JOHN 3:1\u20138<\/b><\/p>\n
Do not marvel that I said to you, \u201cYou must be born again\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(John 3:7)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. This party found its origins in the period preceding the Maccabean wars when Jewish groups reacted strongly against the secularism of the Hellenistic world. Those Jews who abhorred the idolatrous customs of the Greeks in the second century B.C. and who remained true to their faith under persecutions led by the wicked Antiocus Epiphanes were called Pietists\u2014forerunners of the Pharisees.<\/p>\n
Although the Pharisees were right in separating themselves from paganism, they began to externalize religion. What began upon good motives evolved into a strict system of works righteousness. This error continued to progress until it became the standard mindset of many Jews in Jesus\u2019 day. They could conceive of no other religious system except one in which works salvation was central.<\/p>\n
It was to this salvation-by-works party that Nicodemus belonged. He occupied a very prominent position among the Pharisees, and he wanted more clarification on the teaching of Jesus. He, like others, recognized the signs and knew that this man from Nazareth had to be a prophet of God. Nicodemus, therefore, visited Him by night\u2014either because this was the only time he could see Jesus alone or because he was afraid of his peers who might have been critical of Jesus.<\/p>\n
Jesus saw into Nicodemus\u2019s heart, knowing that he really wanted to know what he could do to gain everlasting life. So Jesus said, \u201cUnless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 proclamation concerning entry into the kingdom of God (another term for eternal life) perplexed Nicodemus. Basically, Jesus told him that he could do nothing to gain eternal life. It was a work of God, not a work of man. Nicodemus, who was so accustomed to thinking in terms of man\u2019s works, could not fathom this declaration of God\u2019s sovereignty and grace. He, like many today, saw things only in external forms: religious rites, man\u2019s choice, obedience to the law. But Jesus proclaimed to him, and He proclaims to us today, that salvation is a gift of God, by His will alone, not by works so that no man can boast (Eph. 2:8\u20139).<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Leviticus 1\u20133<\/p>\n
Matthew 25:1\u201330<\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n
Leviticus 4\u20139<\/p>\n
Matthew 25:31\u201346<\/p>\n
Consider the pride and legalism of the Pharisees. Do those problems exist in the church today? Where? Why do you think it is so difficult for sinners to understand or submit to the idea that salvation is by grace, not works? Pray that God will give you a teachable heart as you begin this study of chapter 3.<\/p>\n
For further study: Rom. 3 \u2022 Gal. 3:1\u20139 \u2022 Eph. 2:8\u201310<\/i><\/p>\n
WEEKEND<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHN 3:1\u20138 Do not marvel that I said to you, \u201cYou must be born again\u201d (John 3:7). Nicodemus was a Pharisee. This party found its origins in the period preceding the Maccabean wars when Jewish groups reacted strongly against the secularism of the Hellenistic world. Those Jews who abhorred the idolatrous customs of the Greeks … Continue reading “BREAKING RELIGIOUS BARRIERS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}