LISTEN TO JESUS: OUTWARD COMMITMENT RESULTS IN INWARD CHANGE

LISTEN TO JESUS

OUTWARD COMMITMENT

RESULTS IN INWARD CHANGE

John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Susie: Old Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. Even though he now knows it is not a second physical birth, he still cannot figure out how this new birth transpires. 

Susan: Where he goes wrong is trying to reason everything out. It is all an intellectual process for him.

Susie: He is not using eyes of faith. Of course, I guess we should cut Nick some slack since Jesus had not yet died and been resurrected.

Susan: Also, his wheelhouse is dissecting the Law for proper interpretation, . . .

Susie: . . . but he misses the core of the Law which is love for God and people. The Pharisees sat in judgment upon the people but did nothing to lift them up.

Luke 11:46 (NIV) Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Susan: Nicodemus was a teacher of teachers. He was like a tenured seminary professor, a master teacher.

Susie: He was a respected authority among the Jews. The Pharisees were so focused on the external obedience they could not see the need for inward transformation. 

Susan: If you do not know the reason for the ritual, it is of no effect. The rituals of the Jews should have been an act of obedience based on their relationship to God, not an occasion to say, “I’m holier than you.” 

Susie: I am reminded of a song that was instrumental in my realizing I was a “good girl” but did not know Jesus at all. The lyric was “Empty eyes stare from empty sockets; frozen lips form frozen words. Masks that hide faceless people, acting roles with lines unheard. Row on row we march in order, mouthing hymns and reading prayers.” Pharisees demonstrated all the outward appearance of serving the Lord but needed an operation of the heart that only the Holy Spirit could perform. The Apostle Paul explained this quite well:

Romans 2:29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     Has God revealed a need for inward change in your own life?

·     Have you been checking off all the expected boxes for “Christian” behavior rather than submitting to having the Holy Spirit change your heart?

·     Remember what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments and the fact that one can only truly keep them when one is “born again”:

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.