (1:9; 7:7) (Burge, G. M. (2000). John. The NIV Application Commentary (118). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House)
Verse 16 clearly cannot be teaching universal salvation, since the context promises that unbelievers will perish in eternal judgment (vv. 16–18). Our Lord is saying that for all in the world there is only one Savior (1 John 2:2), but only those who are regenerated by the Spirit and who believe in His gospel will receive salvation and eternal life through Him.
The Father gave His only Son. Some translations add the word “begotten”. At one time, it was presumed that the term derived from two Greek words (monos, “one, only” and the verb gennao, “to beget”). The translation “only begotten” is based on this assumption. Subsequent manuscript discoveries produced evidence that the term actually comes from monos and the noun gene (“kind, type”). The term monogenēs therefore means “one of a kind” (i.e. unique) and has no inherent reference to chronology or origin (Barry, J. D., Grigoni, M. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 3:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
God’s gracious gift of salvation is freely and only available (Rom. 5:15–16; 6:23; 1 John 5:11; cf. Isa. 55:1) to whoever believes in Christ (Luke 8:12; John 1:12; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 8:24; 11:25–26; 12:46; 20:31; Acts 2:44; 4:4; 5:14; 9:42; 10:43; 13:39, 48; 16:31; 18:8; Rom. 3:21–22; 4:3–5; 10:4, 9–10; Gal. 2:16; 3:22; Phil. 1:29; 1 John 3:23; 5:1, 13). The free offer of the gospel is broad enough to encompass the vilest sinner (1 Tim. 1:15), yet narrow enough to exclude all who reject Christ (John 3:18). But to those who come to Him on His terms Jesus gave the marvelous promise, “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).
The guarantee given to those who possess eternal life is that they will never perish. Perish denotes either ruin or loss of well-being—not extinction or loss of being (Vine, 304). The verb form indicates this as a future possibility, so clearly refers to a state other than the hearer’s present state (a possibility which can be averted by believing in Jesus) (Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Jn 3:10–18a). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries.)
Genuine salvation can never be lost; true believers will be divinely preserved and will faithfully persevere (Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Luke 8:15; 1 Cor. 1:8; Heb. 3:6, 14; 10:39) because they are kept by God’s power (John 5:24; 6:37–40; 10:27–29; Rom. 5:9; 8:29–39; 1 Cor. 1:4–9; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 7:25; 1 Peter 1:4–5; Jude 24).
To perish is to receive God’s final and eternal judgment. It is true as verse 17 notes, that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn/judge the world; (cf. Jn. 12:47; Lk. 19:10). In the New Testament God’s purpose in sending Jesus was not to condemn (krinē) but to build the bridge in reconciling sacrifice (hilasmon; cf. 1 John 4:10) for human beings. God’s goal always has been the salvation or wholeness of the world (John 3:17). The Bible will not allow the reader to blame God for the desperate plight of humanity. The sin problem is a human one that since the beginning of time has been repeated continuously (cf. Rom 5:12, 18) (Borchert, G. L. (1996). Vol. 25A: John 1–11. The New American Commentary (184). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers).
Jesus’ statement in verse 17 also repudiated the popular belief that when Messiah came, he would judge the heathen and the Gentiles—but not the Jews. The prophet Amos had already warned against that foolish misinterpretation of the Day of the Lord (Amos 5:18–20). The point of Jesus’ coming was not to redeem Israel and condemn the Gentiles, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. God’s gracious offer of salvation extended beyond Israel to all humanity. Once again, Nicodemus (and by extension the Jewish nation he represented) should have known that, for in the Abrahamic covenant God declared, “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; cf. 18:18; 22:18; Acts 3:25). Gentile salvation was always God’s purpose (Isa. 42:6–8; 55:1).
Illustration: The Answer for Unbelief is belief. What does it mean to believe? Many years ago now, when John G. Paton first went out as a pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides islands, he found that the natives among whom he began to work had no way of writing their language. He began to learn it and in time began to work on a translation of the Bible for them. Soon he discovered that they had no word for “faith.” This was serious, of course, for a person can hardly translate the Bible without it. One day he went on a hunt with one of the natives. They shot a large deer in the course of the hunt, and tying its legs together and supporting it on a pole, laboriously trekked back down the mountain path to Paton’s home near the seashore. As they reached the veranda both men threw the deer down, and the native immediately flopped into one of the deck chairs that stood on the porch, exclaiming, “My, it is good to stretch yourself out here and rest.” Paton immediately jumped to his feet and recorded the phrase. In his final translation of the New Testament this was the word used to convey the idea of trust, faith, and belief.
“Stretch yourself out on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever stretches himself out on him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who stretches himself out on him may have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15). Have you done that? Will you do it? If you will do it, turning away from any faith in yourself, your own good works, religion, your efforts at self-reformation, your prayers and relics, looking to the cross of Christ on which God dealt with sin and on the basis of which he promises new life to the sinner, then God will heal you. This is the heart of Christianity. God has provided salvation for you in Jesus Christ. The Answer for unbelief is to truly believe that, Lord. I trust the work of Jesus Christ for my salvation.” (Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: An expositional commentary (224–225). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
3) The Results of Unbelief (John 3:18–21)
John 3:18-21 [18]Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [19]And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20]For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21]But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (ESV)
Please turn to Romans 8 (p.944)
Although God graciously has offered the world salvation through the work of Christ, that salvation is not appropriated except by penitent faith. For all who respond to the gospel with unbelief, their final doom is set by divine judgment. Jesus stated that sobering truth to Nicodemus both positively and negatively.
Whoever believes in Christ is not condemned/judged.
Romans 8:1-11 [8:1]There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2]For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3]For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4]in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5]For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6]For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7]For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8]Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [9]You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10]But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11]If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (ESV)
But the one who does not believe is already condemned/judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. They stand condemned already before God for their sins because they have not trusted God’s solution for guilt, the only Son of God. This verse also refutes the assertion that a sincere person following any religion can have eternal life with God (cf. 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:13–17; 1 Tim. 2:5–6; regarding OT believers who looked forward to Christ, see John 8:56; Rom. 4:1–24; Heb. 11:13, 26) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (2025). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles)
While the final sentencing of those who reject Christ is still future (cf. 5:28–29), their judgment will merely consummate what has already begun. The lost are condemned because they have not believed in (lit., “believed into”) the name of the only Son of God. Saving faith goes beyond mere intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel and includes self-denying trust in and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9; cf. Luke 9:23–25). Only such genuine faith produces the new birth (John 3:7) and its resulting transformed heart and obedient life.
The object of saving faith is the only Son of God. He is “the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through [Him]” (John 14:6), because “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and there is only “one mediator … between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
Jesus described judgment in verse 19 using the contrast between light and darkness already introduced in the prologue (1:4–5; cf. 11:9–10; 12:35–36, 46; 1 John 1:5; 2:9–10). The Light (Christ; cf. 1:4–9; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35) has come into the world and by doing so “enlightens every one” (1:9). But people refused to come to the Light for they loved the darkness rather than the Light, because their works/deeds were evil. As noted earlier in this chapter, unbelievers are not ignorant, but willfully reject the truth. Therefore as verse 20 says: everyone who does wicked things/evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest/for fear that his works/deeds should be exposed. One may fear that this is saying that anyone who has ever sinned hates the things of God. But the “does” here is in the present participle, indicating habit and general tendency (Vincent, M. R. (1887). Vol. 2: Word studies in the New Testament (101). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.).
Those who continue in wicked/evil things are those opposed to holiness. Unbelievers hate (cf. 7:7; Prov. 1:29) the Light, knowing it will reveal their sin (cf. Eph. 5:13; 1 Thess. 5:7). As a result, they seal their own condemnation because they reject the only One who can save them from their spiritual darkness.
Please turn to 1 John 2
Finally, verse 21 concludes, the one who does/practices what is true, however, willingly comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen/his deeds may be manifested that his works have been carried out/wrought in God. Believers hate their sin and love righteousness (1 John 2:3–6, 9; 3:6–10).
1 John 2:3-9 [3]And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. [4]Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, [5]but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: [6]whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. [7]Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. [8]At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. [9]Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. (ESV)
Those who walk in the light have nothing to hide, and thus no reason to fear what the light will reveal. Jesus defined the genuine believer as one who does/practices what is true, because true saving faith invariably manifests itself in deeds … carried out/wrought in God. “For we are His workmanship,” Paul reminded the Ephesians, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10; cf. Mark 4:20). The redeemed will always “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8); indeed, it is by bearing the fruit of good works that they prove themselves to be Jesus’ disciples (John 15:8). On the other hand, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 7:19).
Now we can see what Jesus was getting at with Nicodemus. It is the question of his, and our, heart-response to Christ as the true Light, come to save a people that walk in darkness (Isa. 9:2). Here is the cutting edge of the gospel message. There are many ways to resist the call of Jesus Christ. You can knock it around in your mind as an intellectual problem and repeatedly debate the pros and cons of it, but never come to a decision. You can even call that agnosticism and persuade yourself you are more high-minded than those who do decide one way or the other. You can go away, like that famous unbeliever of the apostolic age, Felix, and wait for a more convenient time to give attention to the things of God (Acts 24:25). Or you can claim you are too busy with your work, like the man who wanted to build bigger and better barns for the storage of his wealth (Luke 12:18–21).
But all this is a smokescreen. These are all excuses and exercises in self-deception. Why? Because the real issue is: what have you done with the light that is shining in the person of Jesus Christ? Will you choose his way, or hold to your own course? Will you choose light, or cling to the darkness? Will you choose death, or life through faith in Jesus Christ? We have reason to believe that Nicodemus did eventually come to embrace Christ as his Saviour (7:50–51; 19:39). What have you done? What will you do? (Keddie, G. J. (2001). A Study Commentary on John: Volume 1: John 1–12. EP Study Commentary (150–152). Darlington, England; Auburn, MA: Evangelical Press.)
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). John 1–11. MacArthur New Testament Commentary (110–121). Chicago: Moody Press.)
