Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Three

                                                                                                                                       Verses 24-27

John the Baptist was martyred for his faith in Christ when Herod cast him into prison and later executed him. But the soul and spirit of John did not go directly to Heaven. He went into Paradise which at that time was located next to Hell to wait there for the Holy Spirit to come and preach the gospel to him and all of the Old Testament saints who were confined there so that they all would fully believe the gospel which they already partly believed, become saved by grace, be resurrected after Jesus' resurrection, and be transported to Heaven when Jesus ascended. Matthew 27:52-53; Luke 16:19-26; Ephesians 4:7-19. This truth explains why Jesus told His disciples that the least of them in the Kingdom of God was greater in position than John the Baptist whom His Father would send to Paradise. Matthew 11:11. Jesus knew that He would give His Holy Spirit to all of His disciples except Judas Iscariot, and that that fact put them already in the Kingdom of Heaven and greater in position, but not in value, to John the Baptist. John 20:22. Every living human saved by grace has been thoroughly cleansed of all sin and evil by the blood of Christ, has been recreated in soul and spirit by the Holy Spirit, and has received by faith the very righteousness of Christ Himself by means of which those believers can be accepted by God to live with Him in Heaven forever, and in that sense, they already inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven even as they live on the earth. Ephesians 1:1-14.

An argument arose between the Jews and some of John's disciples about how to be purified; that is, cleansed of sins. The Jews probably contended that obedience to the Ten Commandments and animal sacrifices was necessary, while John's disciples averred that repentance and water baptism were all that one needed to be cleansed. These Jews went straight to John to ask him about water baptism, and they mistakenly assumed that Jesus baptized and preached the same message that John preached.

John's answer to these Jews revealed that his views about how a person could be cleansed from sins had radically changed. John told them that every good gift that any human can possess can only come to them from God, which implied that being cleansed from sins was one of those gifts. James 1:17. Everything that any human can possess that is good and joyful and beautiful can only come to that person as a gift from God. Life itself, love, food, clothing, marriage between one man and one woman, and all other good gifts can only come from God. God makes humans work for their food and clothing as a punishment for their sins, but the food and clothing itself could not exist without the creative acts of God. Genesis 3:17-19. All that God has created, He can never lose, including the lives of every human that He creates in His image. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 3:20-21; Luke 20:38; Revelation 21:1-5.