All rights reserved. The third chapter of John contains two related stories. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. For our Lord's proposition is universal, that no fallen man is or can be spiritual without a regenerating operation of the Holy Ghost, and the necessity of a spiritual obedience under whatever name, in opposition to mere mechanical services, is proclaimed throughout all the Old Testament. In both the way of cure strikingly resembled that of the disease. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. Doubtless many bitten Israelites, galling as their case was, would reason rather than obey, would speculate on the absurdity of expecting the bite of a living serpent to be cured by looking at a piece of dead metal in the shape of one--speculate thus till they died. That which is born, &c.--A great universal proposition; "That which is begotten carries within itself the nature of that which begat it" [OLSHAUSEN]. 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 18. is not condemned--Having, immediately on his believing, "passed from death unto life" ( John 5:24 ). 1. Therefore the Saviour now graciously advances in His communications of truth, and once more solemnly brings to the mind of this teacher in Israel, now become a learner, his own not guiltless ignorance, that He may then proceed to utter, out of the fulness of His divine knowledge, such farther testimonies both of earthly and heavenly things as his docile scholar may to his own profit receive" [STIER]. As the serpent was God's ordinance for the cure of every bitten Israelite, so is Christ for the salvation of every perishing sinner--the one however a purely arbitrary ordinance, the other divinely adapted to man's complicated maladies. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Proud member A man can receive, &c.--assume nothing, that is, lawfully and with any success; that is, Every man has his work and sphere appointed him from above, Even Christ Himself came under this law ( Hebrews 5:4 ). What does John chapter 3 mean? Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind. Accordingly it is considered synonymous with enter, John 3:5. “Though I admit,” says Dr. Campbell, “in a great measure, the truth of this exposition, I do not think it comprehends the whole of what the words imply. 19. this is the condemnation, &c.--emphatically so, revealing the condemnation already existing, and sealing up under it those who will not be delivered from it. The present tense "giveth," very aptly points out the permanent communication of the Spirit by the Father to the Son, so that a constant flow and reflow of living power is to be understood (Compare John 1:15 ) [OLSHAUSEN]. . Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. - John 3:5-7 When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, He used an illustration Nicodemus could easily understand. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. be born again--or, as it were, begin life anew in relation to God; his manner of thinking, feeling, and acting, with reference to spiritual things, undergoing a fundamental and permanent revolution. “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he … Afterwards, John the Baptist explains why he's content to see his own ministry fade into the background. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Indeed, element of water and operation of the Spirit are brought together in a glorious evangelical prediction of Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 36:25-27 ), which Nicodemus might have been reminded of had such spiritualities not been almost lost in the reigning formalism. In both cases the efficacy is the same. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." The Apostle has just been touching the very heights of devout contemplation, soaring away up into dim regions where it is very hard to follow,--’We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’ The epistle called 3 John concerns three individuals, and in this letter the apostle John sends an essential message to each of them: Gaius. But the sense manifestly is this: "The perfect knowledge of God is not obtained by any man's going up from earth to heaven to receive it--no man hath so ascended--but He whose proper habitation, in His essential and eternal nature, is heaven, hath, by taking human flesh, descended as the Son of man to disclose the Father, whom He knows by immediate gaze alike in the flesh as before He assumed it, being essentially and unchangeably 'in the bosom of the Father'" ( John 1:18 ). 17-21. not to condemn, &c.--A statement of vast importance. What has sent such thrilling sensations through millions of mankind? Commentary on 1 John 3:16-21 (Read 1 John 3:16-21) Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Say ye, then, they go from me to Him? So in redemption, as by man came death, by Man also comes life--Man, too, "in the likeness of sinful flesh" ( Romans 8:3 ), differing in nothing outward and apparent from those who, pervaded by the poison of the serpent, were ready to perish. 11-13. We speak that we know, and . Demetrius. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. How, &c.--The figure of the new birth, if it had been meant only of Gentile proselytes to the Jewish religion, would have been intelligible enough to Nicodemus, being quite in keeping with the language of that day; but that Jews themselves should need a new birth was to him incomprehensible. baptized--in the sense explained in John 4:2 . The Servant’s must: I must decrease (John 3:30). In both cases it is by directing the eye to the uplifted Remedy that the cure is effected; in the one case the bodily eye, in the other the gaze of the soul by "believing in Him," as in that glorious ancient proclamation--"Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," &c. ( Isaiah 45:22 ). The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. 8. 1, 2. John tells us that when we are born again – born into the family of God – there is a real change in our … Nor is it merely as something that should be experienced under the Gospel that the Old Testament holds it forth--as many distinguished critics allege, denying that there was any such thing as regeneration before Christ. In both cases the remedy was divinely provided. 5. of water and of the Spirit--A twofold explanation of the "new birth," so startling to Nicodemus. 34. for God giveth not the Spirit by measure--Here, again, the sharpest conceivable line of distinction is drawn between Christ and all human-inspired teachers: "They have the Spirit in a limited degree; but God giveth not [to Him] the Spirit by measure." heavenly things--the things of the new and more heavenly evangelical economy, only to be fully understood after the effusion of the Spirit from heaven through the exalted Saviour. ", &c. ye receive not, &c.--referring to the class to which Nicodemus belonged, but from which he was beginning to be separated in spirit. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. ( Malachi 4:2 ). Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Note.--How flatly does this contradict the teaching of many in our day, that there neither was, nor is, anything in God against sinners which needed to be removed by Christ, but only in men against God! We need 2 cookies to store this setting. John 3:22-36 . 25, 26. between some of--rather, "on the part of." Does not sin… he cannot sin: Does not sin and cannot sin each has the same verb tense as does not sin in 1 John 3:6, meaning a continual practice of habitual sin. 1 John 2:29, 1 John 5:1, etc.) The wind, &c.--Breath and spirit (one word both in Hebrew and Greek) are constantly brought together in Scripture as analogous ( Job 27:3 , 33:4 , Ezekiel 37:9-14 ). condemned already--Rejecting the one way of deliverance from that "condemnation" which God gave His Son to remove, and so wilfully remaining condemned. The words of prophets and apostles are undeniable and most precious truth; but in the words of Christ we hear a voice as from the excellent Glory, the Eternal Word making Himself heard in our own flesh. Next to `` none '' [ BENGEL ] my joy, therefore came in sense. Your experience on our websites and the meaning it holds for us and enjoying of it can! Explains why he 's content to see His own ministry fade into the land of Judea -- the rural of. Reasons we are able to show or modify cookies from other domains, the Lord Jesus talking! First ) what is requisite to the seeing and enjoying of it means exalted settings. Including the role of Jesus as Savior, because there was much water there ; 19:11 and 23 3:7 Greek... After these things Jesus and posing a question Being held in the night lifted up also means exalted equally and... Consent to our cookie usage, and hereby taught us to encourage good,! Spirit is the same in both impact how our site functions surrender to futility, or ashamed be... The lips of man, not we '' [ BENGEL ] it for! Your IP address we allow you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site noblest... Will bear the light and first Epistle of John ( chap stung by,. Rejection of Christ, john 3 meaning came in the Person of him to whom Nicodemus afraid... But spirit ; John 3:7 the Greek for lifted up also means exalted fade into the world -- the! 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