Probably this is one of the most often referenced chapters related to salvation. Therefore a discussion surrounding John Chapter 3 and its content in context perhaps is one of the focal points in the discussion of salvation and the nature of it.
In John Chapter 3 we find that the text opens with Nicodemus' question by night to see for himself who Jesus is and by extension what Jesus mission is. We know this, because our Lord speaks to Nicodemus heart and need:
"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus reveals his concern for his welfare and disbelief and his focus on the temporal:
"How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"
Jesus clarifies and speaks of the Spirit of God which is unseen yet the evidence is there.
"The wind blows where it wishes and you here the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Clearly Jesus is illustrating some important concepts regarding the nature of salvation. Perhaps they are obvious, but let's take a look anyway.
First, salvation is not physical in nature, it is spiritual. It is not of this world. In other words, there is no stripe down the back of those with the Spirit who are born again.
Second, being born again is reference to a new creation. In essence, one is reborn in a Spiritual sense to salvation (which it makes sense for us to use that term as synonymous with in a peaceful relationship with God. More on that later.)
Third, there is evidence of salvation, but how it got there (the power behind it) and where it went afterward is mysterious. Probably someone with much more time and spiritual insight than I can rattle off a few more nuggets, however let's focus on these.
Since Jesus is truly explaining something to Nicodemus and the text doesn't show evidence of trying to confound him, we can assume therefore that Jesus words to Nicodemus are a sincere effort to reveal spiritual truth to a lost soul. Now here is the hard part, keeping in mind that Jesus is still talking to Nicodemus revealing that truth to him, Jesus states the following:
"No one has ascended to Heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man" Jesus is claiming his lordship and right to speak these truths and who He is in reference to salvation.
(another interesting aside, Jesus is the one who ascended, yet in Isaiah, Lucifer is the one who claimed that he would as one of his 'I Wills' that got him cast from heaven - this underscores Satan's desire to be like God)
In a reference to a picture of the simplicity and effectiveness of salvation Jesus references the journey in the wilderness with Moses after God delivered Israel from Egypt, "14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Keep in mind this is in reference to the way the serpent was lifted up as a description to Nicodemus a lost soul who doesn't understand spiritual truth. In that story poisonous snakes bit the children of Israel and any who chose to follow God's prescription for salvation from the death that followed the bite was to look upon the serpent that Moses lifted up. No sacrifice, no work just look and one would be cleansed from the poison - healed.
Numbers 21:8: "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."
of course it happened just as God purposed. Those who looked lived, those who didn't perished.
Just an aside - in the case of Calvinists, this would mean Christ is referencing a subset of those in the wilderness, and that there was only enough power that God elected to use to save those who God compelled to look and that the serpent's power was limited and didn't really mean that everyone had the opportunity/capacity to be healed. Armenians would say that the serpent was effective for anyone who chose to look, but was only effective on those who actually did look. In this Calvinists indicate that God selected those who would be healed and those who would not and Armenians indicate men are accountable for their own choice. Either way, Christ himself is using this as an illustration about the nature of His divine appointment and mission. He must be lifted up to be that object that provides the basis for faith, namely the sacrificial death on the cross, for the propitiation for our sins and the resurrection to be the firstborn among many heirs.
So there it is. That pesky little verse that is a point of contention for so many. " For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "
Who is Jesus talking to? Nicodemus certainly but perhaps by extension to all humanity. Is Nicodemus saved at that point? He certainly doesn't show that he is -Jesus is trying to explain spiritual concepts to him that have eluded him to this point, which is why Nicodemus chose to seek Jesus in the middle of the night. So is Jesus speaking spiritual truth to condemn Nicodemus or plant a seed for salvation?
Clearly, we must conclude that Jesus is planting the seed for salvation as the following verse 17 indicates, "For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him." This verse supplies more context. We understand both through the life of Jesus as well as from what he indicates here that the nature of Jesus mission was to guarantee salvation of those who would believe and to spread the gospel.
Moreover, Jesus expounds on where judgment comes from, "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. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."
Clearly Jesus is teaching that all men stand condemned based on the exposure to the Light. They loved darkness rather than the Light. He doesn't condemn, he doesn't need to, instead, he came to be lifted up so that the world might be saved.
So here is the debate - who is "whosoever" that is a subset of "the world" that Jesus came to save? I don't think one can be dogmatic about it very frankly. Instead, Jesus is both generally speaking about the nature of salvation and specifically about the mechanics of his mission and what it would accomplish. Having said that, Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus - certainly not the English, but the Greek/Aramaic equivalent. How would Nicodemus have received the phrase, "the world"? How would Nicodemus have understood the term, "Whosoever"?
More to come, but these are some points to ponder when considering John chapter 3.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Something Tells Me We're Not in Kansas Anymore...
Remember that famous line in the Wizard of Oz? I am all too familiar with this phrase, as I do happen to live in Kansas. I like it in Kansas; and frankly, so do many other hardworking, hardplaying, honest people who want to raise a family in an environment that supports that sort of blessing in life.
Unfortunately, the (perhaps I am just naive) simplistic, moral, innocent life that once was the midwest/southwest has deteriorated to the point where a body stops to consider what changed, and how did it change so fast, and where was I when all this was coming about? Oh, I don't mean to imply that it is bad in Kansas or that you can't raise a family here, or that life as we have known it is over... far from it. Instead, I am pointing to the notion that where there was a view I held as reality, I have come to find that it doesn't exist in the way I believed. So what do I mean by that?
I believe that no matter who you are in America you want the same things: the ability to worship God in a manner fitting to the Almighty, equal opportunity, safe streets, educational opportunity, great neighbors, and a community that is clean and free of crime. You want a country that is run by people who are informed, well intentioned, people of integrity, honesty and that you can count on to stay out of your way or provide a path of enablement when the going gets tough. So no divisive descriptions here on Donkey vs. Elephant, Catholic vs. Protestant, Black vs. White. We are people here talking about people.
If that is true, then where did we lose our schools? Why are so many kids scared of school? Why are there multiple sets of rules at school and in society for Wealthy vs. Poor, Black or Hispanic vs. White or Asian? Why are the kids dressing the way they do? Why do middle schoolers go to school like they forgot to change on their way back from a shoot for a Calvin Klein ad or Maxim Magazine? (BTW - I am not advertising for, nor endorsing either)
Why do we live in a society when a man (infront of a crowd of presumably men - and I say that for what they are not what nature afforded them in the plumming department) can raise his hand to a woman and curse her in anger, and when confronted by a real man, other men come to the offender's defense instead of the woman?
A teen told me recently (after while driving him from a friends house home his cell phone rang it was 1 AM) that there is nothing wrong with making and recieving phone calls after midnight. In fact he frequently stays up the entire night for the call fest. So I told him (it was a girl calling him) that if it is OK, and as he stated, no one was in bed everyone is still up, to call the girls parents on the home phone and prove it. He thought that idea was freaky like there was something wrong with me for suggesting that. He couldn't see that the demonstration would prove his inaccuracy, he could only see that the parents would view this as sick and a non issue.
Meanwhile this girls leaves a message on his phone where she is screaming into the phone. OMG - she's so demonstratively unstable, and yet, this teen only sees that it is normal and one of his 'friends'. I am not suggesting that they are more than that, rather I am suggesting that is not a friend as I understand the term.
I heard from a professional in the medical field that at this teen's school that there are frequent 'Oral S**' parties where multiple kids get together to perform oral on eachother, because it is not S** in their view. These girls are being treated for what seems like strep throat conditions that have nothing to do with Strep. Is that the daughter you want to give away in marriage? Or the one you want your son to marry? Is that the boy you want to marry your daughter? Or the one you want to be the head of a household trying to love and protect your daughter in law and grandchildren?
In the same school, there is what is called the 'Mexican hall'. This was the wording offered by the professional speaking of her own daughters words confirming what my son told me a year ago. This hall is lined with hispanic/mexican kids, that do not adhere to the rules yet are not punished or called into question. They pridefully take ownership of that hallway during shool hours and menace the kids that must walk it. They do not obey the rules nor apologize for it, they simply run their hall.
OK, so I just woke up from a crazy dream and I landed in a land where I can't figure out the culture.
We're in an election year and all these talking heads are talking about issues that are so far removed from what the average American wants. We want our country back. The one I described above. The one where there is one set of rules for all, and kids and parents are held accountable by a community of moral people on how to behave in a civilized society.
Something tells me I am not in Kansas anymore. If that is not this land or won't be, please let me click my heels and get back home. Or at least let me wake up from this dream and find that I am really safe in my own back yard.
Unfortunately, the (perhaps I am just naive) simplistic, moral, innocent life that once was the midwest/southwest has deteriorated to the point where a body stops to consider what changed, and how did it change so fast, and where was I when all this was coming about? Oh, I don't mean to imply that it is bad in Kansas or that you can't raise a family here, or that life as we have known it is over... far from it. Instead, I am pointing to the notion that where there was a view I held as reality, I have come to find that it doesn't exist in the way I believed. So what do I mean by that?
I believe that no matter who you are in America you want the same things: the ability to worship God in a manner fitting to the Almighty, equal opportunity, safe streets, educational opportunity, great neighbors, and a community that is clean and free of crime. You want a country that is run by people who are informed, well intentioned, people of integrity, honesty and that you can count on to stay out of your way or provide a path of enablement when the going gets tough. So no divisive descriptions here on Donkey vs. Elephant, Catholic vs. Protestant, Black vs. White. We are people here talking about people.
If that is true, then where did we lose our schools? Why are so many kids scared of school? Why are there multiple sets of rules at school and in society for Wealthy vs. Poor, Black or Hispanic vs. White or Asian? Why are the kids dressing the way they do? Why do middle schoolers go to school like they forgot to change on their way back from a shoot for a Calvin Klein ad or Maxim Magazine? (BTW - I am not advertising for, nor endorsing either)
Why do we live in a society when a man (infront of a crowd of presumably men - and I say that for what they are not what nature afforded them in the plumming department) can raise his hand to a woman and curse her in anger, and when confronted by a real man, other men come to the offender's defense instead of the woman?
A teen told me recently (after while driving him from a friends house home his cell phone rang it was 1 AM) that there is nothing wrong with making and recieving phone calls after midnight. In fact he frequently stays up the entire night for the call fest. So I told him (it was a girl calling him) that if it is OK, and as he stated, no one was in bed everyone is still up, to call the girls parents on the home phone and prove it. He thought that idea was freaky like there was something wrong with me for suggesting that. He couldn't see that the demonstration would prove his inaccuracy, he could only see that the parents would view this as sick and a non issue.
Meanwhile this girls leaves a message on his phone where she is screaming into the phone. OMG - she's so demonstratively unstable, and yet, this teen only sees that it is normal and one of his 'friends'. I am not suggesting that they are more than that, rather I am suggesting that is not a friend as I understand the term.
I heard from a professional in the medical field that at this teen's school that there are frequent 'Oral S**' parties where multiple kids get together to perform oral on eachother, because it is not S** in their view. These girls are being treated for what seems like strep throat conditions that have nothing to do with Strep. Is that the daughter you want to give away in marriage? Or the one you want your son to marry? Is that the boy you want to marry your daughter? Or the one you want to be the head of a household trying to love and protect your daughter in law and grandchildren?
In the same school, there is what is called the 'Mexican hall'. This was the wording offered by the professional speaking of her own daughters words confirming what my son told me a year ago. This hall is lined with hispanic/mexican kids, that do not adhere to the rules yet are not punished or called into question. They pridefully take ownership of that hallway during shool hours and menace the kids that must walk it. They do not obey the rules nor apologize for it, they simply run their hall.
OK, so I just woke up from a crazy dream and I landed in a land where I can't figure out the culture.
We're in an election year and all these talking heads are talking about issues that are so far removed from what the average American wants. We want our country back. The one I described above. The one where there is one set of rules for all, and kids and parents are held accountable by a community of moral people on how to behave in a civilized society.
Something tells me I am not in Kansas anymore. If that is not this land or won't be, please let me click my heels and get back home. Or at least let me wake up from this dream and find that I am really safe in my own back yard.
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