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Nicodemus thought that to be born anew was to go back to his mother’s womb and come out of it again. He did not realize that even if that could be done he would still be flesh. Regardless how many times a person could be born out of his mother’s womb, he would still be flesh because flesh begets flesh. So, the Lord told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (3:6). Flesh here denotes the natural man with the natural life. Regardless of how many times we could be born of our parents, we still would be a natural man with a natural life. It can never change our nature. To be born anew is not to be born again of our parents, but to be born of God the Spirit that we may have His divine life with His divine nature, a life with a nature absolutely different from our natural life with its nature.
To be born anew is to be born of the Spirit in our spirit. The divine Spirit regenerates our human spirit with God’s divine life. Regeneration, that is, receiving the divine life, is absolutely a matter that transpires in our spirit. Our spirit was made by God for this very purpose. We have such a special organ, our human spirit, deep within us. In His creation, God made us with a spirit for the purpose that one day we might exercise it to contact Him and to receive Him into our being. The function of the human spirit is to contact God. Regeneration is not a matter of our mind, emotion, or will; it is altogether a matter in our spirit. Verses 12 and 13 of John 1 say, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” In what part of our being are we born of God? In our spirit. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. God is a Spirit, and only a spirit can touch a Spirit. Only a spirit can be born of a Spirit. So, regeneration is absolutely a matter in our spirit. It does not matter whether you have a sober mind, a proper emotion, or a strong will. Such things are in another realm. Regeneration transpires in the realm of our spirit. Our spirit is the sphere in which regeneration transpires. In order to be regenerated, you do not exercise your mind, will, or emotion. Simply open yourself up, forgetting what you are, and from deep within your spirit, call on the name of the Lord Jesus, believing in Him. If you do this, immediately God the Spirit will touch your spirit. This will happen quickly, perhaps taking less than a second. If you open yourself from deep within your spirit, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, in that one second, God the Spirit will enter into your spirit and you will be regenerated. The delivery of a reborn child happens very fast. There is no need of a midwife, nurse, or doctor. When you say, “Lord Jesus, I believe in You,” you are reborn in your spirit.
In verse 6, the Lord said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Regeneration is not a birth of the flesh that brings forth flesh. Regeneration is a birth of the Spirit, God’s Spirit, that brings forth spirit, our regenerated spirit. Flesh is our natural man, our old man, our outward man, born of our parents who are flesh. But spirit, our regenerated spirit, is our spiritual man, our new man, our inward, or inner man (2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16), born of God who is the Spirit. When we were born of our parents, we were born flesh; when we were born again of God the Spirit, we were born spirit. The nature of the spirit is different from the nature of the flesh. The nature of the flesh is born human, but the nature of the spirit is born divine. Before we were regenerated, we lived by our flesh and had our being in our flesh; our spirit was dead. By regeneration, our dead spirit was not only quickened, made alive, but also imparted with the divine life of God by the Spirit. Now our spirit is a regenerated spirit and becomes our new being. Formerly our flesh was our being by which we lived; now our spirit is our being by which we should live. The first Spirit in verse 6 is the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, and the second spirit is the human spirit, the regenerated spirit of man. Regeneration transpires in the human spirit, by the Holy Spirit of God with God’s uncreated, eternal life. To be regenerated is to have the divine eternal life as the new source and the new element of our new being.
Once our spirit has been born of the Spirit of God with the life of God, it has the Spirit of God with the life of God in it and mingled with it. So it becomes a mingled spirit — our human spirit mingled with God’s divine Spirit, as Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit...with our spirit.” It is in this mingled spirit that we are “one spirit” with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). Because it is such a mingled spirit, in many places in the New Testament, such as Romans 8:4-6, 10; Galatians 5:16, 25; Ephesians 4:23, and 6:18, it is rather difficult to say whether the word “spirit” refers to God’s divine Spirit or to our human spirit. Now, the two spirits are mingled as one within us. This mingling comes from regeneration. Regeneration brings forth in us a newborn spirit (Ezek. 36:26), indwelt by and mingled with God’s divine Spirit. Now this spirit with God’s divine life in it is our new being by which we should live and walk. We should no longer walk according to the flesh (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:4). It is in this spirit that we are regenerated persons.
It is also correct to say that we have been born again by the Word of God. However, we must realize that the Word in black and white letters cannot regenerate us. Only the Word that is the Spirit can do this (John 6:63). God, the Word, and the Spirit — all must be the Spirit that regenerates us. God Himself is the Spirit in regeneration, and the Word also must be the Spirit. Whatever we preach when we preach the gospel must be in the Spirit, for it is the Spirit that gives life to people in their spirit.
It is difficult to understand thoroughly what regeneration is because it is a matter accomplished by, with, and in the Holy Spirit. And it is difficult to define what is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is here. Can you define Him? He is present, constant, instant, prevailing, and available. Nevertheless, if you are to be born of the Spirit, some conditions must be fulfilled. The first condition is that you must repent and confess that you are a sinner. Then you need to believe in the Lord Jesus and call on His name. You should not just call with your lips, tongue, or throat, but open up from the depths of your being and say from deep within your spirit, “O Lord Jesus, I believe in You.” When you do this, the divine Spirit will enter into you immediately. When He comes into you, it is Christ coming into you. It is also the Triune God coming into you. The Holy Spirit is nothing less than Christ Himself. In fact, the Holy Spirit is nothing less than the Triune God. The Father is in the Son, and the Son today is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). When the Spirit comes into you, both the Son and the Father also come into you. Thus, from the time that you are born again, the Father, the Son, and Spirit are in you. This Triune God is the divine life. The divine life is not separate from the Triune God. From the very moment you are regenerated, you have the Triune God within your spirit as your divine life. Now you have two lives: the human life in your flesh and the divine life in your spirit.
John 3:8 says, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The Greek word for wind, pneuma, is the same word as for spirit. Whether it means wind or spirit depends upon the context. The context here says that it blows and that the sound of it can be heard. This indicates that it is the wind. A regenerated person is like the wind, which can be realized, but which is beyond understanding. Regeneration is not a physical thing, but a spiritual thing, like the pneuma. It is like the wind. The wind is intangible. Although the wind is intangible, it can be realized. The Lord told Nicodemus that the regenerated spirit, like the wind, is not physical and tangible, but invisible and spiritual.
Regeneration transpires on earth. The Lord told Nicodemus, “If I told you of things on earth and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you of things in heaven?” (3:12). The “things on earth” in this verse does not mean things of an earthly nature, but things which transpire on earth, including redemption, regeneration, etc. The “things in heaven” in this verse also does not mean things of a heavenly nature, but things which transpire in heaven. In the following verse, the Lord said that He is the One who descended out of heaven and who is still in heaven. This indicates that He knows the things which transpire in heaven, because He is the One who is in heaven all the time. At the same time He is on earth telling people the things on earth, of which regeneration is one item.
In verse 3 the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and in verse 5 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The Lord’s words here are a clear revelation that regeneration is the unique entrance into the kingdom of God. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. There is no other way by which we can enter into the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. Hence, to see or to enter into the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.
A kingdom is always related to life. The vegetable kingdom is related to the vegetable life, and the animal kingdom is related to the animal life. If you want to share in a certain kind of kingdom, you first need the life of that kingdom. Only birds can partake of the bird kingdom because only they have the life of a bird. Likewise, only men can participate in the human kingdom because only they have a human life. So, without the life of God, how could we ever share the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is not only the reign of God, but also the divine realm or sphere. In order to participate in the reign of God and to be in the divine realm, we need the divine life of God. Only those who have the divine life can be in the divine realm and share the divine kingdom. Thus, we need to be regenerated that we may have the divine life which enables us to enter into the divine realm and participate in the divine kingdom. Even if we were not fallen or sinful, we would still need to be born again, because regardless of how good, pure, and clean our human life might be, it is not able to realize the things of the divine realm and it is not qualified to enter into the divine kingdom. Only the divine life is qualified to be in the divine realm. Only the life of God meets the requirements of the kingdom of God. How can our human life know the divine things of the kingdom of God? How can it match the divine kingdom? It is impossible. We need the divine life. We need to be born again. Regeneration is the only way, the unique entrance, into the kingdom of God.
The divine life brings us into the kingdom of God. We were all born into the human kingdom. No one has ever been naturalized into the kingdom of man. For example, when a dog is born, he immediately finds himself in the dog kingdom. He knows everything about being a dog. There is no need for anyone to teach him to be a dog, saying, “Little dog, you must know that you are a dog, that you are in the dog kingdom, and that from now on you must bark every day.” A dog is in the dog kingdom and knows all about being a dog by birth. This is why the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born into the kingdom of God. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by learning or by being naturalized. Although you may be naturalized to be a citizen of a particular nation, you can never be naturalized into a kingdom. A dog cannot be naturalized into the cat kingdom. Suppose someone would say to a dog, “Little dog, I like you. I want to change your nationality. You were born into the dog kingdom, but I want to naturalize you into the cat kingdom.” If you try to do this, you will cause the cat kingdom a great deal of trouble. The correct way to bring a dog into the cat kingdom is to regenerate the dog with the life of a cat. If a dog could be reborn with the life of a cat, that little dog would spontaneously be translated from the dog kingdom into the cat kingdom.
When we were regenerated, we were translated into the kingdom of God. Colossians 1:13 says that God “delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” We were translated by being regenerated and now we are in the kingdom of God. When we called on the name of the Lord, the divine Spirit came into us, regenerating us and causing us to be born into the kingdom of God. Although you may know very little about the kingdom of God, your spirit within you knows about the kingdom. The divine life in your spirit knows the kingdom of God.
Many Christians depend too much upon teachings. Many young people have come to me, asking about such things as smoking, attending the movies, eating, dressing, and marrying. Young people have a great many questions about these matters. Whenever a young person comes to me with such a question, I always turn the question to him and say, “Why do you ask me whether or not you should smoke? You know better than I do. You shouldn’t come to ask me, for you already know the answer. The reason you come to ask me is that you want confirmation, but I will never give you that kind of confirmation. Tell me the truth, don’t you already know whether or not you should smoke?” Once he admits that he already knows, I go a little further and ask him, “How do you know? Where do you know?” They always tell me that they have something within them that knows. We know because we have been born into the kingdom of God.
It is unnecessary for a preacher or minister to tell people what to do. Do you need to teach a dog to bark? If you were to try to teach a dog to bark, and if that dog could speak, he would say, “I don’t need your teachings. I just bark. I was born to bark and I live in the barking kingdom. Since my kingdom is the kingdom of barking, and since I have a barking life, I don’t need to be taught. I cannot help but bark.” Likewise, we all have been born into the kingdom of God. As a result, we simply “know” certain things. If you ask me how I know, I would reply, “I just know.” I know that I am a man. I do not need anyone to teach me that I am a man. I simply am a man. Just as I am a man in the kingdom of man, so, because I have the divine life, I am also a son of God in the kingdom of God. I have the life of God, and this life places me into the kingdom of God. In fact, I am not only in the kingdom of God, but also in God Himself.
Because we are in the kingdom of God, there are certain things that we cannot do, even if we try to do them. If you purposely try to lose your temper, you will find that you cannot do it. If you determine to beat your wife, you will discover that you cannot do that either. What is the reason for this? The reason is that you are in the kingdom of God and that the life of God keeps you from doing such things. This is the kingdom of God. Hallelujah, we are in it!
Nicodemus was still puzzled and asked, “How can these things be?” The Lord Jesus said in return, “You are the teacher of Israel, and you don’t know these things?” Then the Lord spoke to him regarding a prefigure or type of redemption found in the Old Testament.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” When Jesus said this, Nicodemus was clear. When the children of Israel spoke against the Lord and against Moses, “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). The people then came to Moses and asked him to pray that the Lord would take the serpents away. Moses prayed for them, and God showed Moses the way of salvation, telling him to make a serpent of brass and to put it upon a pole (Num. 21:8-9). When the people who had been poisoned by the fiery serpents looked upon the serpent of brass, they lived (Num. 21:9).
In John 3:14, the Lord Jesus applied that picture to Himself, saying that He, the Son of Man, would be lifted up as the brass serpent was lifted up by Moses. Please notice that the Lord here refers to Himself as the Son of Man, not as the Son of God. The Lord was telling Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, you appear to be a gentleman, but you must realize that you are actually a serpent. Regardless of how gentle you are, you have a serpentine nature within you. You have been poisoned. You were poisoned in Adam. When Adam was poisoned by the serpent, you were there. You were born of that poisoned nature, and so your nature is also serpentine.” Nicodemus never realized this before. Likewise, very few people today realize that they are serpents. Do you like to have this said of you? If you were to tell an unbeliever that he is not only a sinner, but also a serpent, he would be highly offended. No, Nicodemus had never thought that he had a serpentine nature. However, the Lord Jesus, the best preacher, indicated a great deal by one brief sentence, telling Nicodemus that he was a serpent.
In John 1:29, John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” In 3:14, the Lord Jesus likens Himself, not as the Lamb of God, but as a brass serpent. The Lamb of God deals with sin, but the brass serpent destroys the old serpent. Our trouble as fallen people is not only with sin, but also with the serpent. Although Christians have heard many messages on the Lamb of God, they have not heard very many on the brass serpent as the type of Christ.
When the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, He was in the form of a serpent. This is a hard saying and it needs some explanation. Romans 8:3 says, “God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” This verse tells us that Christ was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Second Corinthians 5:21 says that Christ was made sin for us. What a strong word this is! What does it mean? When Satan in the serpent tempted Adam to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and to take his concept, Satan, as the old serpent, injected his nature into man. That serpentine nature was injected into man’s body. Although the human body was created by God as something good, when Satan’s serpentine nature was injected into it, it was transmuted into the flesh. The body is something good created by God, but the flesh is something bad, being the body transmuted by the poison of the serpent. The term “body” is good, but the term “flesh” is bad. But what about John 1:14 which says that, “The Word became flesh”? Is the flesh there good or bad? When Christ became flesh, did He become something good or bad? Be careful of your answer. John 3:14 indicates and guarantees that when Christ became flesh, He did not actually become something bad, and Romans 8:3 says that He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” which likeness is equal to the form of the brass serpent. It had the form of the serpent without the poison of the serpent. Christ was made in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” but He had no participation in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Christ became the flesh of sin in form, not in actuality. Look at the serpent made of brass. In form, appearance, and likeness, it looks like a real serpent; however, it has no poison in it. It has the serpentine appearance, but it does not have the serpentine nature. Likewise, Christ became the flesh of sin in appearance, in likeness. In appearance, He was exactly the same as a sinful man, but within Him there was no sinful nature. Although He was made sin, He knew no sin. He was only in the form, in the likeness, of the flesh of sin.
When Christ was lifted up on the cross, Satan, the devil, the old serpent, was dealt with (John 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14). This means that the serpentine nature within fallen man has been dealt with by the death of Christ. We may use the illustration of a mousetrap. Mice are a nuisance and they are difficult to catch. However, you may catch them if you use a trap and some bait. When a mouse comes out of hiding seeking for something to eat, he will see the bait, walk into the trap in an attempt to seize the bait, and immediately be caught. In this way the mouse is caught and destroyed. In the universe there is a little “mouse,” Satan. Humanity became a trap in which he was caught. Adam became both the trap and the bait. Satan seized the bait, thinking that he had gained the victory by injecting himself into man’s body, but he did not realize that in doing so he became trapped. He was trapped, located in man’s flesh. One day the Lord Jesus put on the likeness of this flesh of sin. Then He brought this flesh to the cross and crucified it. By crucifying the flesh, He destroyed the devil who had injected himself into man. Now we can understand Hebrews 2:14 which says, “He took part of flesh...that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the Devil.” Christ destroyed Satan in the flesh by His death. If we do not understand all of these verses, it will be difficult to have the proper meaning of Hebrews 2:14. How did Christ destroy Satan on the cross? By taking on the likeness of the flesh of sin and by bringing this flesh to the cross. There, through His crucifixion, Satan was destroyed.
In the eyes of God, we all have become serpents. Like the ancient Israelites who became serpents and needed a brass serpent to be lifted up as their substitute, we also needed Christ to die on the cross as our substitute. On the cross Christ was not only the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (1:29), but He was also in the form of the serpent that He might deal with our serpentine nature and destroy the old serpent. When Christ was lifted up on the cross, the serpentine nature within fallen man was dealt with. When man receives the crucified and resurrected Christ that he may be regenerated with the divine life in Christ, his satanic nature must also be dealt with. This is why in John 3:14, when the Lord Jesus revealed the matter of regeneration to Nicodemus, He specifically mentioned this point.
Nicodemus might have considered himself as a good and moral man. But the Lord’s word in 3:14 implies that regardless of how good Nicodemus might have been outwardly, he had the serpentine nature of Satan inwardly. As a descendant of Adam, he was poisoned by the old serpent, and the serpent’s nature was within him. He not only needed the Lord to be the Lamb of God to take away his sin; he also needed the Lord to be in the form of the serpent that his serpentine nature might be dealt with on the cross and that he might have eternal life. In the principle set forth in chapter two, this is changing death into life. The serpent’s death is swallowed up by the divine life. By telling this to Nicodemus, the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “Nicodemus, you are a serpent. I am going to die for you as your substitute in the form of a serpent, not only to take away your sin, but also to deal with your serpentine nature and to destroy Satan.”
Verse 15 shows the purpose of verse 14. “That every one who believes in Him may have eternal life.” The word “that” in verse 15 indicates that this verse is an issue, an outcome, of verse 14. Christ died on the cross in the form of a serpent as our substitute. In doing so, He dealt with our serpentine nature and destroyed the serpent in our flesh. The issue of this is that we may have eternal life by believing in Him. Just as the poisoned Israelites lived by looking unto the brass serpent on the pole, we may experience the same thing today if we repent, lift up our heart, and gaze upon the very Jesus crucified on the cross. When we do this, our sin is removed, our serpentine nature is dealt with, Satan is destroyed in us, and we have life eternal. This is what it means to be regenerated. When we are regenerated, we receive the divine life other than our human life which was corrupted by the serpent and dealt with by Christ on the cross.
All men are condemned in Adam through his sin. In verse 18, the Lord revealed more to Nicodemus about his condition. He not only had the poisonous nature of the serpent, but was also under the judgment of God. This verse says, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” According to this verse, Nicodemus, a good gentleman, had been judged already. When were you judged? You were judged on the same day that Adam was judged. In other words, you were condemned before you were born. You were condemned six thousand years ago. Since you are a part of Adam, you were condemned when he was. Regardless of whether you are bad or good, you are already under the wrath of God (3:36). Although Nicodemus was a high-class gentleman, he was still condemned. He was a good man, a religious man, and a moral man, yet he was already condemned. Therefore, he needed the Lord’s redemption — the Lord had to die for him.
The actual condition of such a good man is not really good. His true condition is twofold: his nature has the poison of Satan within it and his position is under the condemnation of God. We are not gentlemen; we are serpents. As far as our nature is concerned, we have the poisonous element of Satan, the devil, an element which makes us “the children of the Devil” (1 John 3:10). As far as our position is concerned, we are already under God’s condemnation. Thus, the condition of the best person is the same as that of the worst.
The Son of God has come to save man from this condemnation. Verse 17 says, “For God did not send the Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Christ, the Son of God, was sent to save us from God’s condemnation, which was caused by the sin of Adam. We all were condemned in Adam. Now we all can be saved from this condemnation through Christ. In the natural birth we were condemned in Adam. In regeneration we are saved in Christ.
What is the way for us to be regenerated? How can we receive regeneration? In verses 15, 16, 18, and 36, the Lord said, “That everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life”; “that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”; “he who believes in Him is not judged”; “he who believes in the Son has eternal life.” These emphatic words spoken repeatedly by the Lord tell us clearly and definitely that the way for us to be saved and regenerated is simply to believe in the Lord. To believe is the only way for us to receive salvation and regeneration. It is absolutely a matter of faith. Regardless of how much we can work or how good our work may be, we cannot be saved and regenerated by our work. Our work does not count in this matter. Only faith counts. Salvation and regeneration must be by faith. It is by faith in the Lord, by believing in the Lord, that we receive the forgiveness, the release from God’s condemnation negatively. It is also by faith, by believing in the Lord, that we receive eternal life, the divine life of God, positively for our regeneration. The Lord has accomplished the redemptive work for us. By His redemptive death on the cross, He has met all of God’s righteous demands on us and has fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory for us. By His death on the cross in the form of the serpent, the Lord has even destroyed Satan, the devil that usurps us and enslaves us, that we might be delivered from the evil one’s slavery and power of death (Heb. 2:14). All negative things have been solved by His all-inclusive death on the cross. We do not need to do anything except believe in what the Lord has accomplished. He has dealt with and solved all of our problems. He has left no room for our doing or work. So, there is no need of our work, only of faith in His finished, completed, and all-inclusive redemptive work.
After passing through death, by and in resurrection, the Lord has released His life and has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Now, in resurrection, He is the Spirit of life (2 Cor. 3:17), with all the virtue of His redemptive work, waiting for us to believe in Him. Once we believe in Him, we not only receive the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance from Satan’s evil power of darkness, but we also receive the Spirit of life, that is, the Lord Himself, with the eternal life of God. In this way we are saved and regenerated. It is by the way of believing in the Lord with His all-inclusive redemptive work that we receive God’s life and are born of Him to be His sons.
To believe in the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12). The Lord is receivable. He is now the life-giving Spirit, with His complete redemption, waiting for and expecting us to receive Him. Our spirit is the receiving organ. We can receive the Lord’s Spirit into our spirit by believing in Him. Once we believe in Him, He, as the Spirit, enters into our spirit. Then we are regenerated by Him, the life-giving Spirit, and become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). The phrase “believes in” in verses 16, 18, and 36 literally translated should be “believes into Him.” When we believe in the Lord, we believe into Him. By believing in Him, we get into Him to be one with Him, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us. By believing into Him, we are identified with Him in all that He is and in all that He has passed through, accomplished, attained, and obtained. As we become one with Him by believing into Him, we are saved and regenerated by Him as life. It is by believing into Him that we partake of Him as life and are regenerated in Him.
The Son of God came as light that man might be enlightened for salvation (3:19-21). In order to save us, Christ, the Son of God, came firstly to be the light to enlighten man that man might be saved. But, sorry to say, most men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But anyone who comes to the light will be enlightened and, through this enlightenment, he shall be saved. Light comes first, then salvation follows.
In chapter three of John we can see that even a high-class moral gentleman was also on the line of death. Though he was seeking after God, he was seeking according to the line of the tree of knowledge. Nicodemus was seeking for teaching, for knowledge, which belongs to the tree of knowledge. He did not know life and had no concept of the tree of life. But the Lord turned him from knowledge to life, from the tree of knowledge to the tree of life, that he might be regenerated and have the divine life denoted by the tree of life in Genesis 2. In the Lord’s conversation with him, it is implied that his seeking of knowledge was related to his serpentine nature. The serpentine nature of our natural being causes us not only to do evil things, but also to seek knowledge, even knowledge concerning God, in a way that is not in the way of life. This kind of knowledge-seeking is on the line of death and brings in death. We all have to be turned from this line of knowledge to the line of life that we may receive the divine life for our enjoyment.
