Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Three

                                                                                                                                       Verses 22-23

When verse 22 states that Jesus baptized with water, it only reported a false rumor that had spread among the people. John 4:1. Jesus did not baptize with water, but He instructed His disciples to baptize with water. John 4:2. Jesus only baptizes with the Holy Spirit for salvation by His grace, but He will also baptize the rest of humanity with His fiery wrath against evil which will dissolve their human systems to separate the "wheat," symbolic of all living humans not saved by grace whom He creates and loves, from the "chaff," symbolic of spiritual death which He will separate from all dissolved humans for Him to cast into the lake of fire. Luke 3:16-18; I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3; Revelation 20:15; Acts 11:16. All of the Old Testament burnt offerings symbolized God's provision of a lesser form of salvation for all living humans who fail to get saved by His grace. Genesis 8:20-21; Leviticus 5:10. God's enemies are the Devil and evil, spiritual death, never living humans whom He creates and loves. Genesis 3:14-15; Genesis 3:17; Genesis 3:20-21; Luke 20:38; I Corinthians 15:22; I Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 1:17-18; John 12:31-32; John 5:28-29; Revelation 21:1-5; I John 3:8. No scripture in the entire Bible (KJB) states that Christ will cast living humans into an eternal lake of fire. Jesus did teach that He would cast human "worms" into the lake of fire, but these "worms" symbolize evil, spiritual death, not living humans. Mark 9: 44, 46, 48; Isaiah 66: 22-24.

In verse 23, John the Baptist baptized Jesus' disciples in water. Jesus had already been baptized by John to symbolize His own death, burial, and resurrection for the salvation of all living humans. Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:16-17. Christ had John baptize His disciples as their witness to the world that they had faith in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection for their salvation by His grace. With their water baptism, Jesus formed His own local church. Jesus commanded all local churches to baptize its members in water to witness to the world that they have the faith in Christ that saves by grace. Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus commanded that His believers saved by grace should form themselves into local churches by a confession of faith and the witness of water baptism in order to worship Him together, to strengthen and encourage each other by teaching and preaching His Word, and to spread His gospel to the world. Local churches do not save anyone. Local churches only spread the good news that Christ alone can save by His grace. John 14:6.

Only the Holy Spirit can convince a person who hears or reads the gospel that they are sinners whom only Christ can save by His grace. John 16:7-11. Those who teach that lost sinners go to Hell because the churches fail to spread the gospel do so in error. Only the gospel saves by grace, not the churches. Christ can never lose a single living human that He saves by His grace whether they become members of His Church or not. John 10:27-30. The Holy Spirit saves them all. Christ desires that His local churches spread His gospel so that He can give them great rewards in Heaven for their obedience. Churches that fail to spread the gospel simply lose their rewards. The Holy Spirit merely inspires the churches to spread the gospel. The Holy Spirit does the salvation by grace. God has appointed a time and place for every living human who obtains salvation by His grace. God uses His churches to spread His gospel, but He does not need the churches. The Holy Spirit preaches the gospel to the whole world. Those who obtain salvation by grace by a direct preaching by the Holy Spirit will feel that something in their inner beings has changed, and they will desire to be good people, but they will not become fully aware that they have been saved by grace until they see Jesus after their physical deaths. John 1:9; Colossians 1:23.