Can Religion Save You?

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Introduction

Can Religion Save You? I grew up in church. I went to Sunday School and can still remember some of my teachers in children’s church. I have fond memories of church growing up, for the most part.

I love church, even today. I believe in it. I believe that God has gifted his church in such a special way that it is a light in a very dark world. And as much as I love the church, I come away with a big question at the end of the day. Can going to church save you? Is it enough to just be familiar with God, without knowing Him? I don’t think so…

So my Main Point today is this…

Religion Kills, But Jesus Saves

Today is Palm Sunday. As we approach Good Friday this week, I can’t help but think that some of the same people who were shouting Hosanna on Sunday, would be the same one’s shouting “Crucify Him” by the end of the week.

The religious leaders had worked over the crowd. They were relentless. Jesus was a threat to them and so they had to kill him. They needed the crowd to turn on him. And turn on him they did. Give us Barrabas they shouted! Barrabas was the first person that was saved by Jesus death. Jesus died in the place of Barrabas. Barrabas was supposed to be crucified that day, but he was set free and Jesus died in his place.

But before all of this, there were many signs that Jesus and Religion were at war with one another. From the time he started preaching and teaching in the synagogues, Jesus had made many enemies with the religious leaders of his day.

But not every religious leader was against him. Some were sympathetic towards him. And one religious man, who likely heard him speaking in the temple, had to hear more. He came to visit Jesus at night. He needed privacy. He might have been scared to be seen in public with him. But he came to him. Seeking. Wanting to know. His name was Nicodemus and today we are going to look at his story.

Turn with me to John chapter 3. Hear now the very words of God.

John 3:1–18 ESV

Now 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 him, “Truly, truly, 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, “Truly, truly, 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 its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, 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 he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And 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. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This is a powerful passage, and today I want to start by asking the question…

Who was Nicodemus?

His full name was likely Nicodemus ben Gorion.

He was a famous man, having his name mentioned by Josephus, who was likely his brother, in his history accounts of that time period.

He was a wealthy man. Nicodemus, from several accounts, was one of the three wealthiest men in Jerusalem, if not the wealthiest. His family had extensive land holdings in the area and supplied water to Jerusalem for the festivals.

He was a Pharisee. Pharisees were a sect of Judaism that were legalistic in their tendencies, tithing even down to the spices in their spice rack. But they were also the more spirit-believing group, believing in a resurrection from the dead, whereas other groups in Judaism did not.

He was a ruler. It says that he was a ruler, which means he was part of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the supreme court of their day. They ruled over the people of Israel and we ultimately responsible for the death of Jesus.

He was the rich, young ruler. Many believe that Nicodemus was the man in Mark 10 who chased after Jesus and asked him how to inherit eternal life. Jesus loved him and essentially tells him after he boasts of keeping the law, that he needs to sell everything and come and follow him. The Bible tells us he went away sad for he had great possessions. This certainly fits the description of Nicodemus, who was a very wealthy man and a ruler as part of the Sanhedrin.

What Do We Learn from Nicodemus?

Being Rich Won’t Save You

Nicodemus had money. He was certainly wealthy, yet that wealth won’t save you. You cannot get into heaven based on what you have in this life. Your possessions will not save you. They cannot. You cannot take them with you.

Proverbs 11:4 NIV

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

It’s a debt you cannot pay. Our sins are a debt that we could never cancel out. When we get to heaven, if there was a scale in order for you to enter in, there’s not enough good works to cancel out your sin. This debt is too big for you. You won’t offset it. Your only hope is for someone to pay it for you.

Being Famous Won’t Save You

Nicodemus was well known. He had status. He had it all in one sense. But status and popularity will not save you. There are many people who believe that they will be saved or that they are living a good life based on the successes of man.

When you reach the end of your life…

God won’t ask you if you had a million followers on social media.

God won’t ask if you ran a successful business.

God won’t ask if everyone in town thought well of you.

God won’t ask if you were the most popular guy in your class.

God won’t ask if you were voted most popular.

God will ask if you are known by His Son.

Many people today are chasing popularity thinking that if they are known by men they will be safe. But the truth is…it’s better to be known by God than to be known by men.

Power won’t save you either. Nicodemus was a ruler, yet when it came to the kingdom, he couldn’t understand even the basic things. “How Can these things be?” he asks. It doesn’t matter if you are a judge, a senator or a president, you’re status or power cannot save you.

Being Religious Won’t Save You

Nicodemus had the pedigree. He would have been the guy you looked at and thought, that guy is definitely going to heaven.

He had kept the law. Pharisees prided themselves on keeping the law. If he was indeed the rich young ruler, he most likely did keep the law in some form or fashion, albeit not perfectly as Jesus makes plain in the sermon on the mount.

Nicodemus was a bible teacher. He knew the word. As a Pharisee, he would have likely memorized the first five books of the Bible by the age of 10 years old. He spent his life in the word.

Knowing the word is not the same as knowing Him! Too often we are tempted to think that church is all about getting head knowledge about Jesus. You can know all about President Joe Biden, but that won’t get you into the White House!

Nicodemus was blind. He starts the conversation with “We know (see) that you are a teach from God…” He’s speaking for the council or the sympathetic members of the council. Jesus answers, unless you are born again, you can’t see…In other words, Nicodemus isn’t born again and he thinks he’s seeing something that he can’t see or even hope to understand.

Going to church won’t save you. Many of us grew up in church, that will not save you. It might increase your odds, but salvation doesn’t come through osmosis, it comes from being born again. Now, if you are born again, you will attend church. You will love the bride of Christ, because you love the bridegroom.

RELIGION KILLS, BUT JESUS SAVES.

What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?

This is not another physical birth. Nicodemus asks if this means entering again into your mother’s womb. Being born again is a spiritual birth. It’s being born of the Spirit.

Born of Water - Water cleanses. In other words, your past is washed away. Jesus isn’t necessarily talking about baptism in this context, but baptism is certainly a next step.

Born of the Spirit - The Spirit Transforms. When you are born of the Spirit it’s talking about the new life in Christ. We will spend more time on this next week, but this is just as important as born of water.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 ESV

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Jesus says that what is born of flesh is flesh. He gives us an idea of who we are prior to our spiritual birth. He says we are flesh. This isn’t to talk down our natural bodies, but our flesh is corrupt. It’s decaying. It will die. The Spirit is everlasting. This doesn’t mean our bodies won’t be made new again in the resurrection, but it does mean that prior to Jesus we don’t have true life. It is the Spirit who gives life, John 6:63.

Believing is the Key - Being born again only comes from faith in the Son of God and putting your trust in Him. John 3:16, whoever believes. The Greek Word - Pisteou means to entrust or fully trust because of reliability. Story on trust.

Just LOOK at the Son. Jesus tells Nicodemus that being born again is as simple as Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness.

For those that don’t remember the story, in Numbers 21, the children of Israel had complained or grumbled against God and Moses about their lack of food (again). So God sends venomous snakes into the camp and they bit many Israelites and some died. The people beg Moses for mercy and that he would pray for them. God tells Moses put a bronze serpent on a pole and lift him up. In order to be saved, all the people had to do was look on the serpent.

Salvation is as simple as just looking at the son. Look at him. If you want to live, if you want to survive your snake bite (think Garden of Eden), then look to the son, who was lifted up on the cross!

The key to salvation is not that we have to kill the snake. The snake has been crushed. Jesus crushed his head. Our job is simply to look to the Son for our salvation. Just look at him!

What Happens To Nicodemus?

People in the Bible don’t disappear. We tend to read the story and think, well that was that. But these were real people who existed and a man like Nicodemus shows up two more times in the Book of John.

Nicodemus stands up to the council in John 7. Over the course of his ministry, Jesus had really ruffled some feathers. The religious leaders were really upset and were wanting to kill him. In 7:52, Nicodemus stands up and says, we can’t condemn him without a fair trial! So he went from a night time visit to defending him in public. That’s a big step!

Nicodemus helps bury the body of Jesus. In John 19, we see Joseph of Arimethea comes to collect the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. Guess who comes with him? Nicodemus? Not only does he help Joseph, but he brings 75 pounds of aloe and myrrh. Nicodemus is making sure he receives a royal burial. He may have died a criminal’s death, but he received a kings burial in a rich man’s tomb.

Why not his tomb? Nicodemus likely had a tomb as well, as most of the wealthy people in Jerusalem did. But perhaps, this is where we can get speculate a little. What if Nicodemus sold it?

Mark 10, the man went away sad. If you had been told to sell everything you had, you would have been sad too. What the Bible doesn’t tell us though is whether he actually went and did it afterward.

Nicodemus sold everything and followed Jesus. Extra-biblical sources tell us that not only did Nicodemus decide to follow Jesus, but he sold everything he owned in order to do so. History says that it cost him everything - his reputation, his fame, his wealth. He was barred from the council. He became a believer and lost everything he had, but in the process he found life! Tradition says the Peter and John baptized him, likely sometime after the resurrection. While none of this is in the Bible, it would make sense.

Nicodemus took the long path. Not all of us get saved immediately upon hearing the word preached or the first time we have an encounter with Jesus. Some of us take a long time to get there. Some of you have been in church for years and you still haven’t totally surrendered to God, you know the Bible, you know the lingo, you can sing the songs, but do you know Jesus?

Salvation is a journey. Paul says to the church in Phillipi to work out your salvation in fear and trembling. Now, there’s a tension here. God does the work Paul says, but we are to work it out with him. There’s a partnership there. I’m afraid we’ve lost this in our generation. We don’t fear the Lord, we don’t tremble at his name. We have to work out our salvation. That means its a journey. So many have been deceived by this easy believe-ism gospel. Nicodemus knew better. He had to give up everything! And that’s the same thing God is asking from you.

What will you do?

We heard about what may have happened to Nicodemus. But what about you? What will you do with this message? Some of you are thinking now this message was for someone else. It’s not, it’s for you.

Be Born Again. This is the only response that matters today. So how do you do it? The Bible says that we need to believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

What happens if we don’t? Jesus tells us plainly that we are already condemned if we don’t believe in Him. What does that mean? Well it means that you and many others like you are on the road to hell. You are on the road to damnation. You are standing before a holy God and he is calling you to repentance and faith. Put your trust in him before it’s too late.

Perhaps you are here and you have heard the gospel for the first time or for the hundredth time. Today is the day of salvation. Repent and put your trust in Christ. You need to make a PUBLIC profession of faith. This isn’t something you hide. It’s time to let the world know. If you’ve never done that, I want you to come up front today. It’s time to tell others where you are with the Lord.

Perhaps you have wandered in your faith and want to recommit your life to Christ. Maybe you are like Nicodemus. You ran up to Jesus with excitement but left feeling disheartened when you heard what you need to give up. Maybe you’ve only made small steps with Jesus in this journey. Today is your day to recommit to this journey.