On Sunday morning we considered the famous account from John 3 where Nicodemus visits Jesus at night. In the dialogue, Jesus explains how eternal life comes about. The truths that come out of the passage are helpful as we think about our own evangelism.
Firstly, new birth is absolutely necessary if anyone is to enjoy eternal life and only the work of the Holy Spirit can give this new life. To have eternal life a complete transformation is needed. This cannot be brought about by better ourselves, reading self-help books or learning from past mistakes. The Spirit must bring about spiritual life.
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
Second, Nicodemus’ biggest problem was not intellectual but that he would not believe. He could not (at this stage) accept that he needed the Spirit to work in him. Why don’t people trust Jesus? They “loved darkness instead of the light”.
Putting these to points together should motivate us to pray. We cannot change our friends and family. They cannot change themselves. We must plead that God would send his Spirit and convict them. We plead, yet with expectancy. If the Spirit works, who can resist him! This should give us hope for the hardest of hearts.
Thirdly, v18 shows us the two eternal destinies. Those who believe in Christ’s work on the cross cannot be condemned – Christ has paid everything. Those who don’t believe face condemnation. We trust that God will put many people across our paths this week – every one of them is heading for one of these eternities. Let’s keep this in the forefront of our minds and pray that God would grant us opportunities to share something of the wonderful hope found only in Christ.