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Devotions from Gospel Chapel Ministries HOME SERMONS SERMON NOTES
THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN
"Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" JOH 3:9-10.
After Jesus told Nicodemus the most vital thing of salvation which is through the new birth, he answered Jesus as we see in JOH 3:9-10, "...How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" Nicodemus was one of those spoken of in JOH 2:23-24, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name [I want you to notice, they believed in the name of Jesus!], when they saw the miracles which he did."
Remember what the Apostle Paul told the jailer who asked what he had to do to be saved: "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," ACT 16:31. Many people want to take that out of its context and preach that all you have to do is believe and you will be saved. Yet in MAT 7:22-23, and JOH 2:23-25 we read about the many who believed, and yet they were damned. So how do we sort this out?
First, the jailer had become a penitent sinner; he had come to a change of mind. He was no longer a hard master over his prisoners; now he is kneeling before them asking what he must do.
The Pharisees believed with their intellect; they intellectually understood and realized what Jesus said was true; they believed the truth of it. They believed he was the Messiah, but there was no repentance. Nicodemus was one of them. "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man," JOH 2:24-25. Jesus knew what was in their hearts; He knew there wasn't any washing of regeneration, repentance, or change of attitude. They still had a spurious faith; it was not a saving faith or a renewal of the heart.
Nicodemus illustrates the faith of the carnal Christian. The world is full of carnal Christians today. They all claim to be children of God; they believe; they are joyous for they are going to heaven. However, they have never known the washing of regeneration.
The Apostle Paul told them in 1CO 3:3, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" They are carnal Christians, i.e., unregenerate. If you take the word carnal into the original, it means unregenerate. The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is not present. Nicodemus had a faith without repentance, without "...the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," TIT 3:5.
The carnal Christians are the many; the multitude Jesus speaks of in MAT 7:22, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" His answer is in the next verse, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity," MAT 7:23.
Why? They work iniquity--they have not been cleansed; they are like the sow wallowing in the mud or a dog that returns to his own vomit, cf., 2PE 2:20-22. They have not been cleansed by the washing of regeneration.
At this point in time, Nicodemus is an example of the faith of the carnal Christian. He had faith without repentance. With his mind he accepted to some extent the truth of Christ, but his heart was still unregenerate. Look at JOH 3:2, "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." He was convinced Jesus was a man sent from God; he believed in the authority with which Christ spoke.
Jesus rebuked Nicodemus for his ignorance of the Spirit's work of grace in the heart. Jesus referred to such legalism in 2TI 3:5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." What does it mean to have a form of Godliness, yet denying its power? The power of the work of regeneration has the cleansing effect, and that is what they lack.
Now go back and read verses 1, 2, 3, and 4. Those verses speak of the unregenerate state of mind. They have a form of Godliness--they are members of a church, they attend, they sing alleluias and rejoice, but they deny the power. What power? It is the power of the Word that has the cleansing effect. That is the part they deny. They refuse to acknowledge their sins and repent. To many people it is enough to say they are sinners (everyone is) in a general manner. They believe the blood of Jesus takes care of everything. Therefore, they are home free because they have accepted Him, but there is no true repentance.
Now what should we do? Should we join in singing those songs and continue with the merry crowd? The Word of God says, "From such turn away," 2TI 3:5. We are not to keep company with them.
Nicodemus' ignorance as a ruler in Israel was inexcusable; the same gospel teaching of our need to be washed with the water of the Word was taught in the Old Testament. If Nicodemus was a leader of his people, ruling the church, the authority in the Word like a Doctor of Divinity today, then he should have read the Word. He should have searched and understood "these things." That is why the Lord Jesus rebuked Nicodemus. He should have known; it was inexcusable in his position not to know.
EZE 36:25-27 is Old Testament gospel which says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." That is the Old Testament gospel; it is the same message as we just read out of Titus. It is the work of regeneration.
Jesus admonished Nicodemus by telling him that he should have known these things. JOH 3:10 says, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" In other words, Nicodemus, you are the Doctor of Divinity; you are the one who has been entrusted with teaching the congregation of the Lord, "and knowest not these things?"
The Old Testament clearly taught the way of salvation. The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2TI 3:15, "And that from a child [which was before the New Testament was written] thou hast known the holy scriptures [which was the Old Testament], which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Do you see how the Old Testament gospel taught the same work of regeneration, the same need of cleansing of the Word.
Jesus was not announcing a new way of salvation, distinct from Old testament redemption. Nicodemus as a teacher in Israel should have been familiar with ISA 1:16-18, and as you read these verses notice the call for repentance and the washing of the water by the Word. "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Don't those verses call for a change of attitude, a complete wash job on the inside, and the cleansing of the work of regeneration? Continue reading; verses 19-20 say, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."
Doesn't the Word call for doing God's will? Then imagine the Creator of heaven and earth condescending so far that He comes down to you and I and saying, "Come now, and let us reason together." Isn't it reasonable that He tells us to put away our iniquity, cleanse our doings, wash and make ourselves clean, and put away our evil deeds? He tells us He will forgive and wash us as white as snow if we will just change our attitudes and ways. Does that mean we may continue in sin that grace may abound? Oh, no! No! a thousand times no! Look again; if we will clean up our attitude and actions, THEN He will wash us white as snow even though our sins be as scarlet. In other words, He will cleanse us before His throne of judgment. There is a reward for those who obey and certain punishment for those who refuse to obey. Amen.
Pass me not, O gentle Savior
Hear my humble cry!
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Let me at a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.
Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.
Thou the spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me!
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heaven but Thee?
~Author: Fanny J. Crosby, 1868
Our sermons and devotions are a ministry of Gospel Chapel located in Conrad, Montana. We also have a daily devotion and sermon notes on-line. We pray this devotion has been a blessing to those who read it. Thank you.