The “Whosoever Believeth” of John 3:16
Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed (Is 53:1)? We learn from the Scripture that Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:9). Believers do not work for right standing with God (Rom 4:5); rather God graciously gives faith as a gift (Eph 2:8–9). Faith is granted to one who is born again of the Spirit (Jn 3:8; Phil 1:29).
The message is called, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mk 1:1),” and it is not believed by everyone. Much of the seed of the imperishable Word (message) does not fall on the good soil, where it produces life and fruit (Mt 13:8, 23). Unbelievers do not belong to Christ (Jn 10:26) because God the Father does not draw them to Christ (Jn 6:44) because He has not ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48).
Jesus Christ is the revelation of God (Word of the Lord). He Himself is the very message God has sent into the world (Jn 3:16), to the ones He loves (1 Jn 4:19), who receive Jesus by the will of God (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 9:16).
The message, Jesus Christ, comes into the world, as light in the darkness (Jn 3:19). Jesus is the Light of the world (Jn 8:12), and He sends His followers out, as lights in the world, to shine before men (Mt 5:16). The darkness was evidence that the world had already suffered God’s judgment (in Adam all die). Those dwelling in darkness were already condemned (Jn 3:18). The natural man’s inability to see spiritual things (1 Cor 2:14), that is, to see the kingdom of God (Jn 3:3), is because the god of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of men, so they cannot understand the Gospel of God (2 Cor 4:4).
Jesus, the Son of God, came preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand (Lk 8:1). John the Baptist intimated that his cousin, Jesus, was not just a preacher of the kingdom of heaven, rather, that the Nazarene was actually King of Israel. In John 3, Jesus witnessed to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a teacher in Israel. This man came to Jesus under the cloak of night, to inquire of Jesus’ identity.
Jesus explained humanity’s state of judgment, “Men loved darkness rather than the light (Jn 3:19a),” and then He explained why the darkness did not comprehend the light (Jn 1:5), “for their deeds were evil (Jn 3:19b).” People with darkened hearts and minds do not come into the Light, for fear of being exposed as evil, by the Light (Jn 3:20).
In order for one to enter the kingdom of Light, that is, the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, he must be transferred there legally and spiritually (Col 1:13; Eph 2:6). Jesus explained this transfer to the teacher in Israel, using the illustration of childbirth. The requirement for one to see and enter the kingdom of God is for one to be born again (Jn 3:3, 5).
Nicodemus proved he was still in the dark, by the interpretation he ascribed to Jesus’ teaching. Whereas Jesus was teaching heavenly things, Nicodemus could only see physical, worldly things (Jn 3:12). The Pharisee did not have eyes to see. Jesus graciously gave him more light, to receive His witness (Jn 3:11) and understand these spiritual things (Jn 3:10).
Jesus employed an Old Testament example of the healing of the people, who had snake bites (a judgment from God). Moses was instructed to raise the image of the serpent on a standard, and those who looked upon the bronze icon were healed. They lived (Num 21:9). Jesus, calling Himself “Son of Man” explained that He must be lifted up (an allusion to His crucifixion on the cross). Those who would look upon Jesus would receive new life (Jn 3:15), a deliverance from the snake bite of sin that carried a death sentence (Rom 3:23).
This new life, eternal life (Jn 3:15–16), is seen and entered by those who the Spirit causes to be born again (1 Pet 1:3). The first light a child ever sees, follows the work of his mother in labor and delivery (regeneration precedes faith). Salvation is not of ourselves (Eph 2:8). The gift of life is a repositioning from darkness to light, from death to life, and this is the product of the grace of God (Jn 3:8).
Those who are given sight by the Light (Jesus) are those given life, that is, made alive by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). These objects of God’s mercy (Rom 9:15–16, 23) were granted eternal life (Jn 3:15–16), when they received Jesus (Jn 1:12), not of their own free will, but by the will of God (Jn 1:13; Rom 9:16).
The will of God, in the salvation of His elect people (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9), is manifested by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11, Jas 4:5), who has brought the love of God into the hearts (Rom 5:5; 2 Cor 4:6) of those adopted children of Light (Rom 8:15, 23), who came into His marvelous Light (1 Pet 2:9), solely by the birthing, illuminating, and life-giving work of the Holy Spirit. They have been wrought in God (Jn 3:21), so they do truth without shame (Rom 1:16–17), believing in Him (Jn 3:16, 18), who came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).
Entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, has been abundantly supplied to us (2 Pet 1:10–11) because God has chosen us from the beginning for salvation (2 Thess 2:12). God the Father predestined us to adoption as sons (Eph 1:4–5), that is, children of God (1 Jn 3:1, 10). We believe in His name (Jn 1:12; 3:18) because of the Spirit of Christ sent to us to birth us, illumine us, and sanctify us — evidenced by the fruit of faithfulness (Gal 5:22), a work of the Spirit. He who has the Spirit has life, but he who does not have the Spirit does not belong to Him (Rom 8:9). We, the Spirit indwelt, are…the whosoever believes.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
November 3, 2022
