Resources Recent Newsletter: February 2010 Newsletter 1.4 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Archived Newsletter Text: December 2009 Newsletter 1.3 A Royal Official November 2009 Newsletter 1.2: Condemned October 2009 Newsletter 1.1 Nicodemus > Site Map > Home > Resources > Newsletters Nicodemus was a ruler, teacher, and a devout religious man.  One night he came to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus replied by saying, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Perplexed by such a statement, Nicodemus was compelled to ask, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?"  Jesus clarified what he meant by responding, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Nicodemus must have been amazed when Jesus said that ‘he must be born again’.  He was a hard working teacher of religion, yet Jesus’ words meant that religious deeds would not bring salvation and only those who are born of the Spirit can enter the kingdom of God. To illustrate how the Spirit works in giving new birth, Jesus went on to give an example of the wind.  We all have seen the effects of wind and understand that wind does what it wants to.  People have tried to tame it, control it, predict it, and understand it, but always come up short.  The power that wind demonstrates through storms and tornadoes is matched only by its gentle nudge that sends a flower’s seed to new life. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Jesus then referring to Himself as the Son of Man says, “The Son of Man will be lifted up; so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.”  Nicodemus could only be saved by belief, not by the religion and works that he dedicated his life to. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. God does have judgment for those who do not believe.  He who believes in Jesus is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who causes someone to be born again and to believe in Jesus Christ. People won’t naturally believe in Jesus for salvation because they are born in sinful flesh and need to be born of the Spirit.  The judgment of God against mankind is that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  Those who practice the truth come to the Light, so that their deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.  An unbeliever will continue throughout eternity with God’s wrath abiding on them, but if you believe in Jesus, your eternal life will start now.  John 3:36 says, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Nicodemus October 2009 Early one morning Jesus was in the temple and religious leaders brought a woman, set her in the center of the court and said, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" When they persisted with their questioning, Jesus said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Hearing this, the accusers began to go out one by one until only Jesus and the accused women remained. When all her accusers were gone, Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."  Jesus’ intention was not to diminish her sin, but rather to emphasize that everyone has sin.   It is good and right for a judge to condemn, or pronounce guilty, those who have broken the law.  You should want justice when someone steals something from you, or when you see evil people go without punishment.  Jesus demands justice for His law as well, and being a good judge, He will condemn law breakers.  One of God’s laws is, "You shall not commit adultery”, and the penalty for breaking any of God’s laws is death. Have you committed adultery?  Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  Jesus points out that an inward thought and desire is as deadly as the outward act. Jesus also said that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery. If you have not committed adultery, you're still not in the clear. God’s law is written in your heart, your conscience bears witness and your thoughts alternately accusing or else defending you.  Even one sin deserves death: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." God said, "Do not commit adultery," and also said, "do not commit murder”. If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  Telling one small lie, stealing one time, disobeying a parent even once as a child… all these too, deserve condemnation. The adulterous woman who deserved death was not condemned by Jesus.  Jesus can save you from sin and death as well because he took the penalty of sin on Himself when He died.  Jesus didn’t remain dead, but He rose from the dead and conquered the power of death. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemned November 2009 A royal official came to Jesus in Cana of Galilee because his son was sick at Capernaum (some distance away).  The royal official went to Jesus and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.  So Jesus said to him, "unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe."  The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."  Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. As he was now going down, his servants met him, saying that his son was living.  So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better.  Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household. This royal official had enough faith to seek out Jesus in a time of need, but "seeking faith" has its problems.  He wanted Jesus to do what he wanted and how he wanted it.  He believed that Jesus had to come down and be with his son physically in order to heal him.  The royal official was seeking a way to get his son healed and was not seeking God.   Many people are seeking for something, but no one is seeking God.  It is God who seeks and saves the lost. The royal official even had enough faith to believe Jesus' words were true because he went away from Jesus after He told him, "your son lives".  If Jesus words would not have met his expectations, he would have most likely disregarded Jesus and moved on to another solution. Finally we see that after the official discovered that his son was healed by Jesus, he himself believed and his whole household.  This was a saving faith. Faith is only as good as the object you put it in.  For example: You put your faith in a chair every time you go to sit in it, trusting that it will not break.  If that chair did break, then your faith was in vain.  Unfortunately humans always fail, and when we put our faith in ourselves or another, it is not saving faith but failing faith.  Who of us can deny that they have failed and sinned?  One lie, hatred, envy, pride, disobeying parents, or even looking at someone other than your spouse with lust are all sins.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. For by grace you can be saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Faith given by God and put in God is saving faith.  Jesus should be the object of your faith, and He never fails.  He died on the cross, taking upon Himself the death that we all deserve, and rose from the dead providing eternal life to those who would believe. The Royal Official was desperate to prolong his son’s life here on earth, but God saved his whole household for an eternity. Does your faith take you to Jesus? Does your faith produce obedience to Jesus? Does your faith make a difference in your life? Put your faith in Jesus Christ alone for a new life of salvation and freedom from sin. A Royal Official December 2009