19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Another reason people are judged or condemned (same Greek word) and do not see their way to salvation is that they love darkness. They love their sin more than they love life. When we are in sin, and we enjoy it, we have a hard time seeing the light or desiring the light because we are blinded by our sin. The truth is, men want to continue undisturbed in their evil. Darkness is a metaphor that John uses over and over to describe life outside of Christ. People who are blinded by sin, like Nicodemus, live in spiritual darkness. Those who are blind do not know the difference between darkness and light. They need, like Paul, to have the scales fall from their eyes. When we were in Minneapolis doing street evangelism, I noticed that not many people were entering the adult bookstore while we were there. I was encouraged that our preaching may have slowed down business for the evening! It was then explained to me that all of these businesses have a back door where people can enter and exit without being seen or identified. We are in darkness because of our sin, and we do all we can to stay in that darkness. Since these folks entered through the back door, not desiring to be identified, it is obvious they do not want their deeds exposed. This is also why we get such rancor from the crowds who are listening to our preaching, for they do not want to hear about sin, because they love their sin! They do not want their deeds exposed. It is the idol in their life. They hate the light, and cower back into the darkness.
Deeds done in darkness are those deeds that bring us shame. Men that love pornography hide in their rooms behind closed doors because they are ashamed of what they are doing. People who like to party and get drunk or high do so at night. They do so with others who enjoy the same things they do, for they will not be judged. I have been a non-drinking observer at parties, and on the golf course. It is fascinating how much not drinking truly bothers those that do. They try to convince you to join them. In particular, Christians are continually called upon to compromise so that people will feel more comfortable in their sin. People want to have approval of other people, especially those seen as morally upright. This is truly the problem with modern-day preaching. Shame has disappeared, preachers have become sterile in their approach to sin, and they have dimmed the light in their churches so that they can get rear ends in the chairs. If we shined the light of the Word of God in our churches, one of two things would happen; people will repent and get saved or they will run away and find a church where their sin is approved of, or just avoid church altogether.
It is amazing the extent to which people will go to protect their sin. They do not seem to want to be saved from it. But, if you love the darkness, and you feel comfortable there, you will do just about anything to justify it. The worst thing a Christian can do is what Tony Jones and a host of other ‘compassionate christians’ are doing is to protect people by preaching a different gospel, either telling them that you can live in sin and be a Christian. Tony Jones and a host of other emergent authors and speakers have come out recently in support of Obama despite his stand on abortion. They have also come out and said that lifestyle sins are not sins at all, that God accepts those who live in them. These same people who love their pet sin so much that they change the very word of God to justify it. An amazing example is the new Voice translation of the Bible, just coming out this year. They have substituted the word ‘homosexuality’ with the phrase ‘sexual deviancy’ in 1 Corinthians 6:10. The problem? The definition for sexual deviancy always is changing. Homosexuality used to be defined as sexual deviancy, now it no longer is. It is seen more and more today as normal, as a genetic reality that people cannot change. People who love the sin of fornication say that there is no restriction in the Bible for anything outside of intercourse. They justify their sexual activity, whatever it is, by saying there is no specific restriction of it. Jesus was very clear: Whoever looks with lust (sexual desire) is guilty of adultery. If we look with lust, we break God’s law. The due penalty is that we will be found guilty, even if we never commit the act. People hate to hear that, I know I did.
What is worse is those who will create an idol of God to protect their pet sin. The most common phrase I hear in this way is that God is all forgiving. He will forgive me if I just ask for forgiveness. This is not what the scripture says. This God that is all forgiving in the absence or wrath and judgment is a false God. The other end is that we can also do something to appease God when we have sinned. In other words, there are many who try to do good works as a way of bribing God to not look at their sin, or to bring the scales back into balance. This is also a false belief about God; for if God will accept a bribe then he is a corrupt judge. Another falsehood preached to lost sinners is that all they must do is accept Christ into their lives and He will take care of their issues (not sins). A major teaching that is left out of the Gospels and epistles today is the word repentance. Repentance involves confession; that is to agree with God that what His Word says about you is true. This is to say that you are dead in your specific sins and trespasses. That above all, you are wretched with no hope. Repentance also involves turning, turning the opposite direction from the way in which you are walking (towards your sin, away from God) towards God.
As was mentioned last week, this was the example of the Israelites in the wilderness. Their confession, indeed their repentance was not enough. They needed to look unto the serpent that Moses lifted up. We must repent and look to the Savior that God has lifted up, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the good news: God has provided a way of escape by which we can have all of our sins forgiven. It is by believing in God’s remedy. There is not other remedy; we must look to Jesus Christ as our sin bearer. God will neither look by sin, nor will He be bribed. Sin must be paid for because God is a just God. This is what God did; he made Jesus Christ to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. In other words, Jesus Christ paid the penalty (death) on our behalf. What made it effective for all who will believe is that God placed all sins on Christ, then poured out his wrath on Jesus. By being fully man, Jesus Christ could suffer, bleed, and die. By being fully God, his payment could be effective for all mankind. The good news is the same as the bad news: there is no other way. You must place your trust in that sin bearer.
Why do people stay away from the light? Why do they hate when preachers preach about sin and righteousness and judgment? Why do the dislike reading the Bible? Because they hate the light, because it exposes them for whom they really are. But this is not limited to those who do bad deeds. Nicodemus’ sin was self-righteous pride. This blinded him to the simple truth of salvation found in Christ, indeed, it blinded him to the scriptural truth that he had. He had a hard time understanding the light, but at least he was walking towards it. Spurgeon’s sin was the same; he was caught in the trap of religion and of birthright, being born in a godly home, and trusting that for his salvation. How many of us wear the term Christian on our sleeve, and trust in our heritage, our knowledge, and our religion, even the country we live in for our salvation. It is my own testimony; for I was raised in what would be considered a god-fearing home. I attended church, I was baptized, confirmed. For the most part, I was a moral person. It was only when the light of the law was turned on that I realized that I was a sinner, and that there was nothing that I could do to please God or bribe my way into heaven that I was able to understand my personal need for a savior. I was walking in the darkness, I needed to be brought into the light. The only way I could do this was by being born from above. I needed to look to Jesus! When I did, Christ saved me. Hallelujah! There is hope for all of us in this next verse:
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
What is true? Sincerity in action, character, and in what we say. We do what is true when we act in accordance to the reality of Christ in us. When we have honestly responded to the revelation that God has given us, and we respond to His seeking of us by responding in repentance and faith. When we look at creation, we acknowledge there is a creator that is obviously greater than us. When we look at God’s Word, the Bible, we see the standards God has, but also the means of salvation that He has provided for us. In the Word, we see Christ, and we place our faith and trust in Him. If we honestly and with an open heart respond to and put into practice the revelation God has placed before us, we will come to the light. Nicodemus, Spurgeon, and even my own testimony bear this out. We were all three drawn by Jesus Christ. We welcomed his good news. Though the light exposed us for who we were, we responded to the light by repentance and faith. Now, we live by the truth. We live differently because of who Jesus is in us. Nicodemus was a secret follower of Christ, but stood up on Jesus’ behalf before the Sanhedrin and came alongside Joseph of Arimathea to bury Jesus. Jesus Changed Nicodemus! Spurgeon, despite his parents’ faith, and yet with their blessing, was baptized and began 42 years of Gospel ministry at the age of 15 that only ended in his death. His life was one that was brought out of the darkness of sin and despair into the light by simple repentance and faith; Jesus changed Spurgeon! And, as I testified earlier, Jesus changed me, and is still changing me. He is growing me in holiness every day.
When we are saved, we are regenerated, our lives are changed, we live differently than we did in our former lives of darkness. When you come to Jesus, your lives are new, and should be shaped by Jesus and His Word. The Holy Spirit, working in our lives, gives us new power, new goals, and new interests. One of those new interests is the desire to see people saved, therefore we have a desire to share the good news with others. In our new lives, our works that we do for Christ are sanctified and identified as works that are carried out in God. Indeed, when we come to Christ that is the only time that we actually do works that are seen as good by God; in our flesh all of our good works are filthy rags in God’s sight. We don’t mind the light, in fact, we enjoy walking in the light. We enjoy being with other believers. We love the things we used to hate and hate the things we used to love. When we step into the darkness, we feel uncomfortable; and we also bring light there, which makes those in the dark feel very uncomfortable!
The result of being light carriers is that people who are in the darkness will hate you. This includes other Christians. There are those who call themselves Christians who love the dark more than they love the light. They want to live like Hell six days a week and believe they are in God’s grace because they attend church on Sunday. Of course, there are those who live very good lives, marked with very good works, and they are very religious, but they hate the truth that you are not justified by good works, rather, you must be born again. These ‘Nicodemites’ are blinded to the light like Nicodemus was. And they will hate you because they are very comfortable with their works and their religion. One sign that a person is a Christian is that they will love other believers. When your light shines, and the reaction is love, you are in fellowship with another true believer. That is why weekly assembling of ourselves together is so important; we are battling darkness and hatred all week long if we are allowing our lights to shine and we need the building up and equipping and fellowship that church provides.
My challenge is this as we close this very important passage: Have you been born again? There are many ways in which one can tell. Has there been a time in your life when you have repented of your sin, agreeing with God that you are pursuing a life of darkness, and turning from that life of darkness you have responded by faith to God’s remedy; the suffering death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ on your behalf? You can know that you have been born from above by some very simple, yet important self-examination. Are you growing in holiness? Do you love what you used to hate, and hate what you used to love? Do you love the Word of God, the Bible? Do you pray daily? Do you find it easy or a burden to live in obedience to God’s will? Do you love and desire to fellowship with, other believers? Do you share your faith? Are you walking in the light? I am not talking about works; I am talking about the natural development of one who has been born of God. The first step of this journey of sanctification is being born from above. These are just family traits that distinguish whose family you are in! I pray that you have responded to the drawing of God to look to Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation, and that you are growing to be more like Him every day. May God grow you more and more into the image of Jesus Christ today and this week.
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