Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Three

                                                                                                                                         Verses 1-8

Apparently. Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee, came to talk with Jesus at night because he was afraid that the other Pharisees would see him. Nicodemus knew that Jesus had to be from God because of the miracles that He did. But Nicodemus believed that Jesus was only a Rabbi, not the Son of God.

Jesus got right to the point. Since Nicodemus believed in Jesus' miracles, then Nicodemus also needed to know that he needed a spiritual miracle from God to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. Believers saved by grace know that they have experienced a spiritual miracle because they know that the Holy Spirit has entered into their inner beings, washed them clean of all their sins with the spiritual blood of Christ and that He will abide with them forever. They know that they have entered into the Kingdom of God as children of God. John 3:7; John 6:63; I Corinthians 6:11; I Corinthians 6:19-20.

When Jesus used the word "water" in verse five, He did not mean water baptism. Jesus did not baptize in water, only His disciples. John the Baptist testified that he baptized in water to witness to the fact that the Savior would come to baptize with the Holy Spirit. John 1:29-34. Jesus commanded that His believers should be baptized in water to join a local church, as a witness to the church and to everyone that that believer had already experienced the spiritual miracle of the new birth into the Kingdom of God. Matthew 28:18-20.

Every believer saved by grace should obey Christ and be baptized in water, but that obedience can only be a good work, and good works never save by grace. Ephesians 2:8-9. The only obedience by which a person can be saved by grace happens to be to repent and believe in Christ as God who is their personal Savior. John 6:28-29. Repentance and faith are not good works. They only display a humble submission to the Will of God. Luke 18:13-14. Good works are actions that a person makes for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. Only the Love of God demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ which He gives to believers saves by grace. I Corinthians 6:11; Matthew 16:13-17. Again and again in Jesus' ministry, He told believers that their faith had saved them. Luke 7:47-50. God has promised that He will give His salvation by grace to anyone who sincerely repents and believes. John 6:37. If God decided to withhold His gift of salvation by grace, no one could be saved no matter how much they repented and believed. No believer can be saved by grace until God gives that person His Holy Spirit who will wash that person clean of all their sins and evil with the spiritual blood of Christ, recreates their soul and spirit, and gives them a spiritual new birth into the Kingdom of God. I Corinthians 6:11; John 6:63; Matthew 26:28; II Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3.

Jesus' use of the word "water" in verse five has a double meaning. The word "water" in scripture often symbolizes the Word of God. I John 5:7-8. Jesus turned the water into wine only as it was being served to the guests. John 2:8-9. Similarly, when a person hears or reads the gospel in the Word of God, symbolized by water, the Holy Spirit convinces them that they are lost sinners in need of Christ their Savior. John 16:7-11. If that person repents and believes, the Holy Spirit delivers to that person the spiritual blood of Christ, symbolized by wine, to cleanse the inner being of that believer of all their sins and evil and save that believer by God's grace. Romans 10:17.

Jesus' second use of the word "water" in verse five simply means that a person has to be born into the world as a living human to become saved by grace. Jesus explained His meaning in verse six. Jesus later taught that no one can receive a fleshly salvation while still in the world. John 6:63. While in the flesh, a believer in Christ can only become saved in soul and spirit by a miraculous baptism of the Holy Spirit into the family of God. John 6:63; I Corinthians 12:13. But God has promised that He will also save the bodies of believers when He Raptures the Church. I Thessalonians 5:23; II Corinthians 5:1-5.