Gospel of St. JOHN
Chapter 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling
council. 2He
came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come
from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God
were not with him.”
3In
reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again.a”
4“How
can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a
second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus
answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit. 6Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritb
gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be
surprised at my saying, ‘Youc
must be born again.’ 8The
wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where
it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9“How
can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10“You
are Israel’s
teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
11I
tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have
seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you
of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak
of heavenly things? 13No
one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.d 14Just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted
up, 15that
everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.e
16“For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,f
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. 18Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.g 19This
is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil
hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will
be exposed. 21But
whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly
that what he has done has been done through God.”h
John the Baptist’s Testimony About Jesus
22After
this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he
spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was
baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people
were constantly coming to be baptized. 24(This was before John
was put in prison.) 25An
argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jewi
over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They came to John and
said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the
Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going
to him.”
27To
this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You
yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christj
but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to
the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for
him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine,
and it is now complete. 30He must become
greater; I must become less.
31“The
one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to
the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is
above all. 32He
testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33The
man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For
the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for Godk
gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the
Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in
the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for
God’s wrath remains on him.”
LUKE Chapter 23
EXAMPLE OF a man becoming saved IN SCRIPTURE
39One
of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ?
Save yourself and us!”
40But
the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are
under the same sentence? 41We are punished
justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done
nothing wrong.”
43Jesus
answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with
me in paradise.”
(notice the criminal didn’t
have time to get baptized or do any good deeds he simply repented in his heart
realizing he needed a savior to forgive his sin and by faith asked Jesus to remember
him – and if you do the same you can actually ask that man what it was like to
die next to the Son of God at one of the most important moments in history once you get to heaven, if you don't accept Jesus please remember you are condemned already and have no hope after death - I pray all who read this will choose life in Christ as this criminal did)
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