Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 1 Study # 14
November 26, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: No one who lives in alienation from God can do anything of which God can approve; and everyone who lives in fellowship with God can be assured that God approves of their accomplishments.
Introduction: When Nicodemus was drawn by Jesus' "doings" to engage Him in conversation, Jesus immediately declared that no one who is not "born again" can have any expectation of ever "seeing" or "entering" the ultimate reality of God's Kingdom established upon the earth. This necessity of being born again is both
absolute and without
exception.
As the conversation continued, Jesus contradicted the roots, trunk, and branches of the theology of Israel that was current in the first century. This inclusion of the roots encompassed Israel's most basic "belief": that man was created by God to be an independent actor. This inclusion of the trunk encompassed Israel's "commitment", as an independent actor, to prove their own ability to pursue the paths of Life by their "good works". And, this inclusion of the branches encompassed all of the myriad details of the "rules" that were to guide the pursuit of the paths of "Life".
Jesus' contradiction of the entire system of Jewish theology rested upon His claim that the premier "teacher of Israel" did not even understand how to "get started", let alone make any progress.
Then, as Nicodemus responded to Jesus by asking "how can these things come to pass?", Jesus launched into His teaching regarding God's purpose for His being sent into the world so that man could be rescued from the processes and end of "perishing" and become an heir of eternal life.
We have spent months considering the details of Jesus' teaching in John 3:1-21, and this morning we have come to the heart of the matter as it is expressed in Jesus' claim that everyone whose branches are yielding the fruit of Truth are making it clear that the independent agent thesis is a massive delusion: 3:21.
- I. First, Some General Observations.
- A. At the heart of the entire theological mess that has brought mankind to the brink of a massive disaster are the two most fundamental truths that are everywhere proclaimed by the words of The Word of God.
- 1. The first of the two is this: agape is most fundamental and determinative.
- a. John's first use of the verb agapao is found in 3:16 where we are told that even God is compelled by His agape even though it was to cost Him beyond human reason.
- b. John's second use of agapao is found in 3:19 where are told that men, likewise, are driven by their agape to set themselves in opposition to God.
- 2. The second of the two is this: pistis is the next most critical issue and it is also, like agape, fundamental and determinative.
- a. Jesus established this characteristic in 1:12 where He gave the privilege of becoming a "born one" (child) of God to everyone who "believed into His name": this being the greatest of all results that can be expected from the Tree of Theology with its roots, trunk, and branches (1 John 3:1).
- b. John's first use of pisteuo is in 1:7 where "believing" is introduced as "critical", his second use is 1:12 where the outcome is stupendous, and eventually he got to 3:16 where he established forever that it is pistis that is God's most critical demand of man if any would be delivered from perishing and given eternal life (Hebrews 11:6).
- B. John's record of Jesus' words regarding the disastrous judgment that already exists upon man in 3:18-20 is a declaration that disaster already rests upon man, and apart from pistis there will be no mitigation.
- II. The Specific Declaration Regarding Man's Massive Delusion Regarding Independent Action.
- A. Jesus declares, in 3:21, that those who "do the Truth" are making it quite clear that their "deeds" are wrought by God.
- 1. The translation is flawed: "wrought in God" is not simply a misunderstanding of the great principle of "oneness with God" (as the opposite of "an independent actor"), it really does not even make sense.
- 2. The proper translation is established by a veritable host of biblical declarations.
- a. In John, Jesus is quoted in multiple places as saying the even He is not an independent actor (5:19 and 5:30 with 3:27; 9:33; 15:5; and 19:11 as reinforcements).
- b. In the biblical concept of "faith" the core is that "faith" sponsors activity by God as the object of faith.
- c. In multiple places the apostle Paul clearly indicates that the "fruit of the Tree of Biblical Theology" is God's fruit, not ours (Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27; Galatians 5:22; 1 Corinthians 15:10; etc.).
