Lesson for March 30, 2025

The Book of John

Lesson 9

Salvation Message from Jesus

John 3:16-21

Verse 16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 

Salvation is a gift from God, received when a person believes in Christ as their Savior. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” God gave His Son so that He could give us eternal life. John 17:3, ^“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Verses 17-18

^“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge (condemn) the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Jesus did not come to judge/condemn the world, since the world was already condemned. The Greek word for judge is “krino,” meaning to declare guilty, to pronounce guilt, to sentence on someone in a legal sense, or to condemn. Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are born with Adam’s original sin, which condemns us at birth. Romans 5:12, ^“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned.” We come into this world spiritually dead, in need of a Savior. Romans 6:23, ^“For the wages of sin is (spiritual) death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. Faith is the only system of perception which is totally devoid of any human merit. Only the object has merit, and in salvation the object of faith is Jesus Christ. How much faith does it take to be saved? Just a little bit more than no faith at all. (Luke 17:6) The salvation work of Christ on the Cross excludes anything being added to faith.

Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind, on the basis of the work of Christ on the Cross. Grace is extended to mankind as unbelievers, living under spiritual death, controlled by their sin nature and totally helpless regarding salvation. Therefore, as a matter of grace, salvation is entirely the work of God. It is the work of the Father in judging our sins, of the Son in being judged for our sins, and of the Holy Spirit in making the Gospel clear. This is why the way of salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ, with no human works added to it. Human works are human efforts to please or gain the approval of God for salvation or spirituality including, but not limited to, such things as church membership, water baptism, religious rituals, performing good deeds, obeying the Ten Commandments, good behavior, being sincere, keeping certain rules.

Saving grace is called “efficacious grace,” meaning effective grace. When a spiritually dead person responds to the invitation from God (all are invited) to have eternal salvation, a person simply believes in Jesus Christ as Savior. This is classified as “faith alone” or “faith plus nothing.” It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to “invite” unbelievers to believe in Christ. So, the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel clear to an unbeliever who in spiritual death is unable to understand spiritual things (I Corinthians 2:14) and then they are able to believe in Christ. Upon faith alone in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit makes that faith effective for salvation, eternal life and the 40 spiritual assets that we receive as a result.

The faith of an unbeliever who is spiritually dead means that they have positive volition at the point of Gospel-hearing and exercise their faith which is a non-meritorious function and is compatible with God’s grace. The Holy Spirit makes faith and only faith alone effective for salvation. Works, such as being water baptized, giving money, doing good deeds, observing certain rituals, added to faith in Christ are dead (useless) works, and the Holy Spirit does not make dead works effective for salvation. So, if you add any works when you believe in Jesus Christ, there is no efficacious grace, and you’re not saved at that point. 

The pre-salvation grace ministry of God is as follows. In common (available to all) grace, the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel message clear. God the Father invites the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ, which is called “the divine call.” The spiritually dead person, with the Holy Spirit acting as a human spirit, believes in Christ, and the Holy Spirit causes faith to be effective for salvation, which is called efficacious grace.

When any form of human works is added to faith in Christ as a requirement for salvation, the Holy Spirit cannot cause that faith to be effective. The reason is that divine power and human power actually cancel each other out. Human works is human power, which is rejected by grace. Consequently, human works, added to faith in Christ as a requirement for salvation, cancel faith. Therefore, salvation is not from us, since it is a matter of common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace. That’s why it is a gift from God. (Romans 11:6)

A spiritually dead person is incapable of doing anything to obtain salvation. Spiritual death at birth means separation from God, total helplessness to attain a relationship with God and the status of dichotomy, meaning only a body and soul but no human spirit. Without a human spirit, a person is unable to understand the simplest concepts of the Gospel. The very nature of common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace eliminates any system of salvation by works. (I Corinthians 2:14)

Verses 19-20

^“And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.”

Jesus declared that He was the “Light of the World” and the “Light of Life” in John 8:12. The word light in Greek is “phos,” and metaphorically means to make evident or to make to appear. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World Who reveals God. When “light” is used in reference to God, it encompasses His entire character (His essence and attributes) and His work in the life of believers (His grace, His illumination, and His guidance). It is God’s light that is being reproduced in the life of advancing believers, as the character of Jesus Christ. Believers are called “the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14-16; Galatians 5:22-23)

The Greek word for darkness is “skotia,” and metaphorically means a condition of spiritual depravity. Therefore, those who choose to remain in spiritual darkness, so their evil deeds will not be exposed by the light, hate the Light and are blinded to spiritual truth. Darkness is a term often used to describe Satan, his world system, and man’s sinful nature. (Ephesians 6:12; I Peter 2:9; I John 2:11)

Verse 21

^“But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”

Believers who choose to reside in God’s power system, by “practicing the truth” (Bible doctrine) under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, can avoid spiritual darkness. A believer can also avoid the evil “works of darkness” of Satan’s world system, by walking in the Light of God’s Word. (Psalm 119:105; John 12:35-36; II Corinthians 4:1-6)

Walking in the Light is a metaphor for aligning your life with the royalty that you are in Christ. “Light” is also a metaphor for God’s perfect character, personified in Christ, and Divine Viewpoint Thinking. Therefore, walking in the light can be easily understood as aligning your life through correct thinking, as the character of Christ is being produced in your life. A believer cannot think correctly, as God would have him think, without the persistent and consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. 

So that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God. The Christian life is not what we do for God, but what He does for us and through us as we rely on the power of God the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and actions. Performed in God means a believer is staying in fellowship with God a maximum amount of time, resulting in the filling of the Holy Spirit. After salvation, believers are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which is lost when we commit personal sin. To be filled is to be empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

The filling of the Holy Spirit is potential for every believer in Christ. The purpose of this filling is to empower believers to live the Christian Way of Life. All believers are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit, the moment they trust Christ as their Savior. However, the first time we sin after salvation, we lose the filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit is restored when we acknowledge our sin to God. (I John 1:9)