A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Sunday, August 17, 2025.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, select HERE.
Many of us are seasoned enough to remember the classic game show “To Tell the Truth”, a Goodson-Todman show that ran in four iterations from 1956 to 2022. For those who don’t know about this game, the premise of the show is where the host shares an interesting fact about three challenger contestants. All of them, upon their introduction, declares that they each have the same name of the central character among them. Only one of the three challengers is truthful, and the celebrity panelists have to determine, through question-and-answer sessions, who the person is that is telling the truth.1 Of course, the best games on television are those where the home viewers can play along. My lovely bride and I have caught a few episodes on BUZZR, and I’ll just speak for me, I didn’t guess the person telling the truth correctly very often. That’s what makes the game so interesting.
Who are the impostors, and who is telling the truth? And that’s life, isn’t it? Determining truth is not a game. It’s serious business. Not everyone who professes truth possesses truth. We have to use godly discernment in these matters.
Speaking of God, today’s message is focused on truth. We’re focusing on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the reason we’re doing this is that while it is always good to share the wisdom and knowledge of God throughout Scripture, it’s good to share the fundamental gospel—the Good News—of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We’re going to camp out in John Chapter 3 and focus on not just one truth pertaining to the gospel, but two truths that require equal attention for the person who desires to have fellowship with Jesus Christ.
These two truths are declarations in the Word of God and they are absolutes. My prayer is that everyone within the sound of my voice takes these truths and weighs them out for their own consumption in making a conclusion.
Before we go to John, consider the words of Solomon when he provides his final conclusion in Ecclesiastes after wrestling with wisdom and the meaning of life:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NLT
13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
Now, notice how Solomon is addressing not just those who know God or those who have varying degrees of a relationship with the Lord, but he’s speaking to every single person, including those that don’t know Jesus or who are sitting on the fence about a relationship. Whether you know the Lord or not, you are being given sound advice here in this passage.
Whether you know Jesus or don’t know Him, there will be a reckoning at some point in your future. There will be a judgment forthcoming for every person, whether you have a relationship with Jesus or not. Please keep this in mind as we move forward.
John 3:1-3 NIV
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
For today’s message, we’re going to visualize Nicodemus, in spite of his stature, as the everyday person who is curious about Jesus. It will be most helpful for this exercise. We know that Nicodemus is a leader of the Jewish ruling council, a Pharisee. He was very familiar with the Law (the Old Testament) and its inspiration. He was familiar with the prophetic messages of the Messiah. He knew about miracles and believed in the Resurrection. This dialogue between he and Jesus was met immediately with Jesus’s declaration that unless he was born again, he would not see the kingdom of God. This statement alone showed that, in spite of Nicodemus’s knowledge about God and the things of God, Jesus essentially told him that it was inadequate for the purpose of experiencing eternitywith God.
That had to be a little surprising to Nicodemus, to say the least. He decided to ask Jesus as to what it means to be born again.
John 3:4-8 NIV
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The 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.”
Notice that Jesus, knowing full well that he is talking to someone who should know more than the average Jew about the law, answers Nicodemus with what he means about this birth. To be born again is to not look at the physical act of birth, but rather the spiritual birth involving the presence of water and the Holy Spirit.
John 4:9-14 NIV
9 The Samaritan woman said to him (Jesus), “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Notice how even the Samaritan woman uses physical references of how water can satisfy one’s thirst, but Jesus shares the spiritual nature of His purpose on earth. Whether he is speaking to Nicodemus, a Jew, or the Samaritan woman, a Gentile, he’s telling them that by merely believing that Jesus is the living water will lead to eternal life in the kingdom of God.
John 7:37-39 NLT
37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
So, back to Nicodemus, where he was still unclear as to the meaning of Jesus’s words:
John 3:9-12 NIV
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
Now, in fairness to Nicodemus, he is still not connecting on this spiritual “born again” thing. He is much like the common man or woman of today as to who Jesus truly is and what he means to us. Many people look at church as being part of a religion or having a religious experience. I trust that you can see that Jesus wants us to be in a relationship with Him, and to not just have church or fellowship be wrapped up in a religious experience. If religion is all that you get out of this, you’re still a long way off from what Jesus desires for you. He is more than just an experience on Sunday morning. He is the bread of life (John 6:35). He is the living water (John 4:14). He is our Wonderful Counselor. He is our mighty God. He is our everlasting Father. He is our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). All of this is much more than just a religious experience. All of these descriptions of Jesus Christ should catapult your heart and mind from the physical world to the spiritual realm, especially when you recognize that he is the door to eternal life with Him.
John 10:9-10 CSB
9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
We should take this moment to declare that some of us have not accepted Jesus because of the thief, the liar that we know as Satan. His deceptive nature is a stumbling block for those who keep putting off their decision to live for Jesus because Satan works to make following Jesus look boring, unamusing or uninteresting. Well, anyone who has a life in Christ already knows that life is anything but boring. No matter what is happening, we can rely upon the presence of Jesus in all of our troubles as well as our triumphs.
Psalm 91:14-16 NLT
14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”
The Lord Jesus Christ keeps all of His promises (Psalm 12:6-7). He is faithful and true (Revelation 19:11).
Now, let’s get back to John Chapter 3 and make the case for the two truths that we will see throughout these verses:
John 3:13-18 NIV
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Notice how the focus in addressing Nicodemus’s questions shifts to a challenge to believe the words of Jesus and to have faith in what He is stating here. This was definitely a teaching session for Nicodemus, and for us, it is a teachable moment.
Jesus is clearly stating His mission that His Father had assigned to Him. He is the fulfillment of the Law that Nicodemus was fully aware of. He would soon be the one-time for all time sacrifice to cover the sins of the world. We need Jesus to be our remedy for sin because of who we are:
Galatians 5:19-21 ESV
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The last part of that passage are the same words that Jesus said to Nicodemus. Our sin and fleshliness fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). All that is necessary to receive eternal life is to be born again. Spiritually born again.
Truth no. 1 is best stated in the following passage:
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
That’s the gospel message for everyone.
Truth no. 2 comes directly from Jesus’s words in John:
John 3:18-19 NLT
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
These two truths, to believe or not to believe, must be reconciled in the head and the heart of a person. The holdup for some comes down to believing that God is who He says He is.
John 3:19-21 NIV
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Jesus, who sees everything in your life (El Roi, Genesis 16:13), is the ultimate judge over your life. He is ready to give you eternal life just by believing in Him and His work on the cross. He loves you in spite of your flaws. He still loves Israel in spite of their disobedience, but there will be judgment for those who reject Him.
These two truths stand on their own. If you believe only one and not both, it is insufficient. They both apply for everyone.
It is believed that Nicodemus did indeed believe in Jesus and His work on the cross. He recognized that the law merely pointed to his need for a Savior. He figured it out.
John 14:5-6 NIV
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you’re ready to believe in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, now it’s your turn.
Copyright © 2025 Melvin Gaines.
1 Wikimedia Foundation. (2025, August 10). To tell the truth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Tell_the_Truth
Melvin Gaines 