Have you ever wondered what kind of faith is saving faith? We've all known people who profess to believe in God, but quite frankly, their lifestyles and values don't seem much different than those who don't admit to any kind of faith in God. In the third chapter of John's gospel, we learn about a kind of faith born of the Spirit of God. After being informed by Jesus that one must be "born again" to see the kingdom of God, Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees, revealed in his response his lack of understanding of spiritual things. Then Jesus proceeded to teach Nicodemus about...

A kind of faith created by the Holy Spirit.

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus answered and 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 that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness" (John 3:4-11).

If Nicodemus had received faith through revelation by the Holy Spirit then he would have received Jesus' witness. But it is clear Nicodemus had no clue about what Jesus spoke. You can almost see the consternation on the face of this brilliant Jewish scholar. He couldn't deny God was with Jesus, but he was still spiritually blind and without understanding.

A new redemption paradigm introduced by Jesus' words

Reading what Jesus said to Nicodemus from our American, middle-class, multi-cultural, internationalist mindset perhaps clouds the importance of what Jesus was saying. Not only did Jesus explain the necessity of the new birth, but also he described the way the Spirit works--and it's not the way Nicodemus thought. The Spirit blows where He wishes.

Where did Nicodemus think the Spirit of God worked? More importantly, which nation or people did Nicodemus think the Spirit of God rested upon? Most importantly, what did this have to do with John's purpose for including this encounter in his gospel?

It is significant, in my opinion, that Jesus referred to Nicodemus as "the" teacher of Israel. This was no common man or small fry among the leaders of Israel! This was a Pharisee of Pharisees, a teacher of teachers, and an ardent nationalist. How did Nicodemus think the Spirit of God worked?

Well, I can't say for sure, but if he had the typical, nationalist Jewish mindset, he more than likely thought the Spirit of God only worked in a redemptive manner among the Jews and that the Gentile world was on the outside when it came to God's redemptive promises. The apostle Paul's comment to the Ephesians in Chapter 2, verse 12 reflected the typical Pharisee's perspective.

"Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."

I think John's purpose for including Nicodemus in his gospel was that he wanted to emphasize to his readers that the Spirit of God was bringing redemption to non-Jews through Jesus Christ. Furthermore, it would serve the purpose of providing an impetus to the believing Jews to take the gospel to the Gentile world. Who better represented the line of thinking about Jewish nationalism than "the teacher" of Israel? If he stood corrected, then all Israel benefited!

There is additional insight if we consider that Nicodemus was "the teacher" of Israel. Jesus and Nicodemus probably were not strangers to one another, and much had transpired between them. Perhaps Nicodemus had known Jesus as a twelve-year-old when He came to the temple to listen and to ask penetrating questions (Luke 2:46). Certainly Nicodemus had heard Jesus teach at the temple many times. It is likely Jesus had witnessed to him often through telling him "earthly things." And perhaps the witness Nicodemus refused to receive was that the heart of God was going to be extended to more than just the Jews.

"If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man" (John 3:12-13).

Apparently Jesus had sometime before told Nicodemus He had come from heaven and so could tell him of heavenly things. But instead of doing so in this encounter, Jesus gave him another earthly analogy from their national history.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

The impact of this verse is multiplied when we consider what Jesus said to this Pharisee. As God provided a means of salvation for Israel in thewilderness, so God was providing a means of salvation for anyone who believes.

The new paradigm explained.

I wonder if we had been there in the room with Jesus and Nicodemus what we would have seen on the face of Nicodemus when Jesus said, "Whoever believes may in Him have eternal life." Maybe Jesus saw the "cow looking at a new gate" look in his eyes and knew an explanation was needed. Or perhaps Nicodemus was so fixed in his notions about salvation Jesus could tell he wasn't understanding the full scope of the word, "whoever." Although there is no way to tell from the story, the little word, "for" in verse 16 indicates an explanatory statement is forthcoming. So thisraises some questions about verses 16-21: How do these verses explain Jesus' comment in verses 14-15? And what is it about the preceding verses that require explanation to Nicodemus and John's readers? As we study this section of their conversation, we do well to keep the line of reason in mind. First, Jesus told Nicodemus the new birth was a work of the Holy Spirit. Second, Jesus told him he lacked understanding of the work of the Spirit of God. What was it Nicodemus didn't understand, and what about Jesus' witness would Nicodemus not receive?

I would like to suggest that Nicodemus didn't understand the Spirit of God was going to blow among the Gentiles. And it is likely Nicodemus wouldn't receive that prophecy. The "whoever" in verse 15 needed explaining. The Jewish readers John had in mind, like Nicodemus, would need to understand the work of the Spirit of God was not limited to the Jews. His Gentile readers also would be encouraged to know God's Spirit was going to work in them. They too could have eternal life and not perish.

According to the traditional view of verses 16-21, Jesus was the author. We can imagine how convicting Jesus' explanation must have been to Nicodemus. Numerous times Jesus exposed the Pharisee's love for the approval of men. For instance, the Lord warned in the Sermon on the Mount not to practice "righteousness before men to be noticed by them." The apostle John provided another example of seeking men's approval. John 12:38-43 tells us that many of the rulers believed, but they would not confess Christ because "they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." If we keep in mind what Jesus said about the Pharisees in the gospels, we might have a clearer picture of what Jesus was communicating to Nicodemus. This is part of understanding the historical context and considering its relationship to what was said.

Men like Nicodemus were careful to maintain a squeaky-clean image. Pharisees such as Nicodemus were not the kind of men who would admit their faults and neediness. They certainly didn't think of their self-righteous, religious deeds as wicked and evil. In the minds of the Pharisees, the "Gentile dogs" were wicked and unworthy. It is not a stretch of the imagination to conclude that national and spiritual pride and love for man's approval was the target of Jesus' remarks. These would also be characteristic of a flesh kind of faith which He had already distinguished from Spirit-born faith. If a Gentile could be born again without keeping all of the laws and without displaying religious zeal according to the Law, what does that say about Nicodemus' paradigm of salvation and righteousness? Jesus always went for the heart!

There is another possible consideration. Some think verses 16-21 are the words of the apostle John. A couple of reasons lend support for this idea. First, the perspective of verses 16-21 appears to be that of a third party. In verses 14-15, Jesus referred to Himself as the "Son of Man," a title Jesus often used. Why didn't Jesus continue using that title throughout the conversation? The reference to Him changes to "the Son" in the following verses, and a reference from the first person is absent through verse 21. Second, if you read through the gospel of John, in all but a couple of instances, when Jesus spoke of God, he referred to Him as "My Father." In these verses, the reference is to God, which would be natural for the author.

I don't know if it matters a great deal who spoke or wrote them; it is the truth of them that concerns us most. If we view these verses as the words of John, they emphasize more poignantly the sense of the preceding discourse: namely, forgiveness of sins is available to the Gentile world on the basis of faith in Christ as a result of the new birth by the Spirit of God. In verses 17-19, John tells us Jesus' first advent wasn't for the purpose of judgment, but for salvation. And we should not overlook the importance of one's lack of faith being evidence of a judgment already rendered. What is that judgment? That God's judgment regarding man without a work of the Spirit of God in his heart is true: he loves darkness and hates the light. He cannot even see the kingdom of God, much less enter into it. Furthermore, verses 20-21 explain God's judgment regarding mankind. There are two groups. Those who are not born again by the Spirit live for the glory of man and run from exposure. I would add that this is evidence of a flesh-born faith; the kind of faith in Nicodemus and in those who believed because of the signs Jesus performed. In contrast, those to whom He gives faith via the new birth by the Spirit desire all the glory go to God and none to man (verse 21).

Can you see the difference?

Can you see the difference between the two kinds of faith? Perhaps you might open a family devotion time with this question: What is the difference between a natural faith and a Holy Spirit-born faith? Read through John 3:3-21 as a family and compile a list of the qualities of a Spirit-born faith.

Next month we'll look more carefully at how John 3:16 has been misused to convince people that God loves everyone unto salvation. I hope you'll notice these verses are not prescriptive (giving people something they can do to be saved) but are descriptive of what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus the Holy Spirit was going to blow wherever He wished. Has He blown in your life? In your children's lives?

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).