same word), blows wherever he wills (3:8).

It is God the Holy Spirit who gives life to a person and

he gives life to whosoever he chooses.
f. When a person is born again, the effects can be clearly seen.
You know when the wind is blowing, because you can see the branches of the trees moving
in the wind. In the same way, when a person has been given new life by the Spirit (when he has
been born again) we can see evidence of that new life.
In Numbers 21:4-9 snakes had come into the camp of the people of God. Moses made a
bronze serpent (snake) so that anyone who had been bitten by these snakes, could look to this
bronze serpent and so be healed. The Son of man was soon to be lifted up (3:14, 15) on the cross.
He would be lifted up in two ways. He would be physically lifted up a few feet above the ground
so that all could see him. But on the cross he would also be lifted up, in the sense of glorified,
so that all may look to him and be saved.
The evidence that a person has been born again by the Holy Spirit of God is that they will
most certainly believe in the Son of Man. They will see him lifted up (glorified on the cross), and
they will believe he is the Messiah who is dying for sins. And so they will have eternal life (3:15,
16 remember John 20:30, 31).
g. God so loved the world.. (3:16).
These words may have been spoken to Nicodemus by Jesus, or they may be Johns words of
explanation. They tell us about Gods love:
i. The greatness of Gods love is seen in what he gave. God gave his one and only Son! He
gave a gift of infinite value. He gave a gift that would break his heart, when this dearly loved Son
hangs in terrible agony on the cross and dies.
ii. The greatness of Gods love is seen in those whom he loved. God gave his Son because
he loved the world. He did not just give his Son to save Jews, but to save Gentiles as well. And,
as often in Johns gospel, the world, also means those who are opposed to God, those who hate
him and want nothing to do with him! God so loved this sort of person, that he sent his only Son to
die, that if any of them will believe, they will be saved.
Imagine there is a very kind man in your village. He has helped you a lot: he built a house
for you, he pays for your childrens school fees, he has given you a lot of land to use as your
shamba, he always supports you when you have a problem. Of course you will love that man. If
you see him in trouble (maybe he has a flat tyre on his car) you will surely do what you can to help
him. But what about a man who has burnt your house down, raped your wife, stolen your land and
murdered your child? If you see him with a problem, will you want to do anything to help him? Or
will you be glad that he has a problem and do nothing for him, thinking he deserves to have all the
problems it is possible for a man to have! God so loved the world those who hate him and do all
they can to dishonour him; those who ignore his law and wish there was no God -- God so loved
this sort of person, that he sent his Son to die! How amazing is Gods love. (Romans 5:6 says a
similar sort of thing: Christ died for the ungodly.)
Nicodemus would find all this very surprising, almost unbelievable in fact. He thought
that God would condemn the world; he taught the Messiah would destroy the enemies of Gods
people Israel, not send his Son to die for them, so that they could be saved and be part of Gods
kingdom!

The Holy Spirit

iii. The result of Gods love. Because the Son dies, whoever believes in him (or, we could
say, whoever receives him) will not perish, but have everlasting life! Notice there are only two
possibilities that are clearly spelt out over and over again: either a person believes and has eternal
life, or he perishes (15, 16); either a person is saved or he is condemned (17); either a man is not
condemned or he is condemned (18); either a person hates the light or he comes to the light (20).
There are just two situations: lost or saved. There is no third alternative. And which of these a
person is depends entirely on how a person responds to Jesus. If someone believes, they are saved;
if they refuse to believe, they are lost. (Remember: those who do believe, do so because they have
been born of God! They believe because God has first worked in their hearts and minds so that they
can and do believe in Jesus. See John 1:12, 13).
The most important question then is this: What is your situation? Are you lost or saved?
Are you condemned or not condemned? Do you love the light or hate it? Do you believe (truly
believe) in Jesus, or are you perishing? Have you experienced the new life of the gospel or are you
still spiritually dead and cut off from God?
I am not asking whether you know the exact time and place when you were born of God and
when you first believed in Jesus. I am asking whether you have, at some time (even if you do not
know precisely when), ever become a believer in Jesus and received eternal life. Some people
know exactly what time they woke up this morning; others know that at 4 a.m. they were still
asleep, but by 6 a.m. they were awake. It is the same with being born of God: some people know
they were born of God on a particular day of a particular year, perhaps they even know the precise
time! But others know that at the beginning of a certain year they were still dead in sins, but by the
end of that year, they were new creatures in Christ; they know that sometime during that year they
were born of God and he gave them grace to believe in Jesus.
Notice: This teaching that new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit, who gives life to
whoever he chooses, should have an effect on the way we do our evangelism. Our work is to
preach the gospel and to pray. And it is Gods work to give people new life and bring them to
repentance and faith. We should not try and force people into the kingdom, nor apply too much
pressure on them to get them to make some profession of faith. We may be able to force someone to
say they are believers; we may be able to pressure people so that they will offer some prayer of
repentance when we tell them to. But if we evangelise in this way, there will be many who say they
have become believers when really they are still unbelievers. What we should do is preach and tell
people how urgent it is that they believe and repent, but we must then let God be God and allow
him to decide who to give new life to, who should be born of the Spirit.
This teaching on the new birth is a vital part of our evangelism! Too much evangelism
leaves out or minimizes the need for God, by his Holy Spirit, to give new life to a person. The
impression sometimes given is that sinners are basically not too bad, and only need to be saved so a
few minor improvements can be made. This is completely wrong! The Bible is clear: we are dead
in trespasses and sins (not just a bit sick or not quite right!). We need something radical to
happen to us: we need to be born again; we need to be given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit; we
need the power of God which created the world to recreate us; we need God by his Spirit to make
us into new creatures! The new birth is a totally radical change. It is going from death to life; it
means being made anew; it means being given a new heart and having new minds.

The Holy Spirit

10

The Meaning of Pentecost

Was the Day of Pentecost the time when the Holy Spirit first appeared in the world? No, of course
not! We have already said the Holy Spirit was active during OT times (see page 5 above). He was
also clearly very active in every aspect of the life and ministry of Jesus. John 14:17 records Jesus
words to his disciples: the Spirit of truth, you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in
you. These verbs are present tenses: already the disciples know the Spirit, since he dwells with them
already, inasmuch as he indwells Jesus.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35); at his baptism, the Spirit descended on him
(Lk 3:21-22); he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted (Lk 4:1); he preached in the
Spirits power (Lk 4:18ff); Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit (Lk 10:21); it was through the eternal
Spirit he offered himself to God on the cross (Heb 9:14); he was made alive by the Spirit (1 Pet
3:18); and through the Holy Spirit gave his disciples their orders (Acts 1:2). So there is plenty of
evidence of the Holy Spirits pre-Pentecost ministry.
How are we to understand John 20:22? As the Father has sent me, even so I send you
and he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Some suggest that this is when the
disciples were regenerated by the Spirit. But surely this is not so. In Jn 13:10 (also 15:3) Jesus says
to his disciples, you are clean. This surely means that they were already regenerated; they were
clean (pure), because washed from sins guilt and defilement (cf Ezek 35:27ff, John 3:1ff). (Just as
the OT saints were regenerated by the Holy Spirit before Pentecost took place, so were the disciples
of Jesus.)
The out-breathing of the Spirit in John 20 is linked not to regeneration, but to their mission.
Jesus is talking about sending them out; he promises them discernment and authority as they go out
on that mission.
In John 7:37-39, we see that the gift of the Spirit is not given until Jesus is glorified. It is
only after Jesus cross, resurrection, and ascension to the Fathers side, that the Spirit can be poured
out. This gift of the Spirit was clearly given at Pentecost.
So, it is perhaps best to see Jesus words in John 20:22 as a sort of acted prophecy. It is a
promise that very soon the disciples would begin to experience the Spirits new ministry, which
among other things, would fit and equip them to meet all the demands of the dangerous new work.
What is the Essence of Pentecost? Or, What is the central meaning of Pentecost? That day saw
the beginning of the Holy Spirits new covenant ministry,
giving each disciple a clear understanding of Jesus place in Gods plan, a robust sense of
identity and authority as Jesus person in this world, and an unlimited boldness in
proclaiming Jesus power from his throne the new elements that are so amazing in Peters
sermon when we recall what sort of man he had been before. Jesus had promised that when
the Spirit came he would empower the disciples for witness (Acts 1:5, 8), and Luke
evidently means us to see in Peter, whose failures he had diligently chronicled in his gospel,
a model instance of that promise being fulfilled.
(Keep In Step, 75)
So, how did the ministry of the Holy Spirit change at Pentecost? What is the difference between his
Old Covenant ministry and his ministry under the New Covenant? At Pentecost the Spirits ministry
was enlarged, without being lessened in any way:

before Pentecost, [the Holy Spirit] sustained creation and natural life, renewed hearts, gave
spiritual understanding, and gave gifts for service both in leadership and other ways, and all
this he still does. The difference is that now all his ministry to Christian believers relates not
to Christ who was to come (as in the Old Testament); nor to Jesus present on earth (as
during Jesus lifetime); his ministry relates now to Christ who has come and has died and
risen and now reigns in glory. (75-6).
So the main difference which Pentecost brought about (and thus the main difference between Old
Covenant and New Covenant believers) is that through the Holy Spirit we have fellowship with the
risen Christ.
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Baptism in (or with or by) the Holy Spirit

The OT prophets were called to declare Gods verdict on the way the people of God were living at
that time. Usually this meant pronouncing Gods coming judgment on the people, because they were
breaking the covenant by following false gods. But sometimes the prophets also looked beyond their
own time and the approaching judgment, to the far future the time when God would act in a new
and wonderful way. The prophets (and the OT as a whole) develop various themes to speak of what
God would one day do.
The Seed of the Woman would come and destroy the seed of the Satan (Gen 3:15ff). The
Seed of Abraham would bring blessing to all the families of the world. A great prophet like Moses
would appear and reveal marvellous things about the LORD; a great King, even greater than David,
would come and rule his people; and a new priest would come. There was to be a mysterious
Servant a suffering servant who would not only restore his people Israel, but also be a light to
the Gentiles, and bring salvation to the ends of the earth. There was a day of the Lord approaching,
when God would act to put things right: he would destroy the wicked and establish justice and
righteousness throughout the earth. And there would be a new and better covenant made between
God and his people.
The time was also coming when the breath (or, wind or Spirit) of God would do new and
wonderful things. Yes, the Holy Spirit was already active in OT times: active in the creation and
preservation of the universe, in providence and revelation, and in regeneration and equipping people
for special tasks. But the prophets promised a new, more wonderful, work of the Spirit, in the days
when Messiah appeared: at that time, the Spirit would be poured out from on high (Is 32:15; 44:3;
Ezekiel 39:28,29), not only upon the house of Israel, but upon all flesh (Joel 2:28). This promise
to pour out the Spirit was clearly fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, where Peter quotes Joel 2:28 to
explain what had just happened to the disciples!
John the Baptist (who still lived under the Old Covenant, even though he appears in the New
Testament books!) also looked forward to this great new thing that God was now about to do. And
he recognized that it was in and through Jesus, that God would do it. John says two main things
about who Jesus is and what he would do: first of all, when John sees Jesus he says, Look, the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So Jesus brings about the removal
of sin and guilt and uncleanness. But John also says, I baptize with water, but he [Jesus] will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:8). What exactly does it mean to be baptized