#141 - Joby Martin // Salvation: Received, Not Achieved

Jesus reveals to Nicodemus that salvation is received through faith, not achieved through works, using the Old Testament bronze serpent as a powerful illustration of his coming sacrifice on the cross. The conversation exposes how our sin problem is internal, requiring transformation from the inside out rather than external religious performance.

• Jesus explains to Nicodemus that salvation comes through being born again
• Nicodemus, despite being a religious teacher, doesn't understand spiritual rebirth
• Jesus uses the story of Moses and the bronze serpent from Numbers 21 to illustrate salvation
• Like the snake-bitten Israelites who had poison in their veins, humanity has sin running through us
• The bronze serpent represents Jesus being lifted up on the cross
• Healing comes by looking to Jesus rather than through our own efforts
• Salvation cures us from the inside out, not just external behavior
• Jesus fulfills the Old Testament patterns and prophecies
• Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – Christ became sin so we could become righteous

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Chapters

• 0:01 Welcome to The Daily Blade
• 0:20 Nicodemus's Confusion About Salvation
• 1:27 Moses's Bronze Serpent Illustration
• 3:28 Jesus as the Greater Fulfillment
• 5:43 Call to Share the Podcast

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:20

All right, welcome back Day three of our deep dive in John, chapter three. So far, what we've covered is that Nicodemus shows up at night and he's completely confused about the nature of salvation and he's asking Jesus about what he's teaching and it just goes right over his head. I mean he says you know, jesus, you must be a rabbi because nobody could do the things that you do unless they were from God. And immediately Nicodemus doesn't even ask a question and Jesus just gives an answer. He's like, truly, but unless you're born again, then you can't be saved. And he very clearly explains that salvation is received, it's not achieved. And I think it goes straight over Nicodemus' head. And then Jesus, being the master teacher, is going to use a couple of rabbinical traditions, to take something that Nicodemus is very, very, very familiar with, which is the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, and he's going to show Nicodemus Jesus, is going to show Nicodemus where Jesus is in the Old Testament. This is why, by the way, we do not unhitch from the Old Testament, because Jesus did not unhitch from the Old Testament. So we'll pick it up in verse nine.

Speaker 2: 1:31

And Nicodemus said to him how can these things be? And Jesus answered him are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things. Truly, truly, I say to you we speak of what we know. Now, who's the we here? Well, that's the triune God, god the Father, god the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen. But you do not receive our testimony If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe. How can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man. Now, now, here's the biblical illustration that Jesus is going to give. That's going to help Nicodemus connect the dots. He says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Speaker 2: 2:21

Now again, like I said yesterday, nicodemus has memorized the entire Old Testament. He knows Numbers 21. He knows the biblical account that Moses has led the people of God out of Egypt across dry ground, across the Red Sea. They are wandering in the wilderness and they are grumbling and complaining because, you know, church people were different back then. And so God allows venomous snakes to inhabit the camp of Moses and the Israelites and the people wake up in the morning and they are snake bitten and they have poisonous venom running through their veins. And so they come running to Moses and say, hey, man, we got a problem. We got poisonous snakes in the camp and we have have been snake bitten and there is a problem.

Speaker 2: 3:05

Now here is the picture of our current situation. You and I have poison running through our veins that you and I are by nature and nurture. We're not bad people that need to be better. We are wretched, crooked and depraved, black-hearted sinners, and it's an internal issue. And so Moses did not tell them. What you need to go do is go wash the outside, because if you have poison running through your veins, what good is it going to do if you clean up the outside?

Speaker 2: 3:32

By the way, this is what Jesus said about the Pharisees. He says you're like whitewashed tombs. All you do is clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is still dirty. But what Jesus has come to do is he has come to clean us from the inside out. So God tells Moses to take a bronze serpent, which represented a venomous or poisonous snake, put it on a stick and lift it up. And whoever looks to the bronze serpent, whoever looks to the poisonous snake up on the stick, they will be cured for the inside out.

Speaker 2: 4:04

Jesus is saying you remember that, nick? And Nick's like yep, I totally remember that from Sunday school. And Jesus is saying that's me. I came to do for you what you could not do for yourself. You were born into sin. I am going to become sin, that you can have my righteousness, and all you do is simply not look to yourself, not clean yourself up. All you do is simply not look to yourself, not clean yourself up. All you do is simply look to me. You don't work to earn my approval. You simply look to me and believe on me on the cross.

Speaker 2: 4:37

The way that Paul is going to say it in 2 Corinthians 5.21 is this that God made him, who was without sin, to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God.

Speaker 2: 4:48

And so what Jesus is doing here is he's taking that Old Testament event and he's showing Nicodemus how Jesus is the greater fulfillment of that actual event that actually happened. So he's saying, nicodemus, it's not about what you do. You have been snakebitten and your problem is that you've got dead blood running through you and it's going to kill you. So what you need is you need new blood, you need my blood. So when I am high and lifted up on the cross, then you look to me and all who look to the son of man on the cross for salvation will be saved, like the Israelites who were snakebitten, who looked to the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up. That's what he is saying. He's saying, nicodemus, I am not simply here to teach you things about God. I am God, the second person of the Trinity, and I have come to make payment for your sin. Amen.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.