Faith alone pleases the Father. Whomever believes in Jesus will be saved.
Without faith in Him and the salvation that He offers us we have nothing. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and releases into our life the overpowering strength and protection that comes with Holy Spirit within.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the only light in a world of darkness.
1 John 4:7–12 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
Paul used the Greek word paraklésis when he described the Father as the "God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3,). Paraklésis conveys the idea of God coming alongside His children to console and encourage us in our afflictions. Also, the English word "comfort" is derived from a Latin root word, fortis, meaning "strength and bravery." Paul painted a beautiful picture of the " God of all comfort" as the ultimate source of consolation, encouragement and strength in our times of suffering.Paul himself experienced the comfort and strength of God in every situation. As a result, Paul confidently promised that God will comfort us in all our affliction.
Though our Lord exists as three Persons in one God, the Bible distinguishes the work done by each member of the Trinity. For example, in the work of salvation, the Father ordains and sends, the Son is sent to redeem, and the Holy Spirit seals and sanctifies (Ephesians 1:3-14).
At the same time, all three Persons of God are united as one: How incredible that the Father is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), His Son is the messianic comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. By God's amazing grace, He has deemed the comforting of His people a high priority. First5
A person can be religious and yet lost. Attending church won’t make you God’s child. You must accept his offer. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1st Peter 3:18).
It makes no sense to seek your God-given strength until you trust in his. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11 MSG). Max Lucado
John 3:11–17
11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The New King James Version
Jesus is alluding to His heavenly origin. Since He comes from heaven, He is qualified to speak authoritatively about heavenly things. The implication is that no one has both ascended to heaven to receive divine revelation and descended to earth to give an account of that revelation in the same way that Jesus has as the incarnate Word of God. The Son of man be lifted up alludes to both the crucifixion and the exaltation of Jesus in His death and resurrection. The content of this short discourse reflects themes typical to John such as the opposition of light and darkness.
For God so loved the world (3:16) presents a concise summary of the gospel message, tying the events of Jesus’ death to God’s love for the world He created. The statement is remarkable in its depiction of divine care for the entire world—not just His chosen people, Israel.
The Greek term one and only Son used here is monogenēs, meaning “one of a kind.” Conversely, the Nicene Creed used this term to assert Jesus’ inherent relationship to the Father: that as the eternal Son He is “begotten [gennēthenta], not made” by the Father.
John prefers to refer to Jesus as the “Son” and God as the “Father”. Jesus’ reflection and representation of the Father is complete. As one sent by God, Jesus fully represented Him on earth.
Rejection of Jesus results in condemnation.
The new testament ultimately roots all salvation in faith in Christ. There is no other way to achieve right standing with God. Faithlife Study Bible
Jesus had others in mind beyond Nicodemus. Here Jesus rebuked not only Nicodemus, but the other Pharisees as well.
Earthly things refers to things that occur on earth, like the new birth, the wind, and perhaps miracles. Heavenly things refers to events like Christ’s ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus may have believed in Jesus’ miracles the majority of the Jewish council did not. Nicodemus, referring to the new birth, asks, “How can these things be?” Here Jesus answers the question. New birth is by the Son, by the Cross, and by faith.
Every time the words lifted up occur in the Gospel of John there is a reference to Jesus’ death. When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:9), those who looked at it lived. So it is with the Son of Man.
When a person trusts Christ, he or she is born again and receives eternal and spiritual life, God’s kind of life.
God so loved the world: God’s love is not restricted to any one nation or to any spiritual elite. World here may also include all of creation. At His first coming, Jesus came so that the world through Him might be saved. When Jesus comes again, He will come in judgment upon those who refused His offer of salvation.
To believe is to receive life and avoid judgment. A person who does not believe not only misses life, but is condemned already. The NKJV Study Bible
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
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