Last week, we concluded John 2 and discovered that Jesus was never going to be duped by spurious faith because has complete knowledge of what is in man, namely man’s natural state of spiritual deadness that is in bondage to the sinful nature and causes him to be unwilling and unable to respond appropriately to the truth of Jesus Christ. Rightly understood, that creates a monumental problem—How can anyone be rescued from this desperate plight?
This next section in the gospel of John will unveil that as it puts the answer to the following question on center stage: Is salvation ultimately a work of man or of God? Of course, if our thoughts instantly and exclusively go to the cross, then the answer becomes obvious, for no one but God designed and enacted the sacrifice of the Son to pay the penalty on behalf of sinners. But how about the point of salvation in one’s life? Is that ultimately a work of man or God? Another way to put that question is this: Is the initial act bringing forth salvation something that starts in man that God responds to OR is the initial act something that God works in man so that he responds to God?
Before we answer that, I want revisit a text briefly mentioned last week—Jer. 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil.” What’s the point? In order for the Ethiopian or leopard to have a different appearance, both would have to be something different. Likewise, in order for a dead sinner to trust in Christ and be kingdom bound, that sinner would have to become something different. At the beginning of John 3, Jesus teaches the necessity of receiving a new nature from the sovereign, gracious work of the Lord. That will be the only way one can respond properly to God and enter into his kingdom.