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JOHN CHAPTERS 2 & 3 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 2,1-11 (86e) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> God’s works act as evidence to support our beliefs – Mary, the mother of Jesus, told Jesus that the wedding host did not have enough wine, not knowing what He could do about it, but knew He could do something. Being His mother Mary knew this, having observed Him since His conception. She already knew He was a miracle baby, she never forgot the angel that came and spoke to her about the child that would be born to her without ever having relations with a man. The angel added that God would use the Holy Spirit to conceive the child, and the result would be the Son of God. Based on this, Mary asked Jesus to do something about the lack of wine. Perhaps she also knew that His ministry had begun, and that He was about to make a very sharp turn in His life. (147c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> God exercises authority over His creation Jn 2,1-10 (2m) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Let Him do His work (30a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God knows our needs >> He is our provider (34k) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> Receiving God’s blessing through obedience – It says that because of this first miracle in Cana the disciples believed in Jesus, which set precedence for exactly what they believed about Him. They didn’t just believe Him; they believed in Him. To believe someone is to believe something he said, but to believe in someone is to believe everything He says. He had not begun to reveal to them the many mysteries of the Kingdom of God, so they had no idea about His cross, or about God’s will for them. Jesus’ disciples already knew Him well enough to know that the miracle was real, and knew if anyone could do that, He deserved their utmost loyalty and trust. They believed that whatever came of their relationship with Christ would result in their benefit. (85d) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Powerful when spoken by the Spirit >> The spoken word of God – Jesus told them to fill the canisters with water. They didn’t believe in Him; they didn’t even know Him or what He was doing but filled the pots in obedience, not from faith, and the water turned to wine. Had they not filled the pots, this miracle could not have happened. Jesus needed someone to work with Him before God could work the first miracle. Mary was finely tuned to her Son, knowing something would happen if the servants followed His instructions. Becoming a mother without ever knowing a man would get anyone’s attention; He probably intimated to her that His ministry was about to begin. Jn 2,1-9 (13f) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Servant is anointed Jn 2,1-5 (173a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the catholic faith >> Relationship between Jesus and His mother >> Jesus is our savior, not Mary – When Mary asked Jesus to do something about the lack of wine at the wedding, it was a form of prayer. She said to the waiters, “Whatever He says to you do it.” This was some of the best advice she could have given to them and to us and especially to the Catholic Church, who fallaciously worships Mary. How many times do you think the Holy Spirit has told the pope to stop worshipping Mary, but if they don’t listen to the object of their worship, why would they listen to God? This is also good advice to those who are looking for a deeper faith in Jesus. Mary epitomized the Christian walk in those words, implying that we must first hear what the Spirit is saying before we can do what He says, which is the secret to walking in the Spirit. Jn 2-3 (117d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on your circumstances KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 2,5-10 (4d) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to Jesus – At first they were giving a wedding, and then through a chain of unforeseen circumstances they started following Jesus, yet most people only knew about the wedding. In many instances Christianity is transparent to the world, but take away its influence and chaos suddenly permeates the climate. (87ia) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Those who obey believe in God >> Those who obey the Holy Spirit (226h) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the degree of our faithfulness Jn 2,5-8 (14f) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Helpers obey Christ – People in the role of helpers don’t ask questions about the One they serve. Also, it was significant that Jesus had them take a ladle-full of wine to the head waiter for testing, who could make authoritative decisions regarding the circumstances of the wedding, and approved the new wine, even praising its high quality. Jesus is a king, and He understood the purpose of authority and respected every person who stood in high office. Jn 2-5 (115e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through your ministry >> By the word of God (172h) Catholicism (Key verse) – Catholic priests are required to bless the bread and the wine, which according to their doctrine transformed it into the literal flesh and blood of Christ. This doctrine among others made the parishioners of the Church beholden to the priests as the central figure of their religion, so they had no choice but to go to a Catholic church to receive what they were taught they needed from God. In the third century Christians got tired of being persecuted and tired of being pushed from their homes, the produce of their fields taken and set fire to the rest. This was a fairly regular occurrence for them in the first and second centuries when Christians were faithful to Christ, before they sought to integrate into the world and developed the name, Roman Catholicism. Then they turned and persecuted the very people who were once their brethren, who remained steadfast in the faith. Everyone who disagreed with them were considered heretics and were tortured and burned at the stake. Jn 2,7-10 (13m) Servant >> Serve God faithfully – God often asks us to do things we don’t understand, but will understand later if we do them. We should have the attitude that Mary had who spoke to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." We don’t have the big picture like God does, but we don't need it; we only need to do what He says without asking questions, like these servants did and later discovered what their obedience accomplished and enjoyed the rewards of their faithfulness. Jn 2,7-9 (72g) Authority >> Transferring authority >> Receiving the delegated authority of Christ – Jesus had the headwaiter taste the new wine first in recognition of his authority, just as God delegates His authority within the godhead and disseminates it throughout the Church. We should recognize the authority of Christ as coming from the Father, and delegate our authority from Him though the hierarchy that exists within the Church to the world. Jn 2-9,10 (43g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Perfect (mature) >> Flawless Jn 2-10 (221a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who are not looking for Him (229k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of Jesus >> Partaking of Jesus’ ministry Jn 2-12 -- No Entries KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 2,13-21 (122j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse circumstances >> Do the will of God in the face of adversity – Jesus drove out the moneychangers from the temple with a whip. This happens to be the favorite Scripture of many anti-Semitic, white supremacy groups, who claim that the Jews who held Israel in bondage to their money system in Jesus’ day are the ancestors of the Jewish bankers presently holding the world hostage to their ruthless debt-based money system. We should be driving the moneylenders from the economic system of our day, they say, but no one is stepping to the plate like Jesus did, but the people controlling the economy are not all Jews. Rather, every nationality is represented in the global economic system that is currently teetering on the brink of disaster, so that when it falls, every nationality will be at fault for the mayhem that follows. The people in these verses were all Jewish, being Israel, the nation that God created by speaking to Abraham and choosing his descendants as the people who would represent Him in the world, and the Jewish people do represent the world in that anybody whom God would choose would have gone the way of Israel and done what they did. (179a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Jesus rebukes the Pharisees >> Rebuked for questioning His authority – Although this event was written at the beginning of the gospel of John, it actually occurred at the end of his ministry, being the event that got Him killed. After Jesus overturned their tables and drove them from the temple, they asked the Lord by what authority He did this. His answer, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus was the embodiment of God’s grace and mercy, and the only way He could show them the love of God was with a whip. In Matthew chapter 24 He asked them, “How will you escape the sentence of hell?” meaning they wouldn’t. Since these people were dead while they lived (Jude 12) and judged before the time (Mat 8-29), it indicates that they were literally incapable of repenting of their unbelief. These men were incapable of receiving the grace and mercy that Jesus came to offer the world, nor did they deserve the truth. (180a) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Wolves lead people into a cult >> Leading people for sordid gain Jn 2,13-17 (64c) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God has limited patience (69c) Righteous Anger (Key verse) (69d) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >> God is angry at sin (101d) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal does not count the cost >> Zeal of God has consumed me – When it says in Ps 69-9 says, “Zeal for Your house has consumed me,” it was speaking most specifically as a prophecy to the event when Jesus drove out the money changers, consisting of Pharisees, scribes and chief priest of the temple, in that this one event did more to get Him killed than any other. The Pharisees hated Him, but they tolerated Him until He did this. They hated Him for having such power to heal diseases and for such charisma to attract thousands of people to Himself, yet they endured him, but not after He attacked their money-making scheme; that ended their tolerance for Him. The Jewish religious zealots gave Jesus trouble throughout the gospel of John. Even the disciples knew this for themselves that this was written in the Old Testament. Jesus was consumed on the cross because of His zeal for God. What should Jesus have done, left them alone, so He would not be crucified? It was for this that He came into the world. Jesus did the right thing though it cost Him His life. (175b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Using religion as a front – Throughout His entire 3½-year ministry Jesus was badgered and harassed by the moneychangers, who were the religious establishment of Israel. They hated Him because He had the truth, and the truth was a threat to them. They had enslaved Israel in their money system, just like the truth is a threat to those who have enslaved the world in our current global system. As Christ confronted the religious establishment of His day, so the Two Witnesses will make war with the antichrist for 3½ years, and as a result Satan will be extricated as Prince of the Power of the Air. The moneychangers will do everything in their power to kill them, just like they did to Jesus, but God will give them power to destroy their enemies, until the time if fulfilled. How would you describe the satanic institution in the last days that rounds up Christians to systematically eliminate them; isn't it analogous to crucifying Christ? It will be a composition of two entities: the false prophet, who represents the moneylenders of our day, and the antichrist, representing the religious establishment. Together they will build Satan's ruthless world empire, who resemble the Jews whom Jesus drove from the temple with a whip. See also: Kingdom of the Antichrist / Money changers; Jn 2-18,19; 62n / Conditions of the Last days; Act 16,36-40; 148d Jn 2-16,17 (103c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God’s cleansing power >> Cleansing power of the word (141h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ life Jn 2-17 (59e) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Zeal will consume my heart / Zeal will consume my body – Jesus is our divine standard of zeal. His zeal far exceeded anybody else's; in fact, His zeal got Him martyred. Jesus had the fullness of anointing and He lived the fullness as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. Many people were martyrs for their faith over the millennia, but nobody took on the sins of humanity. It took commitment to showcase His obedience to His Father. We have certain things hanging over our heads, such as supplying the needs of a family, but Jesus had the sins of the whole world hanging over His head, and then He was persecuted and spitefully treated on top of it. Jesus knew beyond the shadow of doubt that His Father would raise Him from the dead; He must have constantly looked past the cross to His resurrection and toward the goal of the Church that His Father would give as a gift for obedience. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 2,18-21 (62b) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Responding with wisdom to your enemies >> Lie to them (177a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture >> Distorting Scripture from a lack of understanding (221b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who are looking for Him Jn 2-18,19 (62n) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives the lost – After vehemently opposing their business of religion Jesus in almost every respect told them a boldfaced lie, in that He led them to believe He was talking about the temple building, when in fact He was referring to the temple of His body. Indeed, they used this very statement against Him in His mock trial, forever establishing the connection between the money changers and His crucifixion. Did Jesus really lie to them? Technically yes, but spiritually no. It was Jesus' fault they didn't understand what He said, but it was their fault they were mistaken about the Scriptures and the power of God (Mk 12-24) in order that they might take advantage of the people. What obligation did Jesus have in telling them the truth? Had Jesus talked to them plainly, they would have either misunderstood that too, or mocked Him for it. If they used His righteous deception against Him, how much more would they have used the truth against Him? See also: Money changers; Jn 2,13-17; 175b (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding Jesus Jn 2,19-21 (140e) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> The entrance exam Jn 2-19 (58i) Two I mplied Meanings (Key verse) (58j) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> The temple building / The temple of His body Jn 2-22,23 (20h) Sin >> Doubt replaces faith – Throughout His 3½-year ministry, the disciples were constantly trying to understand Jesus. It was frustrating for them because they knew He was the Son of God, yet they could not predict what He would do next or make any sense of His words, and they never pieced together His intensions until He rose from the dead. Jesus spoke to them every day about His Father, who sent His Son on a specific mission, and the only thing the disciples could figure He was doing must result in the Kingdom of God manifested in the natural realm, the same kingdom we are anticipating to this day. So everything He said and did, they jammed into their own perspective, and none of it fit, like pounding a square peg into a round hole. With a big enough hammer they could make it fit, and when He said or did something that deviated from their preconceived notions, they just got a bigger hammer. He told them many times point blank what were His intensions, but it did no good, because they could not hear His words. See also: Expecting the Kingdom of God to appear immediately; Jn 18-36; 46a (86e) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> God’s works act as evidence to support our beliefs – When He said these words, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” they remembered He said it, but they didn’t know what He meant at the time. Only later, after His resurrection, did they understand what He meant and believed in Him. In the same way today, we can quote what the Bible says, but many of us don’t know what it means. There are those in the Church today who well know the Scriptures but know little what it means. The disciples finally understood His purpose after Jesus rose from the dead, but that is what it took. Those 3½ days in the grave they probably recalled some of the things He said, that He would rise from the dead, and they were no doubt hoping He would, but they refused to let themselves believe it. None of the disciples genuinely expected Him to rise from the dead, and Jesus' attitude was that they should have believed in Him, because of all the proofs that He had showed them. Jn 2-23 (67g) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> The name of Jesus is the salvation of God – “Many believed in His name.” This is what Jesus said we would do throughout the age of grace who did not have an opportunity to personally meet Him; we should believe in His name “through our word” (Jn 17-20). These who were alive at the time of Christ could have believed in the person of Jesus Christ. Instead, it says they believed in His name, referring to His identity as the Christ. When it says they believed in His name, it doesn’t mean they believed in Him the way we believe in Him, through faith, because we have never seen Him, whereas they saw Him and actually witnessed His miracles. If His own disciples technically did not believe in Jesus, they loved and adored Him but in no way did they understand His mission, how much less did the people believe in Him who were not his disciples? So when it says they believed in His name, it means that on some level they recognized Him as the Messiah, but not in a way that would effect their salvation. In other words, they didn’t actually put their trust in Him. In the same way, many of us believe what the Bible says, but they don’t trust what it says, otherwise they would be saved. Jn 2-24,25 (16b) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man is an enemy of God – It is unlikely that Jesus trusted His twelve disciples during His 3½ year ministry, much less those who merely claimed to believe in Him. It says He knew what was in men. He knew they could not be trusted, though He didn’t see more evil in them than in anyone else. Had He entrusted Himself to them they would have used Him up and kicked Him to the curb. He was glad they believed in Him, but there was nothing more He could do for them. He preached the gospel and they witnessed His miracles, but He formed no mutual bonds with anyone, not even with His twelve disciples. He was there to show them the love of the Father, and He did love them, but He didn’t entrust Himself to them, like a parent loves his children but refuses to trust them with the car at age ten. (62h) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Do not commit yourself too hastily (68j) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving a wicked heart _________________________________ JOHN CHAPTER 3 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3,1-10 (166f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Nature of man’s wisdom >> Man’s wisdom does not know God – Nicodemus unwittingly admitted that he was completely mystified by everything Jesus had been telling him, saying, “How can these things be?” Jesus tore into him with that, saying He had spoken to him plainly, and he still didn’t understand. Nicodemus came to Jesus looking for the truth and wanting to hear something else, as though trying to control the truth, as was his custom, until Jesus disrupted his worldview. The truth was not something he was ready to hear. He wanted something that was more familiar to his personal experience that he could grasp with his fleshly mind. Jesus was speaking to him in parables to some degree, but spoke literal as He could. Since mankind knows nothing about God, for Jesus to speak more plainly about the Father would not have helped. Jesus spoke in parables as an aid for His audience. His words sounded like riddles to Nicodemus, but better that than gibberish, which is what the teaching of the Holy Spirit sounds like to the untrained ear. It frustrated Nicodemus that Jesus spoke to him in riddles, but Jesus in many respects had no choice. Jesus told Him that he was actually telling him about earthly things, and that he was even less prepared to receive the knowledge of heavenly things; He hadn't even begun speaking about unfamiliar things that were virtually impossible to understand with the natural mind. Jesus often did this to people who were seeking Him. Instead of encouraging him, He put him on sensory overload, so he would never forget the truth was far bigger than him, no matter how much he learned or how close he thought he was getting to the truth. Jn 3,1-8 (118m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Newness of the spirit transcends oldness of the letter – Nicodemus had no understanding of the things Jesus spoke, though he was a ruler of his people. Israel was the only nation in the world that was created by faith. The moment Abraham obeyed God's voice, Israel was born, knowing it was God who spoke, commanding him to journey to a foreign land that neither he nor his fathers ever knew. This was similar to what Jesus was asking Nicodemus to do, who was an expert in the Scriptures, yet he had no capacity to comprehend Jesus, who struggled to understand how He fit into the design of Israel’s past, present and future. Everything Jesus said was mysterious; and for this reason he came to him for a personal tutor lesson, hoping Jesus would clarify a few things. Although the new covenant was built on the old, Nicodemus could not see the connection between them, being that the old covenant was a set rules, and the new covenant was of faith, based on the Spirit. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the Spirit, and he understood none of it, because he had only experience with the Law. No one understood Jesus at that time, not even the disciples. (221i) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides his divinity from man’s corruption >> The Kingdom of God is from another realm – We must all be physically born in order to exist in the natural realm, and it is just as imperative that we be spiritually born if we want to live in heaven. Symbolically, Jesus drew a line in the sand between He and Nicodemus saying, “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” They cannot cross over, just like the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16,19-31). After they lived their lives and died, Lazarus went to heaven, but the rich man lifted his eyes in hell, knowing it was too much to ask if he could cross over, asked if Lazarus could only come with a glass of water that he might cool his tongue, for he was in agony in the flames. There is a great chasm that separated heaven from hell, though they may be within eyeshot of each other. In the same way, there is a great chasm between the flesh and the Spirit, and we cannot cross to the other side except through the door of Christ. These are two separate realms that have no association, but what is without a solution God has made possible through the blood of His cross. (232m) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek the essence of his kingdom >> Seeking Jesus – A Pharisee came seeking Jesus by night in fear of his associates, hungry for the truth. The Pharisees were the group of moneychangers, whom Jesus drove from the temple with a whip a chapter earlier, and contended with Him throughout the gospel of John, who ultimately had Him crucified, but now we have one of their own, Nicodemus, asking Jesus to unravel the truth for him, showing that in every group no matter how evil, some seek truth. Later, in Jn 19-39,40, we see Nicodemus tending to Jesus' body after His crucifixion. By that act, it should answer the question whether Nicodemus believed in Jesus; it is surprising that some people still debate it. If this is how he felt about the dead body of Jesus, he must have honored Him while he was alive. Nicodemus will be with us in heaven by evidence of his contribution in helping to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. (238a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of God >> Born again by the will of the Father – Nicodemus sarcastically complained to Jesus about this statement about being born-again, asking how he could go back into his mother’s womb and be reborn. Did anyone have the Holy Spirit in Old Testament times? King David was anointed, and all the Old Testament prophets were anointed, but the anointing was not available to the common person. Is being born-again the same as the anointing? Yes and no! The anointing is defined as, 'an outward manifestation of an inward work,' but the anointing of Pentecost was different. The Pentecost anointing was given as a means of establishing the Church in the first century, and then it faded (through abuse), but the inward anointing is still available to us. Being born-again means that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer. He is our counselor and our comforter and the supercharger of our conscience, differentiating between good and evil, whereas the anointing enables us to produce the fruit of the Spirit. It is the anointing that gives us the same qualities of the prophets of old. The New Testament teaches that every believer in Jesus who pursues an anointing from God develops a prophetic ministry; in fact, every Christian has potential to walk in the gift of prophecy (1Cor 12-10). After His resurrection Jesus blew on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” They believed in Jesus long before this, so they would have already been born-again had it been available. Therefore, the born-again experience was purchased through the blood of Christ and made available after his resurrection, and if we obey the Holy Spirit within us, we will develop an anointing empowering us to fulfill our ministry. None of the disciples possessed the indwelling Holy Spirit during Jesus' ministry, and because of this, they were not able to see past His flesh, but on Pentecost He gave each of his disciples a specific anointing to help establish the Church in the world, and in the last days He will pour out His Spirit again to help establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Jn 3-1,2 (146i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of miracles >> Proof that Jesus is the son of God >> That the world may be saved – Nicodemus was convinced by the signs that Jesus performed, saying, “No one can do the signs that you do, unless God is with him.” The purpose of miracles is to logically deduce that God is with the person performing them, acting as his credentials, to focus people's attention on the gospel of Christ that many might be saved. Knowing what Nicodemus needed to hear, Jesus cut to the chase and told him that he needed to be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This angered Nicodemus because it made no sense and he began arguing with the Lord, not like a Pharisee, but wanting to know the truth. He had been a student of God’s word his whole life and never heard the things Jesus spoke, yet he could not deny that God was with him by evidence of the miracles. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-2 (175g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Dodging the issue (willful ignorance) >> Evading the heart of the matter Jn 3,3-8 (207f) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The Kingdom of God >> Children of God’s kingdom (238a) Born again (Key verse) Jn 3,3-5 (114d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation of God’s word (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding Jesus Jn 3-3,4 (177a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture from a lack of understanding Jn 3-3 (78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth (118c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit Jn 3-4 (63i) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcastic from being emotional >> Frustrated Jn 3-5 (60g) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Born of water—Natural birth / Through the word of God Jn 3-7,8 (219c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God has chosen us Jn 3-7 (33h) Gift of God >> Believers are children >> God is our Father >> Children are being molded after their heavenly Father -- This verse goes with verse 18 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-8 (106c) Thy kingdom co me >> Faith >> Hea ring from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> Flowing with the wind of His voice (110i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the truth >> Sound of the wind is the words of Jesus – Jesus talked more about the Holy Spirit than anyone else. He invested His very life's blood in procuring a way for us to receive Him. He told Nicodemus not to worry about being born again, because he cannot make it happen unless God chooses him, like the wind chooses where it blows. We cannot chase salvation anymore than we can chase the wind. Rather, we must let it come to us, and when it does, we must be ready to receive Him, or the subtle breeze may pass over us and possibly never to return. What will we do when the spirit of God blows His word on us? Will we ignore Him, or will we listen to His voice. To obey the Holy Spirit is to be born-again. (229d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> God causes the growth >> Kingdom grows according to the will of God Jn 3,9-12 (20cb) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Having a mind that is unable to receive >> Religion doesn't know how to believe in God -- These verses go with verses 18-20. In Mk 9-23 Jesus said to the man with a demon-possessed son, “‘If You can? All things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief.’” So the man believed and didn’t believe at the same time, because he hadn't allowed Jesus into his world-view. The man essentially said, ‘I believe in You, but my belief-system doesn’t.’ He believed Jesus could heal his son, but it was not an aspect of his current belief system. Nicodemus suffered the same bondage of unbelief because of the false doctrine that blocked his ability to believe the truth . (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – "Unbelief" is the opposite of "faith", not the opposite of belief. So what does it mean to believe? Jesus taught that believing was tantamount to obedience, while faith pertains to a revelation of Jesus Christ through obedience. The world treats belief as merely accepting ideas into their worldview. A worldly person rejects all things spiritual, whereas a spiritual person’s beliefs transcend this natural realm. When Jesus told Nicodemus about being born-again, he was unaware of such things, and his worldview would not allow him to accept it, for it did not fit with anything he believed. The very concept of "worldview" is a misnomer, in that the world doesn’t really believe anything. That is, the world believes in many things, but by assumption only, which is not technically believing. Most people don’t ever stop to think about what they believe, which allows Satan to spoon-feed their concept of reality. In other words, the spirit of the world tells people what to believe, which usually appeals to the five senses, such as New-Age, which is a hodgepodge of handpicked ideas shaken-not-stirred together, designed to avoid offending people, especially the believer; and then there is Atheism, which assumes that God does not exist because they have never seen Him. They use the same elementary principles in both cases, allowing their five senses to detect the truth of God, they assume. For instance, some admit that evil exists, and then they assume that God is evil. Many people believe both that God is evil and that He does not exit, which obviously is contradictory. Atheists often do this because they don’t really believe anything. (167d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Bound to the earth – Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born-again or he would not see the Kingdom of Heaven, then said that this pertains to earthly things, and then asked, “How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” So being born-again is actually considered an earthly experience. God has come from heaven to earth in the form of Jesus Christ to shed His blood and rose from the dead, ascended back to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit in His place, who now dwells in His people, giving the born-again believer an earthly experience of Himself in the Spirit. Most people would say there is nothing more heavenly than being born-again, but Jesus said that this is just the beginning. There are things indeed more heavenly than this. (198f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Men place themselves in positions of authority >> Men who are ill-equipped to fulfill the ministry – Nicodemus was a religious leader of Israel, but after he met Jesus he realized he was completely ignorant of God. Our beliefs try to explain the creation, and Nicodemus was trying to find a place for Jesus in his current dogma, but He didn’t fit anywhere. Jesus doesn’t fit into anyone’s belief system, which makes casting aside our current views the first order of business. The one who seeks Jesus must clean house, throwing straight into the dumpster all the junk theology that has accumulated over the years, and then come to Jesus accepting whatever He says as our new truth. Jesus rebuked Nicodemus for not believing what He said, expecting him to have given up his credo before coming to Him. Eventually Nicodemus did adopted the teachings of Christ, evident after His death. Nicodemus assisted His burial as a gesture denoting that he had been thinking about the things He said to him the night he secretly met with Him, being more willing to embrace the teachings of a dead man over his old broken-down views of God. Once Jesus rose from the dead, Nicodemus unquestionably believed in Him. He believed in a man who was not only alive, but one who returned from the dead, alive forevermore. Jn 3-11 (199i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> The world rejects God >> World rejects God because it does not know Him Jn 3-13 (224b) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> Describing the kingdom after he makes all things new >> Description of the ascension – Jesus just said that mankind from Adam to Christ had not yet seen heaven, except the Son of God. However, when Jesus went to heaven, he brought all the souls with Him who had died in faith since Adam. 2Cor 5-8 says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Eph 4-8 says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives and He gave gifts to men.” This is referring to emptying the place referred to by Jesus in Lk 16,19-31 as Abraham’s bosom. It is essentially a place where God has stored the souls of people who have died in faith from Adam to the ascension of Christ. Those before and after Abraham who lived according to their conscience are assumed to be among them. Now after Christ, when a person dies believing in His blood sacrifice, they are immediately swept to heaven by the angels of God. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3,14-21 (85m) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the Father through the son (The old covenant through the new) -- These verses go with verse 36 (205aa) Salvation >> Verses useful in evangelism -- These verses go with verse 36 Jn 3,14-18 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin – We can listen to somebody’s dissertation on the Scriptures, but when he says, “therefore”, interpretation is about to make a statement, and we often trip on these things. Therefore, we are to live as Jesus lived. If we believe that Jesus died because of sin, then we should “go and sin no more” as He said to the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8-11), and He also said regarding the Good Samaritan, “Go and do the same.” (114h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus exercises His will through the will of His Father (117ga) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Vision >> Real-eyes God’s purpose for the Church >> Understand Jesus' subordinate position with the Father – There are plenty of people who think all they have to do is focus on Jesus for a moment to be saved forever. This is easy-believism. It may only take a moment to eradicate our past sins, but it takes a lifetime of attention to transform our evil passions and desires into aspirations for righteousness. The cross of Christ is the center of our faith and of God’s grace, meaning it is not the cross and something else that saves us but the blood of Jesus only. We don’t focus on the cross to be forgiven so we can ‘go and sin some-more;’ this attitude would seek to abuse the grace of God. Focusing on Jesus while maintaining a sinful lifestyle is hypocrisy and evidence we don’t believe. The reason we say the gospel is so simple a little child can understand it is that many of those children are not horrible sinners like we adults have become. We pick up nasty habits along the way and often develop deleterious coping skills and accumulate evil thoughts and emotions that tie us to unconstructive attitudes and values that negatively impact ourselves and others. The gospel is so simple a little child can understand it, only because they intend to obey it. Jn 3,14-17 (124l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of God’s faith (207l) Salvation >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> God is kind to sinners >> He seeks and saves that which was lost (209k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Father sent His son to the cross – Jn 3-16 is by far the most popular verse in the Bible for good reason; it flows with grace and mercy. This is the first time in the gospel of John that Jesus spoke about the love of the Father for the world. It was not Jesus’ will to come here; it was His Father’s will. It was a good thing that Jesus did not come on His own initiative. Instead, God so loved the world that He sent His Son to offer His body on the cross as a sacrifice of propitiation for the sins of mankind. Jesus didn’t go to the cross for us; He did it for His Father. That is, the cross does not represent the grace and mercy of Christ, but the grace and mercy of the Father. By the same token, Jesus did not assert to love the world; that was His Father’s claim. Jesus claimed to love the Church. Jn 3-14,15 (118h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Giving God your attention >> Resolutely focus on the glory of God >> Focus on Jesus – The serpent in this verse was a bronze statue that Moses made by the command of the Lord to counteract a plague that was occurring in his day; anyone who looked at it was healed of the snakebite (Numbers 21,6-9). It was a simple act of obedience and a small command yielding big results, but of course Jesus was using it to show how simple salvation is to those who believe in His blood sacrifice. When they nailed His hands and feet to the cross and then dropped it in its stand, jarring His pinned body, causing unimaginable pain, those huddled around Him, His mother and disciples and others raised their eyes to Jesus and beheld the man as if looking at the bronze serpent that God commanded Moses, and they were healed of all their sins. Salvation from a fatal snakebite was based on a simple act of obedience in the days of Moses, and in our day it is a simple act of resolutely focusing on the cross to be forgiven our sins and inherit eternal life. The analogy emphasized that Jesus is the focus of our lives now to eternity. Jn 3-15,16 (205e) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of eternal life KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-16,17 (87c) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Jesus obeyed all the Father’s will (253ja) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is under the authority of the Father >> Jesus did His Father's will – The Father is the person of the trinity that most represents “God”. He is the person of the Godhead with utmost authority. He disseminated His love for mankind to the other members of the trinity, who are in perfect harmony with Him. So, the Son and the Holy Spirit are in perfect agreement with the Father about His love for the world, but we should always remember that the love of God for us originated from the Father. In this way we know for certain that God loves us with His entire being. This small difference is monumental when interpreting the rest of the New Testament. When Jesus taught us about God, the number one thing He stressed was the hierarchy of authority within the trinity, who all had separate offices, but all converged to represent one God. For example, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and we know about Jesus, but what do we know about the Father, except that Jesus is the exact representation of His nature? Yet, look how different Jesus is from the Holy Spirit. We can only assume the Father is equally different from the other two members of the trinity. One thing we know for sure about the Father, He loves us. What else matters in this life? See also: God's substance is faith; Rom 3,24-28; 119l Jn 3-16 (34b) Gift of God >> God’s generosity >> Believer owns everything >> Trinity belongs to us >> Father belongs to us – Some might feel a little disappointed that Christ did not initiate the grace and mercy of God; rather, the Father did. Actually, it is better this way, for now we know that the Father will be happy we are there, and we can be confident that heaven will receive us from the top-down. What if salvaging a people from the world to be His worshippers were Jesus’ idea, and the Father disagreed with Him about it? Throughout all eternity we would be looking over our shoulder wondering what the Father might do. Not to worry, it was the Father’s generous will that we should become the bride of Christ and live with Him forever. (35a) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> He is generous with the flesh of His Son (88c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Faith without works is dead (123d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Reaching out to those in need (165g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of the world >> Be in the world but not of the world (216k) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> You cannot control God’s desire for you >> man is not in control of God’s gift -- This verse goes with verse 27 Jn 3,17-21 (202h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the witness of God – Before Jesus came, God’s judgment could not be any more severe than breaking the law. Moreover, God gave man a conscience and he broke that conscience during the days of Noah, and the whole world became corrupt, so He sent a flood upon the earth to destroy them, except for Noah and his family. Once Noah repopulated the earth, God spoke to Abraham, and from his loins he created Israel, and through Israel Jesus came into the world and told us, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also” (Jn 15-22,23). They had their conscience, but God predestined His Son to come and judged the world, including Noah’s day, on the cross. God added the law to man’s conscience, increasing his sin, and now that Jesus has come, man’s sin has exponentially increased in preparation for the fulfillment of endtime prophecy. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3,18-21 (47j) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment against unbelief toward Christ – The Father is not willing that Christ should judge anyone, but that all men should be saved through Him. Nevertheless, He will judge those who refuse the salvation of His cross. There is something we must do to be saved, but there’s nothing we need do to be condemned, for we are already sinners. Believing in Jesus is an act of faith, but if we do not believe, our sinful flesh will lead us into judgment with God. We must decide for ourselves to believe that God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Believing in His blood sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, no matter what we’ve done, but if we choose not to believe, we are judged by default. (107m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> The Bible will lead you to truth >> True light – Light represents Jesus, who is the word of God and the epitome of truth. When someone has a good idea, a light bulb appears, glowing over his head; in a similar way, when we are born-again, the Holy Spirit enlightens our mind. This was the very core of Christianity throughout the age of grace. Jesus called Him the Spirit of truth, for the Holy Spirit and the word of God are one. Jesus is the word of God, suggesting that Jesus is the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. To speak about the Holy Spirit is to speak about the very origins of God’s truth, and to speak about God’s truth refers to Jesus. See also: Spirit and the Word (Jesus is the embodiment of God's word); Jn 12-46; 112g (200j) Denying Christ >> Excuses for rejecting Christ >> Using irresponsibility as an excuse to reject God >> Using your sinful nature as an excuse to sin (201c) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> If your heart is not with Him your deeds are against Him (208c) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The expectations of God >> God expects us to repent and be saved (212h) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> God is all knowing >> Nothing hidden >> God exposes things hidden in darkness – Some people almost never think about God, and for this reason they sin, because they have no consciousness of God. If we brought God into the subject, it would do no good, because their minds are hardened by the darkness of their thinking; like shining a flashlight into the abyss, the light gets swallowed by the darkness. This describes some people; their darkness seems infinite. There are other people who are sinners and they know it; their conscience bothers them, and they should confess their sins to the Lord and start living for Jesus. We should have no consciousness of sin that we confess to the Lord, but there are things we have done that we just can’t seem to forget. Every time we think about them we feel a twinge of guilt, like phantom pain from a amputated limb. God has forgiven us because we live and walk in the light of God’s truth. Jn 3,18-20 (16h) Continuing in sin to avoid the light (Key verse) (17a) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Man hates God – Man hates God, and because of that he hates the Jew. Man can write a laundry list of reasons he despises the Jews, but most everything on the list cannot be verified, and the rest does not deserve the level of contempt man has for them. We must return to Adam and Eve to discover man’s original hatred of God. Adam’s taking the fruit was not innocent, because God told him beforehand not to touch it, and the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit was separation from God, which is the cause of man's contempt. It was a direct violation of His command. This refers to the mystery of lawlessness and explains why the sinner naturally and instinctively hates God. (20cb) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Having a mind that is unable to receive >> Religion doesn't know how to believe in God -- These verses go with verses 9-12. The world might make perfect sense to most people, but just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it's true. Like a math test, we put down our answer that makes the most sense, but is it the right answer? Even if the teacher tells us how we went wrong, if we don’t understand mathematics the explanation will not help. Many people think Christianity is not based on the truth, but that is the wrong answer, and if we try to explain spiritual things to them, they don’t get it. That doesn’t mean the spirit realm doesn’t exist; it only means they are completely duped by the god of this world. Darkness represents the opposite of truth, which is primarily the opposite spirit of Christ, that is antichrist. Therefore, when the world rejects Christ, they are inadvertently agreeing with the devil and siding with him. (21h) Sin >> Premeditated sin >> Having no intensions of doing the will of God – Before Jesus came, how could God judge the world for loving darkness, since they had no alternative? Now, God sent the light into the world as an alternative to darkness, and most people have chosen darkness over the light. By this God can judge the world because it can now be proven that they love darkness over the light. Jesus explained God to us and told us His Father’s expectations of how we should live and what we can do to please Him, and people ran from the knowledge of God and have been running from Him ever since. They don’t want to know God, because the world has it’s own truth, which Jesus called darkness, and it too has a spiritual origin, Satan. (55k) Paradox >> Opposites are inverse of each other >> Gain the world to lose your soul >> he who saves his life shall lose it – Jesus defines the nature of his judgment as a contrast between light and darkness. Hence, God’s judgment is based on man preferring darkness over the light. That is, they prefer the world's evil over God's righteousness expressed on the cross. Evil has the effect of driving us away from the light. Darkness and evil has an aversion to God, making it difficult to come to the light. Our evil causes us to hate the light, causing a catch-22 in the process of salvation: sin makes God repulsive to us, yet we must stop sinning to remove the obstacle that stands in our way of seeking Him. It says that those who do evil do not come to the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. Therefore, the opposite also must be true. Those who practice the truth are attracted to the light. We seek the light because we want it to confirm our righteousness as originating from God (v 21). (64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will (153e) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Preferring darkness over the light (166b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Man’s wisdom excuses his sinful nature >> Man’s wisdom gives reason to reject God (182d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Trying to hide from God (195d) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You cannot serve righteousness and sin together (199h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> The world rejects God >> Rejecting Christ to keep the world (201d) Denying Christ >> Jesus is an offense >> Truth offends error >> The word offends peoples’ sinful lifestyles KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-18,19 (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief – By the standard of the cross, being salvation to everyone who believes, by that same standard judgment is to follow those who reject His offer of forgiveness and eternal life. We have a choice of one or the other; He will be our savior or our judge. Jesus was speaking as much to those who condemned Him to death, who wielded the cat-o-nine-tails across His back, who drove the nails into His hands and feet, as to those who would believe in Him. Jn 3-18 (19m) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unwilling to believe >> Spirit of unbelief (33h) Gift of God >> Believers are children >> God is our Father >> Children are being molded after their heavenly Father -- This verse goes with verse 7 (120a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Curse of God is broken >> Curse of God’s Judgment is broken (253eb) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God >> Authority of the Son of God Jn 3,19-21 (25a) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Hate the truth – We can either love Jesus or hate Him, but we cannot like or dislike Him. There is no evidence in Scripture that God likes or dislikes anything; He either loves something or He hates it, and we feel the same way about Jesus, because He is spiritual, and when we enter the spiritual realm, like and dislike do not exist. Therefore, when we discus the gospel with someone and the person claims to like or dislike the Lord, we know that he is lying. Remember the 1969 song, “Jesus is just alright with me” by the Byrds? The lyrics are unbiblical. (112i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Light exposes sin >> Light reveals hidden motives – When we turn on the light, darkness that once filled the room suddenly disappears, and when we turn off the light, darkness refills the void. Here on earth under its atmosphere a vacuum is almost impossible, yet the vacuum state is the norm in outer space, so also we can say that darkness is not really a thing but is the normal state in the absence of light. So what does that say about Satan, that he is not a legitimate entity? Yes, his existence is the result of the absence of God! So too, darkness is real, but can only exist apart from light. Jesus used the allegory of light and darkness to make the point that truth exposes our evil deeds outside the will of God. He can see us just fine, according to Psalm 139-12, “Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.” We can go into the darkest room and commit sin and God can still see us. See also: Devil steals the word from our hearts; Lk 24,4-7; 15f (165a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world rejects God – In his darkness man has treated the law as merely God’s opinion, but when Jesus came in the likeness of human flesh and died at the hands of sinners, He set a standard of conduct for mankind that God will use to judge each person. Now that Jesus has come we have a choice: will we give up our darkness for the light, or will we keep our darkness and shun the light? Jesus is the worst thing that ever happened to sinners who have no intention of repenting, because now God can prove that their wickedness is not just His opinion. (184a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false partition – At the White Throne Judgment, man’s sin will tell God that He is evil, and God will tell man that they have accused Him of sin for the last time. They rejected His Son and His offer of forgiveness and eternal life, proving that they want nothing to do with God or His kingdom, so God prepared a place for them in darkness that they love so much. They will spend eternity living in an environment that they have chosen for themselves. If hell were not hellish from the start, perhaps starting as a paradise, man would soon turn it into hell, just like they are doing to the earth. As Jesus promised His people, “I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn 14-2), a place that befits their faith in Jesus, so He prepared a place for His enemies, a place that befits their unbelief. Sinners love darkness, and so darkness they shall have; how can they complain about that? KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-19,20 (145i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> Rejecting the opportunity to be holy (180h) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >> Rebelling against God’s narrow way >> Rebelling against the word of God – Jesus gave man a choice between light and darkness. Before Jesus came man didn’t have a choice; all he had was darkness. Man had his arbitrary views about God; it was up to the individual to determine on his own whether God loved them, or whether there was a God at all. Before Christ, man felt alone and on his own, left to his own devices to fend for himself. Israel came and tried to explain God to man, yet Israel was not much of an example. When Jesus came and exemplified His Father, He came as the exact representation of Him. His example of the Father is that He loved us so much “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3-16). Now, if people want to continue believing their own ideas about God instead of adopting the view of authoritative Scripture about the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, God will take that as rejection. Those who stand at the White Throne Judgment and try to explain their motives will have no defense. All they can say is that they didn’t believe the testimony of the Holy Bible; they didn’t believe it was God’s word; they thought it was just a product of human imagination. God might tell them that they could have believed on their own that God was good, but they viewed Him through the curse of creation that struck through their own flesh, and they agreed with the rest of the world that God was evil, and so they did evil in His sight, thinking they were an accurate reflection of their maker. (242d) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecuting God >> Persecuting righteousness – Jesus really hit the nail on the head this time; light has come into the world and given mankind a choice. Before there was light, there was just darkness, but now that Jesus has come and spoken to the world and His faithful witnesses recorded His words in Scripture and carefully preserved them throughout the generations, we now have a choice to accept the light or to continue in our darkness. The fact that we have a choice has given God a reason to judge mankind. Before Jesus came God could not judge the world for living in darkness, because they had no choice, but now that Jesus has come and borne witness of His Father and laid down his flesh as payment for sin, anyone who would believe in His blood sacrifice is forgiven, obtains eternal life and accepted into the family of God; but those who prefer their darkness God will judge them for rejecting the light. Everybody is a sinner and has committed many sins, but once we learn about Jesus and His love for mankind, to reject the purpose of God in His Son becomes the basis of their sins. In contrast, those who learn about Jesus as the solution to their darkness and turns to the light, becomes the basis of their righteousness and escapes the sentence of hell. Jn 3-20 (2l) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not stumble over Him (25a) Hate (Key verse) (57k) Paradox >> Opposites >> More you sin the less willing you are to repent (183g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of the world Jn 3-21 (30c) Gift of God >> God knows our needs >> He is the source of our obedience (32h) Gift of God >> Father will honor you if you die to self >> Your obedience – We who come to the light live as Christians, and God honors our obedience, but to have a righteousness apart from God is idolatry. God does not want anyone in His heaven who feels he deserves to be there. The person who lives a good life but is not a Christian is as big a sinner as the sinner. God has given us a measure of faith (Rom 12-3), and that measure works to produce a righteousness from God that we use as our offering to beseech Him to walk in the fullness of our potential. (90c) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It prepares your heart to receive Christ (93k) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus as He lights the way (115l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >> Works that God prepared for you (119e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Freedom in Christ (128m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Evidence of your fruit >> Good fruit is proof that God is working in you (193l) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God in your freedom to choose righteousness (194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way (228f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God is working in you to place you in His will >> To place you on the trail of good works – Here lies the difference between a self-righteous person and a true Christian; the self-righteous person seeks glory for himself in the good things he does, while the Christian could not please God if it weren’t for Jesus paying the price for his forgiveness. Once forgiven, God will place us on His designated trail of good works that He has prepared for us, which He ordained, so He gets the credit for our good works, for apart from Him we could do nothing (Jn 15-5). The Christian performs miraculous works, because the trail under our feet is divine, and so it is only natural that we should give God the glory for the good things we do. In contrast, the sinner does his good works apart from God and attributes them to himself, which is just another form of evil. When he takes credit for his good works, he receives his reward in full. (231c) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> God’s grace is the mystery of godliness >> God working in you is a mystery KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3,22-26 (8m) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing process >> Laying the foundation of freedom – John’s disciples conversed with him about the subject of purification in that repentance and purification are associated with baptism. The purpose of repentance is purification, to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Cor 7-1). An aspect of the gospel is repentance, which is a preparing process to integrate into the kingdom of God when it comes. Jesus never graduated to a higher subject than repentance in all His preaching. When He was crucified, rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit in His place, showing that the baptism of repentance was the basis for the ministry of the Spirit. We don’t repent in order to be saved, otherwise the gift of God would be considered a wage that was due us. Instead, we repent as a normal response to a holy God. If the foundation of God’s kingdom is repentance, how much more is the ministry of the Spirit based on obedience? The Holy Spirit is the very substance of His kingdom, for when we obey Him, we clothe ourselves with the works of God. God has a new life for us, based on a different kingdom, different works and a different Spirit apart from the world. However, people are so attached to this world that they cannot visualize weaning off it and attaching themselves to God and doing His will. (250f) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> Natural then the spiritual (obedience then anointing) – Jesus’ message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 4-17). His message was not about the Spirit but about repentance, though he often mentioned the Spirit who would come later. Jn 4-2 says, “Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were.” Jesus didn’t baptize anyone for the same reason the Apostle Paul didn’t baptize anyone. 1Cor 1-14,15 says, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.” Had Jesus baptized anyone, he would have counted it an advantage over those whom John baptized. Jesus didn’t baptize people so they couldn’t boast in their flesh about it and later turn it into a religion. John’s disciples didn’t understand why he and Jesus weren’t walking together. Instead, they walked separately but parallel, like two rails of the same train track, one representing repentance and the other representing the upcoming ministry of the Spirit. John wasn’t looking to Jesus and Jesus wasn’t looking to John; they both turned in the same direction by the same Spirit who spoke to both of them. They were employing the same baptism of repentance into one Spirit, for repentance is the basis of receiving the Spirit. Jn 3-27 (216k) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> You cannot control God’s desire for you >> man is not in control of God’s gift -- This verse goes with verse 16. If we have nothing from heaven, then we have nothing at all. The things pertaining to the new covenant are spiritual, making it easy for us to discern who is our brother and who isn't. Those in possession of Christ are obvious to all, but those who don’t know Him persecute those who do. The one who is truly spiritual is different from the telluric man of the earth, whose secularity precedes him. Jn 3,28-30 (77m) Thy kingdom come >> Being Humble Before God >> Exalting God through humility – Jesus confessed that He was the Christ, while John confessed that he was not the Christ, and both were great confessions. We all know why Jesus’ confession was great, but what made John’s confession so great? It indicated He was not seeking his own glory, but the glory of God. According to Jesus, that is what made John one of the greatest men “born of women” (Mat 11-11). John was always mindful of who he was and who he was not, being merely a voice crying in the wilderness. John the Baptist’s message and ministry came to Him at great cost, preparing for it his whole life, living in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. He was not about to sacrifice it all for a few moments of personal glory, only to be judged by God later and lose the reward. John the Baptist and Jesus were physically related as cousins, while Jesus’ brothers never acknowledged Him as the Christ so long as He walked in the flesh, being spiritually blind. John the Baptist was given a blessing from heaven from the very beginning of his life, for this is the degree that he fulfilled his ministry, glorifying Jesus as the Christ: He leapt in his mother’s womb when Mary, pregnant with the Son of God, entered the room. He summarized his greatness in verse 30, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” encapsulating the very heart and soul of God’s kingdom, which is based on humility. Jn 3-28 (77f) Thy kingdom come >> Humility >> Refusing the glory of man >> Rejecting the worship of men Jn 3-29 (101f) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> Fulfill your calling with zeal (106f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> When He speaks and what He says Jn 3-30 (56h) Paradox >> Opposites >> He must increase, but I must decrease (192b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Life for life >> Losing your life to gain God’s purpose KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-31 (66g) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> He owns everything from the father -- This verse goes with verse 35 (66i) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> Jesus is the power of God >> Demonstration of His Spirit (84k) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They will condemn you (156l) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >> Associating with the world – John the Baptist sounded like the apostle John, who wrote this gospel, and also spoke like Jesus. How could these three use the same terminology if they didn’t all three have the same Spirit? John the Baptist suggested that Jesus is above all things and that those who are of the earth follow Satan, who is the ruler of the world. Those who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord speak the wisdom of the world. Everyone who rejects God speaks the same vernacular, and everyone who loves the world disagrees with God. People may have different reasons for rejecting Christ, but the result is the same: it makes them hostile against Him (Rom 8-7,8). Man and demon speak the same language when it comes to God. That is, if we asked the devil about God, he wouldn’t sound much different from unbelievers, because they got their ideas from the devil, even though they don’t believe he exists, which makes Satan the ultimate conspiracy. If people don't believe in God, then they can’t believe in the existence of evil, and consequently question the legitimacy of love. Those in World War I who engaged in trench warfare believed in the existence of evil, and if evil exists, then so does the devil, and if the devil exists, then so does God. There is a force in the world that rules over man’s wickedness and causes him to speak the same language and to believe the same lies about God through a spirit of wickedness that is leading mankind off a common cliff into the abyss. There could be identical twins, one believes in Jesus and the other doesn’t; spiritually they could not be more dissimilar. Conversely, there could be two people taken from different countries, having completely different ethnic backgrounds, speak different languages and have nothing in common with each other, except that they both believe in Jesus, spiritually they could not be more alike. See also: World obeys the devil; 168g / Satan is Defined as the absence of God; Jn 3,19-21; 112i (168g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world listens to itself >> The world speaks it’s own language – This is an interesting choice of words: “He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.” This refers to secularism, which is founded on earthly principles, correlating with nature, primarily with the principle of Survival of the Fittest, which has nothing to do with God. Conversely, he who is from heaven is above all. Those who are of the earth perpetuate a system that rewards the greatest and subjects the least to servitude, but there is one who is greater. Those who are of the earth do not acknowledge Him, because He did not originate from the earth but came from heaven. The things that Jesus came to give us are the opposite of nature. The natural world has no choice but to take from other living things in order to survive, but the Kingdom of Heaven is founded on opposite principles, that of giving instead of taking. Mankind is impoverished in every way, so God has come to give us what we need to overcome the curse, but John said that no one receives His witness, because He does not agree with the world. People only accept things they understand and the only thing the world understands is itself. Jesus came to give us something better, the Kingdom of Heaven, founded on the principles of giving and love, instead of taking and hatred. See also: World obeys the devil; 156l Jn 3,32-34 (153b) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Jesus bears witness of the Father Jn 3-32 (168f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world listens to itself >> The world receives itself – John the Baptist spoke much like Jesus and the apostle John. They all used the same on/off, black/white, true/false vernacular, and they all said that the world is wrong and that God is right, and that God needs to redeem all things in the world before they are acceptable to Him. Jesus testified about God and nobody received His testimony and then John said that the one who receives His testimony has set his seal to this: that God is true. So John was saying that everyone in the world who is chosen of God receives Him, but the rest do not. (185h) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Responding with contempt to the Holy Spirit >> Resisting the Holy Spirit Jn 3-33 (107f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing From God >> Truth of the trinity >> Father is truth (132d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> God gives his spirit as a pledge >> His Spirit is a seal – To those who receive His testimony have set their seal to this, that God is true. The world does not receive Christ, because the world is false. Those who are born of God believe in Jesus; they believe everything He said, not just some of it. The seal the True Church uses to certify those who belong to Him is that none of us find fault with God. To say this is also to say that no one who is of God is false, hence they all know the truth and speak the truth. Conversely, there are many people, including some Bible scholars, who are not saved, who know the Bible backward and forward but don’t know the truth. The Bible says that the truth is in Jesus (Eph 4-21), but they don’t know Him. They have never made a personal commitment to Him, because they don’t believe in Him. Some may have committed their lives to learning about Him, but God says that this is not good enough. He doesn’t care if we know what He said; He only cares if we do what He said. Moreover, we don’t need to ask Jesus to be born-again; if we do his will, He will place His Spirit in us and we will be born of God, which is His seal. Jn 3-34 (35c) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> God’s immeasurable generosity – The one who has the Spirit without measure possesses all things; therefore, to the extent of our anointing as Christians ("anointed ones") is the extent that we possess all things from God (1Cor 3,21-23). The Father has given all things to His Son, who has collectively delegated all things to us. On an individual basis we will receive an inheritance from God, as the Israelites inherited the promise land they could call home as farmers and make a living on their own property. In like manner, God will divide the universe between us, and since the universe is infinite and we are finite in number, each of us will receive an infinite inheritance. See also: New heavens and a new earth (God does all things through His Son, who does all things through the Church); Gal 6-15; 238e (87c) Thy kingdom come >> Obey all the will of God >> Jesus obeys all of the Father’s will (111c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit of truth (191a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Baptism >> Immersed in His Spirit (255d) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the authority of God’s word – The Father anointed Jesus beyond measure, like a mountain of sand that we are told to move with a bucket; we fill the bucket many times before we decide it is impossible to move the mountain. It seems without measure, though it is a limited amount. This is what the Bible is saying: Jesus was so greatly anointed that it was impractical to measure it. We cannot say He had an infinite anointing, for Jesus had a finite body, but He did walk in an anointing that was stronger than any person has ever received. It says in Rom 12-3 that each believer has been given a measure of faith, which translates to anointing, which results from walking in the Spirit. That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between our obedience of faith and our anointing, and though we should always strive to obey the Lord, we should not strive to walk beyond our faith. Jn 3-35,36 (144g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Trinity bears witness of Jesus >> Father bears witness of His Son KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 3-35 (66g) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> He owns everything from the father -- This verse goes with verse 31. The Father gave the creation to Jesus, and Jesus gave the creation to us to manage it according to His will, that we may become a blessing to those under us and glorify Him who is above us. This is the whole purpose and meaning of delegation, but what do we see in the Church today? Do we see the pastor delegating his authority to the saints? No! Instead, we see him hoarding the ministry to himself, and for this reason his ministry doesn’t grow. He holds onto it with both hands and refuses to share it with trustworthy people who will use it to bless the people under them and glorify those above them. Instead, he gives permission to set up tables and fold chairs, the grunge work he is unwilling to do himself. By that he has stolen the ministry from the people. The whole purpose of Church leadership is to delegate their authority to the people so that they become the ministry. This is the pattern of God, and it is the pattern of heaven, and it is what we read in the Bible from page to page, but does any of it sink in? No! (253a) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son has equal authority with the Father – “All things” means just that, everything. The Father loves the Son and has given the entire creation to Him. Why did the Father give the Son everything? What good would it do the Father if He horded the creation to Himself? What are the rest of us supposed to do, sit and watch Him manage His universe? What would we have to do with God or with His creation if He were unwilling to share it? The Father gave the entire creation to His Son, but that doesn’t mean the Father doesn’t own it anymore. When the Father gave the creation to Jesus, He delegated it to Him, and the person delegating does not relinquish his ownership or authority over the things He delegates. Rather, He gains more authority and more power and establishes His creation under Him to fulfill the purposes He intended from the beginning. The Father gives the creation to the Son and the Son gives the creation to us, and we in turn give the creation to those under us, and no one loses any ownership or power. Instead, God is further glorified by it. Those we entrust with what God has entrusted to us come under our supervision, and we are obligated to manage His creation according to His will. Just because we have ownership of something doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want with it. It is like God giving the earth to man, and what did he do with it? He is in the process of destroying it! The earth is hardly able to heal itself from all the destructive forces we are imposing on it; the earth seems to be losing the battle in these last days, so that it cannot produce its fruit as it once did, but has become sick, chaotic and destructive. Jn 3-36 (21d) Sin >> Disobedience will condemn you to hell – The Bible says that the one who does not obey what he believes “will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Of course John is talking about hell. Most Christians wish they could walk in certain sins, so long as there were no consequences, but there are consequences for sin. For God to simply blink someone out of existence is hardly a consequence, because then they wouldn’t even know they existed. Jesus said of Judas Iscariot, "It would have been good for that man if he had not been born" (Mat 26-24). The consequence to which Jesus was referring was eternal damnation, where the soul does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mk 9-44,46,48). Nobody really knows the torment of hell anymore than anyone knows the glory of heaven, but the Bible teaches that heaven is a very wonderful place, which means that hell must be a very horrible place. Why do people decide not to serve the Lord if they know what is waiting for them at the end of this life? It is because they don’t really believe it. Maybe they believe in terms of mental ascent. If they obeyed their mental ascent about hell, maybe they would repent and serve God in fear of eternity. (26ba) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is hell >> Rejecting Christ has the sentence of hell (40b) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s disobedience (47e) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of the dead (51b) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning about hell (85k) Belief (Key verse) – Ironically the Bible defines "believe" to mean obey and defines "obey" to mean believe. The word “credere” (credit) is Italian for the word believe, and we know that credit is a banking term that refers to drawing out a loan, and we also know what happens to a person when he doesn’t pay his mortgage; he loses his house and he becomes homeless. Take this same concept and apply it God. When we believe in Him, we become indebted to him, and we pay our debts with the spiritual currency of obedience. Therefore, if we claim to believe in Jesus and refuse to obey Him, it is like defaulting on our loan, and we are evicted from the faith, and ultimately from heaven, unless we repent. (85m) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the Father through the son (The old covenant through the new) -- This verse goes with verses 14-21. In this verse the New American Standard interchanges the words believe and obey, (used the same way) whereas the KJV uses the word “believe” in both instances. The NAS is making the point that to believe in Jesus is to obey the Holy Spirit. In this way we can say that there is really no believing in God without obedience. The advantage of this view is that there is no need for presumption, since believing is implied in our obedience (Jm 2-18), for we cannot have one without the other. If we believe but do not obey, the Bible says we are lying to ourselves and the truth is not in us (1Jn 1-8). To lie to self is to lie to God, and people who lie to God do not know Him. Everyone does this on occasion, but the person who practices lying to the Holy Spirit does not know Him. If we don’t believe the Son of God by obeying Him, then the wrath of God abides on us. It is not complicated and there is no gray area. (87b) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> We have no choice but to be doers of the word – If we don’t obey Christ, it is the same as not believing in Him. There are many so-called good people in the world who do not believe in Jesus (they obey Christ without believing in Him). Believing ascribes our righteousness to Christ, as Jesus said in Jn 3-21, “He who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” When we compare this rendition of the gospel with some of the more popular beliefs in the church today, they usually fall short of obedience. Their tainted theology has been handed to them, not by the Scriptures (they may not read the Bible for themselves); rather, they allowed people to tell them what to believe. What they had been told is more like mental ascent than real faith. They think that believing in a set of doctrines will get them to heaven without obeying them. No writer of the New Testament ever taught this, not Jesus, not James, not John, and not even Paul. When we look at Paul’s life and his commitment to the gospel, it was anything but mental ascent, so why would he teach it? (88c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Faith without works is dead (205aa) Salvation >> Verses useful in evangelism -- This verse goes with verses 14-21 (210f) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our savior >> We must believe in the savior to be saved (244d) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Jesus is the source of eternal life See next page