May 19, 2026 • 21 mins
Crowds shifting, disciples anxious, and a prophet who refuses to compete. John 3:22–36 gives us one of the most human ministry moments in the New Testament: people start leaving John the Baptist and heading to Jesus for baptism, and it looks like a leadership crisis waiting to happen. Instead, John answers with calm conviction and a line that still confronts our pride: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
We walk through the setting in the Judean countryside and Aenon near Salim, then follow the spark that lights the conflict, a debate over purification. What sounds like a technical argument about rituals quickly reveals a deeper question about humility, repentance, and who is the true leader of God’s people. From there we unpack John’s response: God’s sovereignty over every opportunity, John’s role as the forerunner, and the bride and bridegroom picture where John plays the friend who rejoices to hear the groom’s voice.
The conversation then opens into a sweeping testimony about Jesus Christ: the One from above, above all, speaking the words of God. We connect the passage to key themes in the Gospel of John, including how Jesus is sent from God, how the Holy Spirit was given without measure, the Father’s great love for the Son, and Christ’s preeminence.
Finally, we sit with the weight of John 3:36 and its two outcomes: belief in the Son that brings eternal life, or disobedience that leaves the wrath of God remaining.
If you want a clearer view of John's baptism, humility in leadership, and the core message of salvation by faith in Jesus, listen now, then subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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SPEAKER_00 (00:15):
Grace and peace to you.
And thank you again for joiningme for the mysteries of God's
Word.
Today we're going to be wrappingup John chapter three.
We'll begin at verse twenty two.
After this, Jesus and hisdisciples went into the Judean
(00:35):
countryside, and he remainedthere with them, and was
baptizing.
John also was baptizing at Anon,near Salim, because water was
plentiful there, and people werecoming and being baptized, for
John had not yet been put inprison.
(00:57):
In our first three verses, wesee how Jesus, after he had been
in Jerusalem for the Passoverand visited with Nicodemus, he
went into the local countryside.
It says Jesus went into theJudean countryside.
Now Judea is a region.
In America, we might associateit with a county.
(01:19):
Judea is where the city ofJerusalem resides.
So Jesus left the city ofJerusalem and went out into the
rural areas of Judea.
And we find the first record ofJesus baptizing new believers.
We also see that some of thecrowd that had been going to
John the Baptist to be baptizedstart going to Jesus to be
(01:43):
baptized.
Just a little bit of a side notehere: Jesus wasn't actually
doing the baptizing, but hisdisciples were.
We find that out in verse 26.
Nevertheless, what's importantin this context is that people
were leaving John the Baptist'sministry and going over to
Jesus' ministry to be baptized.
(02:07):
And the Gospel of John is theonly gospel that records this
short overlap between John theBaptist's ministry and Jesus'
ministry.
What an amazing time this musthave been, as both are preaching
repentance and the comingkingdom of heaven while
baptizing new converts.
(02:29):
Now, the specific area whereJohn the Baptist was baptizing,
known as Anknown, is in theregion of Samaria.
Anknown means springs, and thereare locations yet today in that
area that have plenty of water.
And we see in verse 24 that Johnthe Baptist had not yet been put
(02:50):
in prison.
This is such a perfect exampleof how the Gospels Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John harmonizetogether to fit in the big
picture.
In the Gospels of Matthew andMark, they record John the
Baptist being put into prisonright after Jesus' temptation.
(03:10):
But here in the Gospel of John,he describes this very short
overlap in their ministries.
I believe the reason the HolySpirit inspired the Apostle John
to write this is because theApostle John was a disciple of
John the Baptist, and so he wascompelled to document this
(03:31):
important overlap in ministries.
Picking up in verse 25.
Now a discussion arose betweensome of John's disciples and a
Jew over purification.
And they came to John and saidto him, Rabbi, he who was with
you across the Jordan, to whomyou bore witness, look, he is
(03:55):
baptizing, and all are going tohim.
Let's pause right there.
In these two verses we see thata discussion arose between some
of John the Baptist's disciplesand a Jew.
Now, many of John the Baptist'sdisciples were Jewish.
(04:17):
But the fact that it mentionsthis Jew in particular implies
that this is a religious Jew,not a follower of John the
Baptist.
And in a similar way to how inchapter 1 the Levites came to
question John the Baptist, theseJews are coming to discuss the
rites of purification withJohn's disciples.
(04:40):
Now, the Jewish religion hadcreated many ceremonies which
grew out of the Old Testamentcleansing laws with water.
What God had originally intendedto be a method of showing
humility had become anoverwhelming list of human
effort and obligation.
(05:01):
In fact, the very ritual ofbaptism by immersion in water
itself was a ceremony that grewout of cleansing laws.
It had long been a traditionadministered by the Jews to
Gentiles when they converted toJudaism.
(05:21):
And John the Baptist was notonly baptizing and cleansing
Gentiles, but he was alsobaptizing Jews and calling them
to repentance.
From what we read about John'sbaptism in Scripture, it's very
likely that this debate betweenJohn's disciples and this Jew
(05:44):
over purification had somethingto do with how John's
purification baptism wasconnected with Jesus.
Because in the very next verse,verse 26, the disciples of John
the Baptist come to him, andthey point out how Jesus is
(06:04):
baptizing the way he isbaptizing, and people are going
to him.
Now here's the real heart ofthis issue.
After this Jew had come toquestion John's disciples about
the purification methods ofJohn's baptism, the conversation
(06:25):
quickly turned to the ministryof Jesus.
And how Jesus is baptizing in asimilar way to John.
Certainly to the Jewish leaders,this new baptism was getting out
of control.
So the disciples of John theBaptist go and tell him how
(06:48):
people are starting to followthe new rabbi Jesus.
It seemed like a conflict ofministries, if you will, to the
disciples of John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist answered Aperson cannot receive even one
thing unless it is given to himfrom heaven.
(07:11):
You yourselves bear me witnessthat I said I am not the Christ,
but I've been sent before him.
The one who has the bride is thebridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom,who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at thebridegroom's voice.
(07:35):
Therefore this joy of mine isnow complete.
He must increase, but I mustdecrease.
In these four verses, John theBaptist begins to talk with his
disciples, and he begins bytalking about God's sovereignty,
(07:55):
how God is sovereign over allgood things, in particular the
ministry opportunities that Johnhas been part of.
With the concerns of his owndisciples, who are certainly
loyal to John the Baptist, Johnmakes sure to emphasize how God
is in control of all thingsconcerning his kingdom.
(08:20):
And then John points out howthey themselves are a witness to
his witness.
He tells them they know fullwell about his testimony that he
is not the Christ.
And they can and they shouldbear witness of this.
(08:42):
Then John the Baptist uses theanalogy of the bride and the
bridegroom.
In scriptures, one of the commonanalogies about the kingdom of
God is it's compared to awedding.
A wedding that takes placebetween God and his people.
The bride is the people of God,his church, believers.
(09:08):
The bridegroom is the Messiah,Jesus.
Then John the Baptist talksabout being the friend of the
bridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom inthis context, who stands and
hears him, is the best man.
John is saying that he stoodbeside Jesus like his best man
(09:28):
would, that he's helped toprepare this great wedding.
And now he, like a best man at awedding, who puts all his effort
into helping the groom to getthings prepared, to get things
ready.
Now that the groom is ready forthis big event and he begins to
(09:48):
speak his vows to the bride, thebest man rejoices when he sees
his friend speak the vows.
And he's very blessed because heput in all this effort.
And John says, My joy is nowcomplete.
John the Baptist is overjoyed toknow that everything is going
according to the plan of God,and that his cousin, Jesus, is
(10:13):
beginning his ministry.
That Jesus, the promisedMessiah, just as John had
prepared for, just as God hadpromised, is beginning his
ministry.
Finally, John says, He mustincrease, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist understandsthat his purpose has always been
(10:37):
to point to Jesus.
Now that the ministry of Jesusis starting to get some
momentum, John's work will beslowing down, if not ending.
Picking up in verse thirty-one.
He who comes from above is aboveall.
He who is of the earth belongsto the earth and speaks in an
(10:58):
earthly way.
He who comes from heaven isabove all.
He bears witness to what he hasseen and what he has heard, yet
no one receives his testimony.
Whoever receives his testimonysets his seal to this that God
is true.
(11:20):
In verses thirty-one throughthirty-three, John the Baptist
begins to give testimony aboutChrist.
He begins to give glory to God.
These verses have a similar toneto what Jesus said back in
verses eleven through thirteenof this very chapter.
While man is of the earth andknows things of the earth, Jesus
(11:45):
is above all things.
He has been seated with theFather.
And because of that, he is theonly one who can truly reveal
the Father and the Father'swill.
Jesus, the Son of God being God,is above all human teachers.
His words are the very words ofGod given by the Father.
(12:10):
Jesus is preeminent in allthings.
Colossians one hundred eighteenreads He is the head of the
body, the Church.
He is the beginning, thefirstborn from the dead, that in
everything He might bepreeminent.
(12:31):
John the Baptist is giving veryspecific reasons to his
disciples why his ministry mustdecrease and the ministry of
Jesus must increase.
Jesus once said that John theBaptist was considered the
greatest man ever to be bornamong men.
(12:51):
However, he was still just a manof the earth.
Only Jesus, the Son of God, thesecond person of the Trinity,
has seen God the Father face toface and been at his side.
And John says, yet no onereceives his testimony.
(13:11):
Generally speaking, the world atthat time rejected the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
And this is still true today.
There are billions of people andthousands of man-made religions
that reject the grace andsalvation and the truth of the
(13:33):
deity found in Jesus Christ.
This is the great condemnationthat rests on mankind, those who
reject the truth.
However, even more responsibleare those who lived at the very
time of Jesus Christ'sappearance, those who saw his
(13:56):
works, who heard his testimonyfirsthand.
Then John the Baptist says,Whoever receives his testimony
sets his seal to this, that Godis true.
A person that believes andreceives Jesus Christ and his
(14:16):
testimony will be committed tobelieving in the truth of God's
word and testifying to the SonJesus Christ.
They will testify how Jesus cameto the world as God to save us
from our sin.
(14:36):
The gospel of Jesus Christ is aninvitation to add ourselves to
all who have staked their liveson Jesus Christ, the truth sent
from God.
Verse thirty four continues.
For he whom God has sent uttersthe words of God, for he gives
(14:56):
the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and hasgiven all things into his hand.
Whoever believes in the Son haseternal life.
Whoever does not obey the Sonshall not see life, but the
wrath of God remains on him.
In the last three verses of thischapter, John the Baptist
(15:20):
finishes his testimony aboutChrist and the gospel of Christ.
There are thirty-nine times inthe Gospel of John that the
apostle refers to Jesus as beingsent from God, because Jesus
speaks the very words of God,and he reveals the very nature
(15:41):
of God the Father to us.
Verse 34 talks about how Godgave the Holy Spirit to Jesus
without limits while he wasministering here on earth.
Because the Father loves theSon.
The relationship between God theFather and God the Son is
intimate and perfect.
(16:04):
There is complete trust andconfidence.
While the Son was here on earth,the Father and the Holy Spirit
empowered him as he submitted totheir predestined plan.
After his resurrection, the Sonof God was exalted to rule and
(16:25):
reign over all creation byFather God.
The Son of God rules over allthings throughout this church
age.
The Son of God will bring thejudgment of the nations at his
second coming.
The Son of God will reign duringthe thousand year physical
kingdom until all things havebeen put under his feet.
(16:50):
And finally, at the conclusionof his reign on earth, the Son
of God will judge all ofhistory, and every man that has
ever lived at the great whitethrone judgment, where all of
the books will be opened.
And then the new heavens and thenew earth will be ushered in,
and God will be all in all.
(17:13):
In verse thirty six we have theconclusion of this chapter,
where the apostle John lays outonly two options for mankind
genuine faith or willfuldisobedience.
Genuine faith are those whobelieve in the Son and have
(17:33):
eternal life.
All who believe in God's Sonhave eternal life.
And eternal life begins themoment they believe that Jesus
Christ was risen from the deadand they confess him as their
Lord.
John five twenty four readsTruly, truly I say to you,
(17:56):
Whoever hears my word andbelieves him who has sent me has
eternal life.
He does not come into judgment,but is passed from death to
life.
And Ephesians one thirteen readsIn him you also, when you heard
(18:16):
the word of truth, the gospel ofyour salvation, and believed in
him, were sealed with thepromised Holy Spirit.
The other option, other thangenuine belief, is willful
disobedience.
Those who do not obey the Sonwill not see life.
(18:39):
This is where all of mankindbegins in unbelief.
While unbelief is tragicignorance, it is also willful
disobedience to the clear lightof God's revelation.
Romans one twenty reads for hisinvisible attributes, namely his
(19:02):
eternal power, his divine naturehave clearly been perceived ever
since the creation of the world,in the things that have been
made, so men are without excuse.
In Acts seventeen, thirtythrough thirty one read The
times of ignorance Godoverlooked, but now He commands
(19:25):
all people everywhere to repent,because He has fixed a day on
which He will judge the world inrighteousness by a man whom He
has appointed, and of this Hehas given assurance to all by
raising Him from the dead.
Those who do not believe onJesus Christ as their Savior and
(19:48):
Lord have the wrath of Godremaining on them.
The wrath of God is God'srighteous reaction against evil,
and all of mankind sits in thisfallen condition, in rebellion.
But God has revealed light tomankind.
(20:09):
God has shown mercy to hiscreation, and the light of his
grace came through his Son JesusChrist.
Those who refuse to acknowledgethe goodness of God and trust in
his Son remain under His wrath.
Romans two eight reads But forthose who are self seeking, who
(20:33):
do not obey the truth, but obeyunrighteousness, there will be
wrath and fury.
Thank you for joining me for theconclusion of John chapter
three.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you.
And thank you again for joiningme for the mysteries of God's
Word.
Today we're going to be wrappingup John chapter three.
We'll begin at verse twenty two.
After this, Jesus and hisdisciples went into the Judean
(00:35):
countryside, and he remainedthere with them, and was
baptizing.
John also was baptizing at Anon,near Salim, because water was
plentiful there, and people werecoming and being baptized, for
John had not yet been put inprison.
(00:57):
In our first three verses, wesee how Jesus, after he had been
in Jerusalem for the Passoverand visited with Nicodemus, he
went into the local countryside.
It says Jesus went into theJudean countryside.
Now Judea is a region.
In America, we might associateit with a county.
(01:19):
Judea is where the city ofJerusalem resides.
So Jesus left the city ofJerusalem and went out into the
rural areas of Judea.
And we find the first record ofJesus baptizing new believers.
We also see that some of thecrowd that had been going to
John the Baptist to be baptizedstart going to Jesus to be
(01:43):
baptized.
Just a little bit of a side notehere: Jesus wasn't actually
doing the baptizing, but hisdisciples were.
We find that out in verse 26.
Nevertheless, what's importantin this context is that people
were leaving John the Baptist'sministry and going over to
Jesus' ministry to be baptized.
(02:07):
And the Gospel of John is theonly gospel that records this
short overlap between John theBaptist's ministry and Jesus'
ministry.
What an amazing time this musthave been, as both are preaching
repentance and the comingkingdom of heaven while
baptizing new converts.
(02:29):
Now, the specific area whereJohn the Baptist was baptizing,
known as Anknown, is in theregion of Samaria.
Anknown means springs, and thereare locations yet today in that
area that have plenty of water.
And we see in verse 24 that Johnthe Baptist had not yet been put
(02:50):
in prison.
This is such a perfect exampleof how the Gospels Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John harmonizetogether to fit in the big
picture.
In the Gospels of Matthew andMark, they record John the
Baptist being put into prisonright after Jesus' temptation.
(03:10):
But here in the Gospel of John,he describes this very short
overlap in their ministries.
I believe the reason the HolySpirit inspired the Apostle John
to write this is because theApostle John was a disciple of
John the Baptist, and so he wascompelled to document this
(03:31):
important overlap in ministries.
Picking up in verse 25.
Now a discussion arose betweensome of John's disciples and a
Jew over purification.
And they came to John and saidto him, Rabbi, he who was with
you across the Jordan, to whomyou bore witness, look, he is
(03:55):
baptizing, and all are going tohim.
Let's pause right there.
In these two verses we see thata discussion arose between some
of John the Baptist's disciplesand a Jew.
Now, many of John the Baptist'sdisciples were Jewish.
(04:17):
But the fact that it mentionsthis Jew in particular implies
that this is a religious Jew,not a follower of John the
Baptist.
And in a similar way to how inchapter 1 the Levites came to
question John the Baptist, theseJews are coming to discuss the
rites of purification withJohn's disciples.
(04:40):
Now, the Jewish religion hadcreated many ceremonies which
grew out of the Old Testamentcleansing laws with water.
What God had originally intendedto be a method of showing
humility had become anoverwhelming list of human
effort and obligation.
(05:01):
In fact, the very ritual ofbaptism by immersion in water
itself was a ceremony that grewout of cleansing laws.
It had long been a traditionadministered by the Jews to
Gentiles when they converted toJudaism.
(05:21):
And John the Baptist was notonly baptizing and cleansing
Gentiles, but he was alsobaptizing Jews and calling them
to repentance.
From what we read about John'sbaptism in Scripture, it's very
likely that this debate betweenJohn's disciples and this Jew
(05:44):
over purification had somethingto do with how John's
purification baptism wasconnected with Jesus.
Because in the very next verse,verse 26, the disciples of John
the Baptist come to him, andthey point out how Jesus is
(06:04):
baptizing the way he isbaptizing, and people are going
to him.
Now here's the real heart ofthis issue.
After this Jew had come toquestion John's disciples about
the purification methods ofJohn's baptism, the conversation
(06:25):
quickly turned to the ministryof Jesus.
And how Jesus is baptizing in asimilar way to John.
Certainly to the Jewish leaders,this new baptism was getting out
of control.
So the disciples of John theBaptist go and tell him how
(06:48):
people are starting to followthe new rabbi Jesus.
It seemed like a conflict ofministries, if you will, to the
disciples of John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist answered Aperson cannot receive even one
thing unless it is given to himfrom heaven.
(07:11):
You yourselves bear me witnessthat I said I am not the Christ,
but I've been sent before him.
The one who has the bride is thebridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom,who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at thebridegroom's voice.
(07:35):
Therefore this joy of mine isnow complete.
He must increase, but I mustdecrease.
In these four verses, John theBaptist begins to talk with his
disciples, and he begins bytalking about God's sovereignty,
(07:55):
how God is sovereign over allgood things, in particular the
ministry opportunities that Johnhas been part of.
With the concerns of his owndisciples, who are certainly
loyal to John the Baptist, Johnmakes sure to emphasize how God
is in control of all thingsconcerning his kingdom.
(08:20):
And then John points out howthey themselves are a witness to
his witness.
He tells them they know fullwell about his testimony that he
is not the Christ.
And they can and they shouldbear witness of this.
(08:42):
Then John the Baptist uses theanalogy of the bride and the
bridegroom.
In scriptures, one of the commonanalogies about the kingdom of
God is it's compared to awedding.
A wedding that takes placebetween God and his people.
The bride is the people of God,his church, believers.
(09:08):
The bridegroom is the Messiah,Jesus.
Then John the Baptist talksabout being the friend of the
bridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom inthis context, who stands and
hears him, is the best man.
John is saying that he stoodbeside Jesus like his best man
(09:28):
would, that he's helped toprepare this great wedding.
And now he, like a best man at awedding, who puts all his effort
into helping the groom to getthings prepared, to get things
ready.
Now that the groom is ready forthis big event and he begins to
(09:48):
speak his vows to the bride, thebest man rejoices when he sees
his friend speak the vows.
And he's very blessed because heput in all this effort.
And John says, My joy is nowcomplete.
John the Baptist is overjoyed toknow that everything is going
according to the plan of God,and that his cousin, Jesus, is
(10:13):
beginning his ministry.
That Jesus, the promisedMessiah, just as John had
prepared for, just as God hadpromised, is beginning his
ministry.
Finally, John says, He mustincrease, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist understandsthat his purpose has always been
(10:37):
to point to Jesus.
Now that the ministry of Jesusis starting to get some
momentum, John's work will beslowing down, if not ending.
Picking up in verse thirty-one.
He who comes from above is aboveall.
He who is of the earth belongsto the earth and speaks in an
(10:58):
earthly way.
He who comes from heaven isabove all.
He bears witness to what he hasseen and what he has heard, yet
no one receives his testimony.
Whoever receives his testimonysets his seal to this that God
is true.
(11:20):
In verses thirty-one throughthirty-three, John the Baptist
begins to give testimony aboutChrist.
He begins to give glory to God.
These verses have a similar toneto what Jesus said back in
verses eleven through thirteenof this very chapter.
While man is of the earth andknows things of the earth, Jesus
(11:45):
is above all things.
He has been seated with theFather.
And because of that, he is theonly one who can truly reveal
the Father and the Father'swill.
Jesus, the Son of God being God,is above all human teachers.
His words are the very words ofGod given by the Father.
(12:10):
Jesus is preeminent in allthings.
Colossians one hundred eighteenreads He is the head of the
body, the Church.
He is the beginning, thefirstborn from the dead, that in
everything He might bepreeminent.
(12:31):
John the Baptist is giving veryspecific reasons to his
disciples why his ministry mustdecrease and the ministry of
Jesus must increase.
Jesus once said that John theBaptist was considered the
greatest man ever to be bornamong men.
(12:51):
However, he was still just a manof the earth.
Only Jesus, the Son of God, thesecond person of the Trinity,
has seen God the Father face toface and been at his side.
And John says, yet no onereceives his testimony.
(13:11):
Generally speaking, the world atthat time rejected the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
And this is still true today.
There are billions of people andthousands of man-made religions
that reject the grace andsalvation and the truth of the
(13:33):
deity found in Jesus Christ.
This is the great condemnationthat rests on mankind, those who
reject the truth.
However, even more responsibleare those who lived at the very
time of Jesus Christ'sappearance, those who saw his
(13:56):
works, who heard his testimonyfirsthand.
Then John the Baptist says,Whoever receives his testimony
sets his seal to this, that Godis true.
A person that believes andreceives Jesus Christ and his
(14:16):
testimony will be committed tobelieving in the truth of God's
word and testifying to the SonJesus Christ.
They will testify how Jesus cameto the world as God to save us
from our sin.
(14:36):
The gospel of Jesus Christ is aninvitation to add ourselves to
all who have staked their liveson Jesus Christ, the truth sent
from God.
Verse thirty four continues.
For he whom God has sent uttersthe words of God, for he gives
(14:56):
the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and hasgiven all things into his hand.
Whoever believes in the Son haseternal life.
Whoever does not obey the Sonshall not see life, but the
wrath of God remains on him.
In the last three verses of thischapter, John the Baptist
(15:20):
finishes his testimony aboutChrist and the gospel of Christ.
There are thirty-nine times inthe Gospel of John that the
apostle refers to Jesus as beingsent from God, because Jesus
speaks the very words of God,and he reveals the very nature
(15:41):
of God the Father to us.
Verse 34 talks about how Godgave the Holy Spirit to Jesus
without limits while he wasministering here on earth.
Because the Father loves theSon.
The relationship between God theFather and God the Son is
intimate and perfect.
(16:04):
There is complete trust andconfidence.
While the Son was here on earth,the Father and the Holy Spirit
empowered him as he submitted totheir predestined plan.
After his resurrection, the Sonof God was exalted to rule and
(16:25):
reign over all creation byFather God.
The Son of God rules over allthings throughout this church
age.
The Son of God will bring thejudgment of the nations at his
second coming.
The Son of God will reign duringthe thousand year physical
kingdom until all things havebeen put under his feet.
(16:50):
And finally, at the conclusionof his reign on earth, the Son
of God will judge all ofhistory, and every man that has
ever lived at the great whitethrone judgment, where all of
the books will be opened.
And then the new heavens and thenew earth will be ushered in,
and God will be all in all.
(17:13):
In verse thirty six we have theconclusion of this chapter,
where the apostle John lays outonly two options for mankind
genuine faith or willfuldisobedience.
Genuine faith are those whobelieve in the Son and have
(17:33):
eternal life.
All who believe in God's Sonhave eternal life.
And eternal life begins themoment they believe that Jesus
Christ was risen from the deadand they confess him as their
Lord.
John five twenty four readsTruly, truly I say to you,
(17:56):
Whoever hears my word andbelieves him who has sent me has
eternal life.
He does not come into judgment,but is passed from death to
life.
And Ephesians one thirteen readsIn him you also, when you heard
(18:16):
the word of truth, the gospel ofyour salvation, and believed in
him, were sealed with thepromised Holy Spirit.
The other option, other thangenuine belief, is willful
disobedience.
Those who do not obey the Sonwill not see life.
(18:39):
This is where all of mankindbegins in unbelief.
While unbelief is tragicignorance, it is also willful
disobedience to the clear lightof God's revelation.
Romans one twenty reads for hisinvisible attributes, namely his
(19:02):
eternal power, his divine naturehave clearly been perceived ever
since the creation of the world,in the things that have been
made, so men are without excuse.
In Acts seventeen, thirtythrough thirty one read The
times of ignorance Godoverlooked, but now He commands
(19:25):
all people everywhere to repent,because He has fixed a day on
which He will judge the world inrighteousness by a man whom He
has appointed, and of this Hehas given assurance to all by
raising Him from the dead.
Those who do not believe onJesus Christ as their Savior and
(19:48):
Lord have the wrath of Godremaining on them.
The wrath of God is God'srighteous reaction against evil,
and all of mankind sits in thisfallen condition, in rebellion.
But God has revealed light tomankind.
(20:09):
God has shown mercy to hiscreation, and the light of his
grace came through his Son JesusChrist.
Those who refuse to acknowledgethe goodness of God and trust in
his Son remain under His wrath.
Romans two eight reads But forthose who are self seeking, who
(20:33):
do not obey the truth, but obeyunrighteousness, there will be
wrath and fury.
Thank you for joining me for theconclusion of John chapter
three.
God bless you this week.
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