3 Kinds of Sinners

~ The Same Remedy for Religious, Moral, & Physical Wrecks ~

One of the great messages of the Good News of Jesus Christ is that His death, burial, and resurrection paid for all varieties of sin by all kinds of people.  We see this illustrated in three successive chapters of the Gospel of John.  (Be sure and check out the comparison of these three sinners at the bottom of this post.)

A Man Full of Religion  ~  “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’  Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’  Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?’  Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’  Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish bu have eternal life.  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.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  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.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.’” (John 3:1-21). 

A Woman Who Knew She Was Full of Sin  ~  “Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John  (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, “Give Me a drink,’” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’  The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?  Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’  Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’  The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’  The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’  Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, “I have no husband,”  for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’  The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’  The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’  Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’ (John 4:1-26).

A Man Full of Physical Misery ~  “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’  The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.’  He answered them, ‘He who made me well said to me, “Take up your bed and walk.”’  Then they asked him, ‘Who is the Man who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk”?’  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well”  (John 5:1-15). 

A Comparison of These 3 Sinners  ~ The table below provides an illustration how the blood of Christ is sufficient for all kinds of people and all kinds of sin!

John 3:1-21	John 4: 1-26	John 5: 1-15
A man	A woman	A man
Full of religion	Full of sin	Full of misery
Came to the Savior	Met the Son of God	Transformed when the Lord touched him
A religious wreck	A moral wreck	A physical wreck
He met a Rabbi	She met her Messiah	He met the Great Physician
Nicodemus	Woman of Samaria	Man at the Pool of Bethsaida
Named Nicodemus	Unnamed woman	Unnamed man
Received a new birth	Received a new life	Received a new mobility
Man of high rank	Woman of low rank
Favored Jew	Despised Samaritan
High reputation	Low lifestyle
He sought Christ out by night	Christ spoke to her at mid-day

additional note:  Water was involved in all three instances.  When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be “born again” water was implied in the birth imagery.  The woman was at the well and the unnamed man at the Pool of Bethsaida.  Jesus, the Messiah, said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

3 Types of Sinners

~ 3 Categories of Sinners in One Chapter ~ 

Those who are immoral, those who live to a high a moral standard, and those who are proud are all sinners according to Jesus Christ in John 8.   

Immoral & Despised Sinners  ~  “But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.

“But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’

“And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’

“She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more’ (John 8:1-11). 

Moral & Respected Sinners  ~  “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ‘You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.’

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.’

“Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.’ These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. Then Jesus said to them again, ‘I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.’

“So the Jews said, ‘Will He kill Himself, because He says, “Where I go you cannot come”?’ And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.’

“They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’

“As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed’” (John 8:12-31).   

Proud & Blind Sinners  ~  “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.’

“They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father — God.’

Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God’” (John 8:31-47).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Santa Claus vs. Jesus Christ, 3

~ Take Note of 3 Critically Important Differences ~

Giving Difference  ~  Carefully consider the difference in the giving of gifts. 

santa claus:  Gives conditionally—you better be good all year long to receive a present from him. 

Jesus Christ:  Gives unconditionally—regardless of whether you have been “naughty or nice” His blessings and the gift of salvation are available to you—but you have to intentionally accept His gift.  It is all by grace (receiving something good which you don’t deserve). 

Seasonal Difference  ~  How do the seasons compare?

santa claus:  Have you ever seen Santa Claus ho-ho-ho-ing around Valentine’s Day?  Other than Christmas, he will feel so out of place the entire rest of the year. 

Jesus Christ:  Whatever season the year brings, He fits perfectly anytime, anywhere.  He is available to non-Christians for salvation year round.  He is always with Christians.

Genuineness Difference  ~  Consider the difference of their existence.

santa claus:  He is fantasy… a fictional character. 

Jesus Christ:  He is real!  There is far more evidence of His life on earth and the things He said and did than for any other historical character (of more than a few hundred years ago).

True of Counterfeit? ~ Scripture does tell us that Satan not only moves around as a “roaring lion.”  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.  Amen” (1 Peter 5:8-11).

It is vitally important to realize that Satan also uses many deceitful tactics—including appearing as “an angel of light.”  “But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no wonder!  For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).

Only Jesus Christ is the true light of the world.  “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

Thought To Think About  ~  In our world today there are many militant anti-Jewish and anti-Christian groups.  Have you ever heard of any wide-spread anti Santa Claus groups (or tooth fairy, Easter bunny).  The reason they don’t exist is they know those are fictional characters.  Jesus Christ is attacked because He is real—and to admit He is real has consequences!

Conclusion  ~  I’d rather celebrate Jesus Christ this CHRISTmas season because it just makes so much sense when it’s all about Him.

additional note  ~  If you appreciated this post you might like previous posts entitled “Santa Claus vs. Jesus Christ” (December 24, 2015) and “Santa Claus vs. Jesus Christ, 2” (December 25, 2016).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .