John Chapter 3 begins with Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night.

Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He recognizes that Jesus has come from God because of the signs He is doing.

But Jesus goes straight to the deeper issue:

“Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

That is the center of the chapter.

A person does not enter the kingdom by religious knowledge, family background, outward morality, or human effort.

A person must be born again.

You Must Be Born Again

Nicodemus does not understand at first. He thinks in terms of physical birth. How can a man enter his mother’s womb again and be born?

But Jesus is speaking of spiritual birth.

He says:

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

This may make us think of baptism, and baptism is connected to cleansing and the people of God. But Jesus is speaking of something deeper than the outward act alone. He is speaking of the cleansing, life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism matters.

But baptism itself is not the new birth.

The new birth is the work of God.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this is regeneration. We do not make ourselves spiritually alive. The Spirit gives life. God opens the heart. God causes sinners to be born again.

Jesus says:

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

That means natural birth is not enough. We need spiritual birth.

John 3 does not use the phrase “original sin,” but the need to be born again fits with that truth. We are not born spiritually neutral. We need grace from the beginning.

The Wind and the Spirit

Jesus compares the Spirit to the wind.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”

You know the wind is there because you hear it and see its effects.

But you do not control it.

Jesus says that is how it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

The new birth is real, but mysterious. We cannot schedule it, force it, or fully explain when and how God will awaken a person.

It may happen during grief.

It may happen through a hard season in a relationship.

It may happen after the birth of a child.

It may happen while hearing Scripture.

It may happen quietly, in a way only God sees.

The circumstance does not save.

The Spirit saves.

But the Spirit may use many circumstances to bring a person to life.

The Spirit Is Not Rationed

Later in the chapter, John the Baptist says of Jesus:

“He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”

That is a beautiful phrase.

The Spirit is not rationed by God, as though God has only a limited amount of grace to hand out. This is not like basketball tryouts, where only a few make the team because there are only so many spots.

In context, this is first about Jesus. He is the One sent from above. He speaks the words of God. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

But it also comforts believers.

If salvation depends on the Spirit’s work, then we are not dealing with a weak or reluctant Savior. God is not short on grace. God is not barely saving.

The wind blows where it wishes.

The Spirit gives life.

And God is not rationing His saving power.

The Son of Man Lifted Up

Jesus then points Nicodemus back to the Old Testament.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

In the wilderness, the people were dying, and God provided a way for them to live. They looked at the bronze serpent lifted up, and they lived.

Jesus says the Son of Man must be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

This points forward to the cross.

Sinners do not save themselves by looking inward and finding enough strength. We look to Christ.

He is lifted up for sinners.

And whoever believes in Him has eternal life.

God So Loved the World

Then comes John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

This is not vague love.

This is saving love.

God loved the world in such a way that He gave His Son.

John 3 does not use the phrase “Lamb of God,” but John 1 already called Jesus the Lamb of God. So it is right to understand the giving of the Son in light of sacrifice. The Son is given. The Son is lifted up. The Son saves sinners from perishing.

God does not wait for the world to become worthy.

God gives His Son to a world that needs salvation.

That is grace.

Not Condemned in Christ

John says God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

That does not mean judgment is not real. John immediately says that whoever does not believe is condemned already.

The world needs saving because the world is already in danger.

Apart from Christ, we are not spiritually safe. We are sinners. We need forgiveness. We need new birth. We need the Son.

But the promise is glorious:

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned.

Light and Darkness

John then says:

“The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Evil hates the light because light exposes it.

Darkness hides.

Light reveals.

There may also be shame in this. Sin wants to stay covered. Evil often knows, at some level, that it is wrong, and it does not want to be exposed.

But Christ is the light.

He does not come merely to make people feel religious. He comes to expose darkness and save sinners from it.

This is why we need the Spirit.

If the heart loves darkness, it will not naturally run to the light. The Spirit must give new life.

He Must Increase

The chapter then returns to John the Baptist.

Some are concerned that people are going to Jesus. But John is not jealous.

He says:

“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

John knows his place.

He is not the Christ. He is the friend of the bridegroom. His joy is complete because the bridegroom has come.

Then he says:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

That is the posture of true faith.

John does not want attention for himself. He wants Christ to be seen.

The Message of John Chapter 3

John Chapter 3 shows the need and the gift.

The need is new birth.

The gift is Christ.

We must be born again by the Spirit.

The wind blows where it wishes.

The Spirit is not controlled by man.

The Son of Man is lifted up.

God gives His only Son.

Whoever believes in Him has eternal life.

The light exposes darkness.

John decreases so Christ increases.

From a Christian Reformed lens, John 3 is full of grace.

The Spirit gives life.

The Son is given.

The sinner believes.

The believer is not condemned.

Even the good works of God’s people are carried out in God.

God is not rationing salvation as though He barely has enough grace.

The Spirit gives life.

The Son saves sinners.

The light has come into the world.

And whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.