Thank you, Miss Bernice. This is why it’s so good for us as Christians to be thankful for grace. God truly is a merciful God. Please turn with me, if you would, in your Bibles to John chapter 3, beginning at verse 31.
He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this: that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, and whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us pray.
Lord, we thank you for your word, for the light of your counsel that it gives us, for all that it teaches us and tells us, proclaiming who you are and who we are in relation to you. Help us to always be those who receive you and your word with grateful hearts. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
So, this conclusion to John’s third chapter is a part of Scripture which we are all probably less familiar with than we like to admit. We’re very familiar with its beginning, with Nicodemus’s visit in John 3:16, of course, and we also all remember John’s remark about Jesus: he must increase, but I must decrease.
However, the location and context within the Bible probably don’t reside in the long-term memory for most of us. I’ll admit that if we weren’t studying John’s gospel the way we are, I would not recognize that passage, and I would not have remembered the increase and decrease remark was made by John the Baptist. I would remember that it was made by John the Baptist, but I wouldn’t remember that it was here in John’s gospel.
This final paragraph feels rather odd; it seems out of place. It feels like an interruption in the flow of the Evangelist’s written thought, and it’s not even really clear who is actually speaking at this point. Was it still John the Baptist, or was it John the Evangelist? While it immediately follows the Baptist’s response to his disciples about Jesus’s ministry, neither the language, phrasing, nor the content really appears related to that conversation.
I mean, the voice of the statement, its tone and tenor, the language, the words and phrases it uses have more in common with John’s first chapter than with the rest of the third. Like the first chapter, this part contains more spiritual metaphoric language, talking about he who comes from above and he who is of the earth, which are reminiscent of John 1:2-3: ‘He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’
Like the first chapter, this is more expressly descriptive of relationships within the Trinity, talking about how the Father loves the Son and how God the Son gives the Spirit without measure, reminiscent of chapter 1:14: ‘glory as of the only Son from the Father.’ So, although it’s not directly specific, I suggest that this concluding paragraph is the work of the Evangelist, offering us a final commentary on this whole beginning portion of Jesus’s ministry.
Following this, his gospel transitions into more of a narrative flow than a largely theological one. The Evangelist here concludes his introduction as he began it, talking about the divine nature of Christ. This conclusion he divides into four points, summarizing the meaning of everything that he previously said: the difference between the Creator and the creature, between Divinity and Humanity; Christ’s testimony with that of the Baptist and our people’s response; the supremacy and authority of God the Son; and the necessity of pistis, of faith, along with the benefits or consequences of belief and unbelief.
So, his first point is that he who comes from above is above all, while he who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He begins with an expression of divine transcendence, describing our either/or relationship with the divine. There is the one who comes from above, God, and then there’s everyone and everything else. There is a Creator and a creation, distinct from one another. There is God the Lord, and then there is stuff. If you are stuff, then you cannot be God. If you are a creation, then you cannot be the Creator.
A painting is not a painter, and a painting is not the painter because a painting cannot paint itself, even if it is a self-portrait or self-image. So, John emphasizes the division and the vast difference that separates humanity from the Lord. The divine is greater than all, the divine is holier than all, the divine is wiser and more knowledgeable than all, the divine is more powerful and capable than all, the divine is plainly just more—more just, more righteous, more mighty, more wrathful, more gracious, more forgiving, more merciful, more glorious, and more loving.
Meanwhile, the divine also does not belong to the earth; rather, the earth belongs to the divine. Humanity comes from the earth; therefore, we belong to the earth. Apart from the regenerating intervention of the divine Holy Spirit, for you are dust and to dust you shall return.
So, you see, humanity can only know of earthly things apart from divine self-revelation and in earthly ways, apart from the divinely provided prophetic gifts. Thus, we speak of earthly things. However, humanity, less than the divine in every regard, still has been given great value and worth within ourselves, because we are reflections or images of the divine. Our status as God’s image bearers is what gives us our value and elevates us somewhat above all the rest of the earth to which we belong above all the lesser things of God’s good creation, because humanity is the pinnacle of creation; it was only after creating us that God declared it very good.
But although humanity is at the top of the created food chain, we still remain beneath God, our Creator, the Sovereign Lord who is above all.
Now, the Evangelist’s second point concerns Christ’s testimony and his revelatory word. He who comes from heaven is above all; he bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this: that God is true.
He speaks about humanity’s general response to the incarnation of Christ, the entrance of God the Son (the Logos), into the cosmos, his creation. He declares our sinfulness by our willing unfaithfulness to the divine King. If the one who comes from above is above all and he bears witness to what he has seen and heard—telling us about what he knows, giving us his firsthand knowledge, telling us the truth about the universe he created, telling us the truth about ourselves, about who we are, and who he created us to be, and how he expects and commands us to live—then no one receives his testimony.
Humanity is disbelieving the truth, disbelieving it from the very source. We deny the truth because we prefer the falsehood; we call the King a liar; we call God a liar. We fail to trust the only dependable one. We fail to trust God; we fail to trust Jesus Christ. We willfully disbelieve and are unfaithful to the one to whom all allegiance is owed. We sin against God and commit cosmic treason against the holy and divine Sovereign who is above all.
We revolt against his authority by trying to drag down the one above all and elevate ourselves into his rightful place. Instead, God came down into the world to tell us about himself and the plan that he has for us. He came down inviting us to join him, calling us up to himself, calling us to come into his kingdom and to enjoy him. He came to rescue us from ourselves, to forgive us for our transgressions against him.
He came speaking about love, beauty, and truth, but sinful humanity did not want to hear it. So, we rejected him. We stubbornly refused to receive and welcome our maker into the home that he built for us to live and work in. And no one receives his testimony.
But does nobody receive him in his word? Does nobody accept his witness? If no one does, then who or what are we? Perhaps we are someone instead of no one. John previously told us that the world did not know him and that he came to his own and his own people did not receive him. Therefore, the world, the cosmos, did not know or receive him, nor did his own people, Israel, the Jews, the descendants of Jacob and children of Abraham. They did not receive him; they rejected him instead—they cast him aside and killed him.
Yet the evidence proves that some hope remains, because the ones who received him testified to him—and we, we receive him and testify to him, don’t we? So, while no one receives him, God has apparently still decreed that someone must, since whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this: that God is true.
For those who do receive Christ and his testimony, they agree that the truth is true. They affirm that truth is absolute and definite; they believe and trust the truth because the Sovereign one established it. Because God decreed it, they trust in the absoluteness of the truth. The truth is a firm foundation—the only firm foundation upon which anything of substance can be built upon or drawn from. They hear the truth and recognize it, so they listen and pay attention because the truth is what matters most; it is above all.
They are faithful and loyal to the one true King; they hold true to the truth. Next, John’s third point explains why those who receive him faithfully listen to him. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Remember, “for” means “because.” So it is because of what follows here that those who receive his testimony will receive, because he whom God has sent utters the word of God, which means the one who comes from above is God’s messenger. He speaks with God’s voice; he proclaims God’s word.
Unlike the prophets of old, he does not say, “Thus saith the Lord,” but instead says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, but I say to you.” See, he is not just a messenger; he is not merely a prophet; he is someone more.
Yet how can we know that? Because he gives the Spirit without measure. He gives the Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is given by him, proceeds from him, and is sent by him. The Holy Spirit is given without measure. That is not to say that the infinite God, the Holy Spirit, is given to us in an unlimited quantity or capacity, but that he gives the Spirit liberally, in the classical sense of the term. He gives it freely, without restraint, without measurement.
And everyone who receives gets enough. He is able to give the Spirit without measure because it’s his Spirit, and it’s his to give. Why and how? Because the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. We are thus again reminded of the deity and equal sovereignty of the Son with the Father.
The one who comes from above is above all things because the Father has given him and placed all things into the Son’s hand. The Son is more than just a prophet. The word of God that he speaks is his word. He is able to speak with authority because all things are in his hand because he is above all things.
Therefore, God the Father sent down God the Son from heaven to earth to give God the Holy Spirit to everyone who receives him and his testimony as the truth, as the gospel truth, the good news.
Which brings us to the Evangelist’s fourth and final point: the ultimate message for which he wrote this gospel is to promote and proclaim that whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Whoever believes in the Son, whoever has faith in the Son, whoever has pistis in the Son has eternal life. But what is belief? What is faith? What does pistis really mean? How does it actually work? Many people today will say that they believe in God, that they believe in Jesus, but do they?
Many people do not act or live as if they believe that there is a holy God who will one day judge between the righteous and the wicked. So, is there a reliable way for them and for us to know whether someone truly believes in God’s Son? Yes, there is, because belief is more than just the affirmation or acceptance of facts.
Belief and faith are something active and consequential; they are evident and observable. Belief in someone is more than just admitting that they are. Consider the expression, “I believe in Santa Claus.” When someone says that, they mean that they believe Santa Claus is, or that the spirit or idea of Santa Claus is. They mean that they agree with what Santa Claus is publicly supposed to represent: kindness and generosity, gift-giving.
This serves as an exemplary teaching moment about God’s gracious gift of his Son, Jesus, for us. But belief in something is also more than a hope or wishful thinking.
Consider the expression, “I believe that the Browns will win the Super Bowl next year.” We all know that’s an utterly fantastical hope—an example of wishful thinking without any basis in fact or reality. I must admit to the same problem as regards my team, which is the Miami Dolphins.
Nor does believing something make it necessarily true; simply because somebody believes it does not determine the truth. There are people who believe that the earth is flat instead of a globe—an assumption that’s easily disproved with photographs or even by flying high enough. You can see the curve of the earth.
There are people who believe that human astronauts did not land on the moon—an assumption disproved by the unique rocks they returned with. There are people who believe America has been a racist country from before its inception—a false assumption disproved by historical writings preserved here and abroad.
There are people who believe that Jews have never had a claim upon the territory of Israel, a claim disproved by Scripture and archaeological evidence, as well as by other secular historical documents, such as those from the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. There are people who believe that a man can become a woman or a woman a man, but that’s an assumption disproved by genetics, physiology, and other biological aspects.
Our belief never determines what is true; instead, the truth must always determine what we believe. So now, lastly, the Evangelist explains to his audience clearly what pistis, faith, belief, actually and practically is.
Pistis is a positive response to the truth. To believe, to have pistis is to obey, and to obey is to love. To agape God and disbelieve in God is disobedience, and all disobedience is sin. John writes, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.”
Life is qualified by our obedience or lack thereof. Just as God told Adam, ‘You may surely eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ The wrath of God remains on whoever does not obey the Son. Eternal life is therefore the consequence of our obedience because obedience is the consequence of belief, of pistis, and it is our best expression of love to God.
If the one who comes from above is above all, and he utters the words of God, and he gives the Spirit without measure because God the Father loves him, and the Father has given all things into his hand, if you receive the Son’s testimony by believing that God is true, then you must and will obey him—his words and commandments.
You will obey all of them without question, complaint, or comment because He, the Son, Jesus, is the Sovereign Lord, and He is above all. So, obedience is your duty; it is your right, and it is our privilege because he is above us, and we are beneath him.
If God is true, if Jesus Christ is true, and you believe in him, then you must believe him and act accordingly. You must obey your King, because anything else except obedience is treason—cosmic treason.
But we have a terrible problem as American Christians: we do not understand or like royalty. We do not know how to rightly respond to a King. We do not understand what it means for someone to be our Sovereign, to possess full and absolute, unquestioned authority over us, their subjects. We do not understand what it means to have Jesus Christ, God, as our King, as our Lord, as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
I mean, U.S. presidents come and go, but the scope of their authority is limited by our Constitution and their willingness to enforce it. Our work bosses come and go, but their authority is limited by the law, by corporate policies and procedures, and only extends to whatever amount of authority over our lives we are otherwise willing to give them.
Anytime beyond our work standard, parents have authority over their children, but it is limited by the law, by our faith, and by the passage of time, because inevitably a time of maturity comes when a parent’s authority is no longer respected by the child.
However, the true King has all glory, honor, and majesty; He alone is owed our full allegiance and complete obedience. And He will be right and just to punish us for our failure and idolatry. But He is gracious and merciful to us instead.
If you think that your past sins or that continuing to sin is somehow still okay, or if you think that perhaps some sins are just not that bad, then what you’re really thinking is that God is wrong or that He’s a liar, or that you know better than God—that you are wiser and more knowledgeable than the Lord.
And if you think that, then you are claiming to be more than God. You are suggesting that you are greater than God and denying that He is above all things and that He possesses all things. Through those kinds of thoughts and actions, a person proves that they do not believe God, that they do not believe in God or in his Son Jesus Christ, no matter what else they may say.
But if you do believe and trust in Him, then you will know and confess your sins as being wicked, and that we are all duty-bound to repent of our sins, to mortify our sin and our sinful desires. Then you do affirm that Christ is true. You believe that Jesus Christ is true; then you will obey him in all of his commandments in love merely because he has given them.
To believe, to have pistis in Christ, is to obey, and to obey Christ is to love. To agape God, Christ’s obedience to our rightful Sovereign is our duty. Agape obedience is an act of self-sacrificing devotion, and we Christians joyfully sacrifice our own wants and desires to Christ’s command, subordinating our wills to His divine will, plan, and purpose for us.
We obey God because we believe in and trust God’s promise that all those who love Him will have eternal life, while all those who hate Him will receive His just wrath. The Scripture is true. If it is true concerning all that it says, then it must be believed and obeyed; it cannot be ignored, changed, or reduced in social relevance by those who claim to receive it and affirm it.
We believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit truly are above all. We have no choice except to obey and love Christ because he has been given all things, and he is the Sovereign.
But if we do not believe that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit truly are above all, if we believe that they are wrong, incomplete, or lying, the Scripture holds no value to us except as the rule by which we are justly condemned.
So if you believe that Christ is above all, if you believe in him, that he is true and trustworthy, then you will obey him in fidelity and love, because he has given you the faith to receive and to believe. You may be confident that he has also given you an everlasting life in which to worship and enjoy him forever.
This is the good news of the Gospel: Jesus Christ is God the Son, and if you believe in and trust him, then, on account of all that he has done for you, you will be given life eternal, and your sins will be forgiven. Amen.