Were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea Actually Saved? The Shocking Truth Behind Jesus' Burial

And so I want to just, before I even start this, give you a few, four reasons why I think this question about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea actually matters, okay? First, I think it forces us to think about how we've been defining salvation and how it's defined biblically.

Why do I say that? Well, okay, so you know Nicodemus is somebody who's important.

He was an important figure on the day that he lived.

He had social status.

He Clearly has, at least he's supposed to have, he's a teacher of the law.

He's supposed to have biblical knowledge.

Although Jesus, as you know, confronts him on that.

And he is probably a very serious person from a religious perspective, from a moral perspective, from his religious education and pedigree.

He's a dude.

He's a guy.

He's a guy who matters.

Yet, here's what Jesus tells him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, we've talked before, you'll see on some of my videos, that's in John 3, verse 3.

I've talked a lot about the identity and how Nicodemus saw himself as being in Abraham and that somehow his affiliation as a Jew was somehow going, his identity as the son of Abraham was somehow going to show him the kingdom of God.

But in fact, Jesus says, you need to be born from above.

You need your identity in me if you want to see the kingdom of God.

It's an identity statement.

But the issue here is really not whether Nicodemus is more religious than the average person.

I suspect he was.

He clearly was.

The issue is whether he experienced the powerful, sovereign, transformational work of God.

And did he put his identity then in, was he born from above? Did he put it in the one who is from above? You know, there are three ways you can form identity outside in, inside out, topside down.

I talk about that in the truth and true crime.

The first two ways are the ways that most humans form their identity.

And so I want to just, before I even start this, give you a few, four reasons why I think this question about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea actually matters, okay? First, I think it forces us to think about how we've been defining salvation and how it's defined biblically.

Why do I say that? Well, okay, so you know Nicodemus is somebody who's important.

He was an important figure on the day that he lived.

He had social status.

He Clearly has, at least he's supposed to have, he's a teacher of the law.

He's supposed to have biblical knowledge.

Although Jesus, as you know, confronts him on that.

And he is probably a very serious person from a religious perspective, from a moral perspective, from his religious education and pedigree.

He's a dude.

He's a guy.

He's a guy who matters.

Yet, here's what Jesus tells him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, we've talked before, you'll see on some of my videos, that's in John 3, verse 3.

I've talked a lot about the identity and how Nicodemus saw himself as being in Abraham and that somehow his affiliation as a Jew was somehow going, his identity as the son of Abraham was somehow going to show him the kingdom of God.

But in fact, Jesus says, you need to be born from above.

You need your identity in me if you want to see the kingdom of God.

It's an identity statement.

But the issue here is really not whether Nicodemus is more religious than the average person.

I suspect he was.

He clearly was.

The issue is whether he experienced the powerful, sovereign, transformational work of God.

And did he put his identity then in, was he born from above? Did he put it in the one who is from above? You know, there are three ways you can form identity outside in, inside out, topside down.

I talk about that in the truth and true crime.

The first two ways are the ways that most humans form their identity.