John 3:9-21 - The New Birth, Belief, Light and Darkness

How does being "born again" correspond to belief in Jesus? Who is the "Son of Man," and what does that term mean? Can we be "neutral" in our attitude toward Jesus Christ? 

Building upon the episode from John 3:1-8, we discover the answers to those questions in this podcast. 

Thanks for listening! I hope you take up residency in CrossTown!

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https://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Seven-Cs-David-Spaugh/dp/B08WTZZPF5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U4OR0NB6PHZR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1vYyXsdmiNEUI6oulPpp9l_

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org”

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Hello everyone, this is Pastor David Spaugh, and this is Crosstown, my hometown. Indeed, this is Crosstown, and if you've been with us before, welcome back. And if you are new to Crosstown, allow me to tell you a little bit about what we do here. At Crosstown, we focus on the Bible, theology, and we engage in expository teaching of God's Word, the Bible. Occasionally we weave in some cultural analysis and apologetics, and here at Crosstown, Jesus Christ is our King and His Cross is our town square. Regardless of whether you are a settled resident in Crosstown or if this is your first visit, I'm glad you're here today. Those who have been with us at Crosstown know that we have been going through the Gospel of John. We've already finished chapters one and two, and last week's podcast was over chapter three, verses one through eight. As I mentioned last week, that was sort of an artificial place to stop, since verses one through 21 are a unit. But going through all 21 of those verses was more than I wanted to do in one chunk, so I divided it into two sections, not only so that I could be more thorough in explaining what the text means, but also because of time constraints. It doesn't always work out this way, but I really do try to keep each podcast around 35 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes. But if you've been with me for long and have heard all of the podcasts, you know that some of them may be as short as 25 minutes, and one was even 51 minutes long. That is unusual, and if I had it to do over again, I would have divided that one into two podcasts. Anyway, here we are today, and we're going to continue on in John chapter 3 and cover verses 9 through 21. Now, if you recall John chapter 3, verses 1 through 8, this is where Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, comes to Jesus and visits him one night. And Jesus explains to him his need for the new birth. He told Nicodemus that he must be born again before he could enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus is confused by this, not knowing what is the new birth. Jesus told him that the new birth was being born of water and the spirit, a reference to the new covenant found in Ezekiel chapter 36, where God says that he would sprinkle clean water upon his people and give them a new spirit by his spirit. Jesus also told him, probably referring to the story of new life coming to the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, that the new birth is like the activity of the wind. Like the wind, the Holy Spirit's activity in bringing about the new birth is out of our control and is the product of the Holy Spirit's sovereign will and activity. Now in verses 9 through 21, Jesus elaborates on how belief in Him is the manifestation of the new birth in the sinner. Furthermore, John, the author of this gospel, steps away from Jesus' comments and acts as a narrator, adding his theological insights into the mix. We'll see that as we go along here. So let's get down to it and see what we can find in today's text. Hear the word of the Lord as it is found in John chapter 3, verses 9 through 21. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life. 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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 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 the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. You know, there are a variety of reasons why people reject the gospel. Obviously, sin is the number one factor. As sinners, we don't want to acknowledge that we need a savior. Sin keeps people from believing in Jesus Christ, that's a given. But how that sinful rejection of Jesus is expressed and what motivates it can be different from person to person. Some people reject Jesus because they think they're good enough and don't need a savior. Others reject Jesus because of bad experiences in childhood which turned them off to the idea of God. I know people personally who had a bad experience with their human father and therefore rejected any notion of a father in heaven. I've talked with people who were mistreated by priests and nuns and other religious figures and then wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I think some people reject Jesus Christ for a somewhat different reason. The bottom line is still sin, but a more specific reason they reject Jesus is because they realize that if Jesus, what he taught is true, then their entire worldview goes down in flames. I'll have to change my religion, I'll have to change my behavior, I'll lose friends, and my status among my peers will be destroyed. I've been an atheist all my life, my friends will reject me. I have taught a naturalistic worldview, and Jesus would expose my naturalistic worldview as a fraud. Everything that I have believed, everything that I've taught, would be exposed as false, and I would rather die without Jesus Christ than admit that my life up until now has been a lie. I think that's a big part of why a lot of people reject Jesus Christ. I suspect Nicodemus is feeling that sort of tension in this text. As I mentioned in my last podcast, Nicodemus, being an observant Jew, had always believed that to enter the kingdom of God, one must keep the law and observe the religious traditions of his fathers. Now he's exposed to a condition for entering the kingdom that he never considered before. If that condition is true, he must face the fact that all he has been taught from his youth and all that he has taught as a religious leader is wrong. What must Nicodemus do in light of this new truth that he's learned, the truth of the new birth? Well, we first note from this text that the sinner must respond in faith. If Nicodemus wants to enter into the kingdom of God, he must trust Jesus by faith. Let's look at verse 9. Nicodemus said to him, that is he's speaking to Jesus, how can these things be? Jesus had just told him from Ezekiel 36 and 37 that he must be born again. This new birth is the sovereign will of God, where a new heart, a new spirit, a new life is implanted in the sinner by the Holy Spirit. Of course, we don't know exactly what is going through Nicodemus' mind. Perhaps the idea of having to be born again seems foolish to him. Perhaps he is confused or inquisitive, but every time I read this text, I get the idea that Nicodemus is filled with anxiety. And of course, this would be true if he suddenly realizes that his worldview is false. So in the last words spoken by Nicodemus in this text, he asks, How is this possible? How can this happen? How can this new birth be true? In verse 10, Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Now there's an emphasis on the word the in this text. Jesus asks, in effect, Are you the teacher in Israel? This implies that Nicodemus was a recognized expert in theological circles, a theological grand master, as it were. In effect, Jesus says, How can you not understand these truths regarding the new birth? Given your reputation, your stature as an academian, and all your scholarly pursuits, and all of your study of the law and the prophets, didn't you ever see this teaching in Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, as we noted last week? Now let's note verses 11 through 13. These verses are a bit difficult to understand exactly. The overall message of verses 9 through 21 is clear, but these three verses can be interpreted different ways. But rather than get into a drawn-out explanation of the different interpretive options, I'm just going to give what I think is the most accurate way to understand them. So look at verse 11. Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. Jesus is saying, I've been ministering with my disciples, you've seen my signs and heard our witness, but you don't get it. Notice that the second you in this verse is plural, referring to others besides Nicodemus who don't believe, perhaps his colleagues among the rulers and teachers in Israel. Verse 12, If I've told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Jesus used the simple everyday illustrations of water and wind found in Ezekiel to help Nicodemus understand. So Jesus is saying, Nicodemus, if you don't understand from these illustrations in nature, right out of the prophet Ezekiel, these these earthly things, how will you understand deeper truths? Verse 13. No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. Now at first blush it appears that Jesus is saying the only one who has ascended to heaven is he who descended from heaven, namely me, the Son of Man. I've ascended to heaven and now I've come from heaven. I don't think Jesus is saying that because he has not yet ascended to heaven. His ascension doesn't happen until after his crucifixion. So clearly he has not yet ascended to heaven. I think what he is saying is something like this No one has gone up to heaven to bring truth down, but I, the Son of Man, have come down from heaven to reveal truth. I know heavenly truth because I'm from heaven. I think verse thirteen is an example of Jesus relating to Nicodemus a heavenly truth to which Jesus just alluded, one that Nicodemus would not be able to understand. Jesus has come down from heaven to reveal truth. According to John 1, this is something believed by those who received Jesus. But this is something Nicodemus is not yet ready to believe. Now let's do a little excursus here, and I ask your indulgence here for just a few moments as we go over what it means when Jesus refers to the Son of Man. Now the term Son of Man is used over a hundred times in the Old Testament. Most often it is used in Ezekiel, referring to Ezekiel himself. God refers to Ezekiel, calls upon him, and telling him to prophesy, says, Now, Son of Man, I want you to do this, I want you to say this. Sometimes in the Old Testament, it simply refers to people in general. But there's one instance regarding the Son of Man in particular that we need to investigate a bit. In Daniel chapter 7, Daniel sees a vision where the kingdoms of earth are vanquished, and God establishes his eternal kingdom. And then we read this in Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Now notice the kingdom language here about how at the end of the age the kingdoms of the earth will be judged at God's kingdom instituted. And notice as well, one like the Son of Man receives the kingdom from God and rules eternally. The Jewish people in the New Testament era saw this text regarding one like the Son of Man as a prediction of the coming kingdom and the coming Messiah for which they waited. Now in the New Testament, the phrase Son of Man occurs eighty-two times in the Gospels and a handful of times elsewhere. Of those eighty-two times in the Gospels, Jesus uses it to refer to himself eighty times, and only two times, both of them in John chapter 12, verse 34, it's used by others referring to Jesus' claim as being the Son of Man. Now, generally speaking, with some exceptions that don't quite fit the pattern, the use of the title Son of Man in the Gospels can be placed in one of three categories. First, it is used in texts relating to Jesus' ministry generally. For example, in Mark chapter 2, the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, or Luke chapter 6, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. That aspect, I think, of the Son of Man is seen here in verse 11, where we are told that Jesus, the Son of Man, descends from heaven to reveal truth. A second way the term the Son of Man is used is in its reference to Jesus' passion, or in reference to Jesus' passion. For example, in Mark 8:31 or Luke 9.22, where Jesus says the Son of Man must die and rise again from the dead. And this also fits the use of the way Son of Man is used in this text, where in verse 14 we read the Son of Man must be lifted up, which is a clear reference to the cross. And thirdly, the Son of Man is used in texts referring to his coming as king and judge, as in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46, where Jesus returns as king and judges the earth. Also at Jesus' trial, where he tells the Jewish leaders they will see the Son of Man come in glory. We find this aspect of the Son of Man in John chapter 3 as well, since the kingdom of God and judgment are found. So why did Jesus use this term to refer to himself? Unlike the terms son of God or the term king or Christ, the term Son of Man was more ambiguous in Hebrew thought. In Daniel chapter 7, the term is used to refer to the Christ, the Messiah, but usually it was considered a rather neutral term. Since the term Son of Man was not necessarily considered an unequivocal claim to Messiahship in first century Israel, Jesus could use it of himself without raising too many eyebrows. If you recall in his ministry, Jesus often told people not to refer to him as the Christ, so he was at times toning down the rhetoric regarding his being the Messiah, being the king. Thus, to refer to himself as the Son of Man, he could keep his Messiahship under the radar. That's why Jesus using that term did not anger the religious establishment until his trial, where he quotes Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. There he openly and unequivocally referred to himself as the messianic king predicted by Daniel. Since John chapter 3 refers to the kingdom of God, as we've already noted in verses 3 and 5, and since, as we will see in a few moments, mankind is under God's judgment, as we will see in verse 18, I think Jesus is referring to himself as the Son of Man from Daniel 7. However, again, this would not have caused consternation in Nicodemus, because the term Son of Man was not seen as a clear claim to being the Messiah. Well, let's get back to Nicodemus here. Though he should have understood the new birth, he doesn't. And if he doesn't understand something he should understand, there's no way he's going to be able to believe Jesus' mission. Verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Jesus is referring to an episode in Numbers chapter 21, where God sent deadly snakes to bite people who were complaining against God and Moses. Moses was instructed to raise a bronze snake on a pole in the middle of the Hebrew camp, and anyone who looked to it after being bitten by the deadly snakes would live. God was not obligated to provide a remedy for the rebellion, and the people of Israel certainly did not deserve the remedy. But God in his grace supplied the remedy that sinners might be relieved of God's wrath. In other words, the episode of the serpent in the wilderness is a type. That is to say, it was an Old Testament prefiguring of a New Testament reality. In this instance, the snake on the pole is a type, a prefiguring of Jesus' cross. Notice that Jesus said that the Son of Man must be lifted up. The term lifted up can mean lifted up literally and physically, as on the cross, but it can also mean lifted up metaphorically and figuratively. In other words, lifted up can also mean enhanced or exalted. This is another example of how John uses ambiguous terms so as to get us to think on different levels. Jesus must literally be raised up on the cross, but also metaphorically he will be exalted and glorified on the cross, the cross being Jesus' greatest expression of his glory, which we will see as we go through the Gospel of John, particularly in chapter 12, verses 23 and 24. But why must Jesus be lifted up? Look at verse 15. So that whoever believes will in him have eternal life. Now notice the shift that has taken place here. This chapter started out teaching that the new birth leads to the kingdom of God. Now we are being told that if we believe in the Son of Man, we have eternal life. What has caused the shift? It's really just a shift in emphasis. Those who are born again and those who believe are the same people. We saw that in chapter 1, verses 12 and 13. Those who receive Jesus Christ are born again. Jesus has merely taken us from the Godward act of the new birth in this text to the manward act of belief. Thus those who are born again and enter the kingdom of God. Those who believe in Jesus have eternal life. The same people described two ways. Those who are born again are also described as those who believe. Those who enter the kingdom of God are also described as those who have eternal life. The same people describe two ways, heading for the same destination, describe two ways. And again, I think this is one of the heavenly things that Jesus mentions in verse 12 that Nicodemus will have a hard time understanding. If he can't understand what he's already seen and been taught, then how will he grasp this teaching on receiving eternal life by trusting the crucified, glorified Son of Man? So let's put all of this from verse 11 to verse 15 in a nutshell. Nicodemus, you've seen my ministry with my disciples, Jesus is saying. You've seen my signs, you've heard our witness, I've explained things to you using earthly illustrations. I've even appealed to the prophet Ezekiel to explain the new birth. If you don't understand teaching using everyday illustrations and familiar prophetic scriptures, how will you be able to believe deeper heavenly truths, such as me being the Son of Man who came to reveal truth? Or I must be lifted up that faith in me brings eternal life to sinners. In short, God gives the new birth. You must embrace the message by faith. That is essentially what we are being told here in these verses. Now we go to verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. Now, as an aside, there are good reasons to believe that Jesus actually stops talking in verse 15, and verses 16 through 21 are John's commentary on verses 1 through 15. For example, the word gave is past tense, as though John is explaining the crucifixion, looking back on it as a past event from the vantage point of writing the Gospel years later. Not only that, in the Gospel of John, Jesus does not normally refer to God as God, but Father, making it more likely that John 3.16 is John's reflection or elaboration on Jesus' words in the previous context. Also, the only other time the phrase only begotten or one and only is found in John is in the prologue, chapter 1, verses 14 and 18. Since Jesus normally refers to himself as the Son or the Son of Man, and nowhere else does Jesus use this term only begotten in reference to himself, it makes it unlikely that Jesus refers to himself that way here. In short, verses 16 through 21 are most likely John's elaboration on Jesus' words in the previous verses. Regardless, John 3 16 has been referred to as the heart. Of the Bible for good reason. Perhaps more than any other verse in the Bible, John 3:16 encapsulates the gospel message. God's love, man's need, Christ's saving work, the means of salvation, the consequences of unbelief, the blessing of salvation, all are related succinctly in this verse in just 25 English words. To take verses 15 and 16 together, John is telling us that God loved the world, not simply the globe that we live on, but the fallen mass of humanity in rebellion against God, under Satan's tyranny, and subject to God's wrath. Because of his love Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, that those who believe in him escape the wrath of God and receive eternal life. By giving his one and only Son, we see the depth of God's love for sinners. God's love is not reserved, it's not half-hearted, shallow, or noncommittal. Rather, it is sacrificial, boundless, and limitless in generosity, limitless in grace. Without this love, without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we would all perish, a word that does not mean vaporized or annihilated or cease to exist, but to be lost, to come to ruin, to be destroyed. In short, to perish is the antithesis of entering the kingdom or having eternal life. To perish means to be outside God's loving favor, to be denied entrance to the kingdom, to be consigned to eternal death, to come under God's judgment and spend eternity in hell. That is what the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is intended to save us from, and does save us from if we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. To put this another way, God provided us a way of salvation from judgment and death. As Ezekiel 18 23 says, God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. So rather than leave us without hope, God offers salvation through his crucified one and only Son, having him die in the place of sinners who deserve death that they might enter God's kingdom. Or again, as we read in Ephesians chapter 2, though we Christians were dead in our sins, God in his love and mercy sent Jesus to die in our place. He rose again from the dead, and gives new life and deliverance from eternal punishment to those who trust him. And this, friends, is the heart of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, predicted in the law and the prophets, accomplished as recorded in the four New Testament Gospels and explained throughout the New Testament epistles, Jesus Christ died and rose again, that through faith in him we escape the wrath to come and receive everlasting life. Verse 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Salvation was Jesus' mission. We deserve judgment, but as we read Mark chapter 10, verse 45, Jesus did not come to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. In Luke 19, verse 10, Jesus said he came to seek it to save that which is lost. When Jesus came to this earth, he did not come to carry out the sentence of God's wrath. He came to bring salvation to the world. Verse 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. We need to be careful that we don't read too much into verse 17. Don't think that since Jesus didn't come to judge the world, sinful man is off the hook. On the contrary, verse 18 tells us the world is still under judgment. Jesus' ministry is to bring mercy and salvation and pardon and forgiveness to a world that is already guilty. When a person believes in Jesus, he escapes judgment. But if he rejects Jesus, he is already under judgment, having rejected the only way to escape the judgment. Oftentimes we hear people say something like this people are lost because they don't believe in Jesus. Well, obviously there's a sense in which that is true, but why do we need to believe in Jesus? Because we're sinners under condemnation. If you recall from my podcast from verse 1 through 8 of this chapter, I used an illustration of an old curmudgeon who is sick and needs a doctor. Without going into and elaborating on what I said the last time, I want to modify that illustration for this text. The old curmudgeon has coronary artery disease that means he will die if he does not have immediate surgery. Suppose he refuses the surgery and dies. Why did he die? Was it because he didn't go to the doctor? Well, yes. But why did he need the doctor? Because he had coronary artery disease. You see, the doctor could have saved him, but the doctor was necessary because the patient was already under a life-threatening illness. Take the doctor out of the equation and the patient would still die, and so it is with our need for salvation. Jesus saves sinners, but Jesus is necessary for salvation because the sinner is already under condemnation. Take Jesus out of the equation and the sinner is still under condemnation. And that's what John is saying here in verse 18. Jesus saves us from condemnation, but the condemnation remains on those who fail to trust him. And this is the sort of world Jesus came to. Those who believe in Jesus are declared righteous and no longer under the judgment of God. And this is a great portion of the Apostle Paul's theology. As we read in Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 8, the book of Galatians, we are told that it's because of Jesus that we are justified, that by grace through faith, because of what Jesus has done for us, by trusting Him, we then are declared righteous by God and we no longer are under condemnation. Yes, we are guilty. Yes, by nature we are under the wrath of God. Yes, by nature we are under God's condemnation, but God in his love sent the very best for guilty sinners that guilty sinners might escape his wrath, become the children of God, and enter his kingdom. But what about those who don't believe in verse 18? They remain under the dreadful judgment of God. So we are approached here in verses 16 through 18 in two ways. We are told of God's great love by which he sent his beloved Son to die for sinners, that perhaps the grace and mercy of God might lead us to repentance. Or if that doesn't move you, perhaps the warnings of condemnation and wrath will move you to repentance. So friends, consider what God does in his love or what will happen in his wrath. Either way, may you fall upon him for salvation. Trust Jesus Christ for salvation, turn to him in faith and receive everlasting life. And that brings us to our last point. Last week we noted that we must be born again in verses one through seven. We also noted last week that the new birth is God's sovereign work. We noted that in verse eight. Today we noted that we must turn to Jesus Christ in faith in verses nine through eighteen. Now let's note there is no neutrality in our approach to Jesus Christ. We are on one side or the other. Back in chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, we learned that Jesus is the light, and the darkness did not comprehend it or did not defeat it. We mentioned how light and dark cannot coexist, and once light is shined, darkness dissipates. There is no middle ground between darkness and light. Of course, the amount of light can vary, for example, the difference between the pale light of dusk and the brilliant noonday sun, but that's a distinction between the intensity of the light, not a neutral realm of neither darkness nor light. And the same is true metaphorically, we either have the light of Jesus Christ or we are in darkness. We avoid the light or we claim it. We shrink from it or we embrace it. Verses 19 and 20 of our text read, 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. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. In writing, this is the judgment. John seems to be using the word judgment in a slightly different way here than he did in verse 18. He's not referring to the wrath of God or punishment for sinners. Rather in verse 19, he's saying something like this: here is the assessment of the human condition, or let me draw a distinction between two different classes of people. The Greek word for judgment here is sometimes used this way in the New Testament. Well, what is the distinction that John is making? First, there are those who metaphorically reject the light that has come into the world, namely Jesus. They love darkness and prefer dwelling in it because they do evil deeds. They hate the light of Christ because the light exposes their sin. This again is another reference back to chapter 1, this time verse 9, where we are told that Jesus enlightens every man. I don't think that verse means Jesus gives us the spark of life or gives us the light of reason. Rather, Jesus exposes us so as to reveal our true colors. Even though Jesus came to save the world, there are those who prefer darkness. They shun him and reject him in the hopes that they can conceal their sin. But the light of Jesus Christ takes away the cover of darkness, so in contrast to his light, we are seen as sinners indeed. And the reality is that's the way even we Christians were before the new birth turned us from darkness to light. All of us were blind, all of us were dead in our trespasses and sins, but there are those who persist in their sin, shun the light, and remain in darkness. Of course, most people are not so crass or honest to admit that they love darkness and hate light. Instead, they hide behind notions of tolerance and non-judgmentalism and moral relativism, claiming there is no right and wrong, seeking to escape censure. They will hide behind an atheistic worldview that frees them from moral restraint, wherein they can claim there is no light or darkness. People simply redefine what is good or evil according to their own criteria, not God's. So they call abortion on demand a blessing and say those performing abortions are doing good work, even God's work. We redefine terms like marriage and love and male and female, so we can justify perversion and the absurd, saying men can be pregnant and women can have prostate cancer. Politicians lie and say, well, that's just politics. Businessmen cheat and call it good business. Clergymen swim at the cultural current and go along with cultural fads, regardless of how heinous they might be, and they call it trying to be relevant. All of these expressions illustrate Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, and substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Running from the light and embracing darkness is death by a thousand rationalizations, obfuscations, euphemisms, platitudes, and smoke screens. By nature we hate the light because exposure to it shatters our own self-righteousness, destroys our presumptions of self-sufficiency, and invalidate our worldview as fraudulent and turns our wisdom into foolishness. And having said all that, this was the world Jesus entered to spread the light of salvation, so that those who grope in darkness might be saved. Friends, but for the grace of God, the people I've just described are just like us. Having enjoyed the love and grace of God ourselves, do we pity the corrupt politician, the transvestite, the drug addict, the abortion doctor, the abortion recipient, the terrorists who burned down our cities, the liberal pastor leading his flock to hell? We should all pray that we might be like Jesus Christ, who see people as sheep without a shepherd, and have compassion on the lost. After all, we needed that compassion, because we also hated the light until God granted us the new birth, which brings us to verse twenty one. I started out by saying that there is no neutrality. We either shun the light or embrace it. Having looked at the one who rejects the light, we now turn to the only other alternative. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, verse 21 says, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. To practice the truth means to act faithfully or to act honorably, and in the context of John's gospel, with a view to serving Jesus Christ, who is the truth. In the context of John chapter 3, those who practice the truth are those who are born again, who believe in Jesus. We come to the light. Why? So the world can see the transformation that has taken place in our lives through being born of God. We seek to manifest not our own self-righteous works, but our works that are done in God, in union with Him, out of love for Him, through His power. Again, friends, there is no neutral ground. We either love darkness or we love the light. We who come to the light are not better than those in darkness, merely merely recipients of God's grace. Let us then of the light, those born of God, live in such a way that those who are still in darkness see the light of the Lord Jesus Christ in us, and see the grace of God in us. We read such language throughout the New Testament, and another passage that goes right along with this, of course, is Jesus' words in Matthew chapter five, verse sixteen, let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Or in Ephesians chapter five, verses eight and nine, you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Friends, Jesus is the light, and we are to walk in that light. If we don't walk in the light, we are no better than those in darkness and offer them no hope either. But for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are in darkness. You are under God's judgment, you will perish and have no hope of reaching the kingdom of God. But if you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved from the wrath to come and escape eternal punishment, you will be delivered from darkness and brought into the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus will deliver you from the power of sin, and your new life in him will be a life wherein the life of God will be seen in you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Well that wraps up another edition of Crosstown. I certainly hope you have been blessed by our lesson today, and I certainly hope the Lord Jesus Christ was magnified through our efforts today. If you would like to get in touch with me, you can send me an email at crosstownmht at gmail.com, or you can shoot me a note on my webpage, crosstown.buzzsprout.com. Please take note that BuzzSprout has changed the link for that. If you go to any podcast on my webpage, you will see a link that used to say send me a text. Now it says send me a fan mail or send us fan mail. Anyway, thanks for being with me today, and I hope you will join us again next week when we continue on in John chapter 3. To close today, I would like to leave you with this blessing. May the Lord sanctify you through and through, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who called you, he will also do it. Amen and amen. I am David Spaugh. See you next week at Crosstown. Solomon.lockman.org.