John 3:21
in John 3But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.
KJV
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
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This verse in John 3
Commentary
26 notes on this verseBut he that doeth truth (that is, the lover and doer of the works of the Truth) cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. For he doth not reject the illumination in the Spirit, by It specially led to be able to understand in all calm collectedness, whether he hath transgressed the Divine commandment, and whether he hath wrought all things according to the Law of God.
This site's exposition
The Light has come into the world
on John 3:19-21
The verdict is the Light, and men loved the darkness over it while their deeds were evil. A man doing evil hates the Light and keeps clear of it for fear of being seen. A man doing the truth walks into it.
This site's exposition
whoever practices the truth comes into the Light
John Wesley finds Nicodemus in the verse: the man who came by night later came into the light. Cyril of Alexandria says the doer of truth welcomes the Spirit's light to examine whether he has kept God's law. Wesley reads in God as in His light, power and love.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
But if God hath discovered all men's works to be evil, how is it that any have done the truth, and come to the light, i. e. to Christ? Now what He saith is, that they loved darkness rather than light; He lays the stress upon that. Many have loved their sins, many have confessed them. God accuseth thy sins; if thou accuse them too, thou art joined to God. Thou must hate thine own work, and love the work of God in thee. The beginning of good works, is the confession of evil works, and then thou doest the truth: not soothing, not flattering thyself. And thou art come to the light, because this very sin in thee, which displeaseth thee, would not displease thee, did not God shine upon thee, and His truth show it unto thee. And let those even who have sinned only by word or thought, or who have only exceeded in things allowable, do the truth, by making confession, and come to the light by performing good works. For little sins, if suffered to accumulate, become mortal. Little drops swell the river: little grains of sand become an heap, which presses and weighs down. The sea coming in by little and little, unless it be pumped out, sinks the vessel. And what is to pump out, but by good works, mourning, fasting, giving and forgiving, to provide against our sins overwhelming us?
A commentator
Augustine of HippoON THE MERITS AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND ON INFANT BAPTISM 1.62 · Written before 430.
proposed
He declares that the works of the one who comes to the light are wrought in God, because he is quite aware that his justification results from no merits of his own but from the grace of God.
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Thou doest the truth, and comest to the light. How is it thou doest the truth? Thou dost not caress, nor soothe, nor flatter thyself; nor say, "I am righteous," whilst thou art unrighteous: thus, thou beginnest to do the truth. Thou comest to the light, that thy works may be made manifest that they are wrought in God; for thy sin, the very thing that has given thee displeasure, would not have displeased thee, if God did not shine into thee, and His truth show it thee. But he that loves his sins, even after being admonished, hates the light admonishing him, and flees from it, that his works which he loves may not be proved to be evil. But he that doeth truth accuses his evil works in himself, spares not himself, forgives not himself, that God may forgive him: for that which he desires God to forgive, he himself acknowledges, and he comes to the light; to which he is thankful for showing him what he should hate in himself. He says to God, "Turn away Thy face from my sins:" yet with what countenance says it, unless he adds, "For I acknowledge mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me?" Be that before thyself which thou desirest not to be before God. But if thou wilt put thy sin behind thee, God will thrust it back before thine eyes; and this He will do at a time when there will be no more fruit of repentance.
He calls the works of him who comes to the light, wrought in God; meaning that his justification is attributable not to his own merits, but to God's grace.
Run, my brethren, lest the darkness lay hold of you. Awake to your salvation, awake while there is time; let none be kept back from the temple of God, none kept back from the work of the Lord, none called away from continual prayer, none be defrauded of wonted devotion. Awake, then, while it is day: the day shines, Christ is the day. He is ready to forgive sins, but to them that acknowledge them; ready to punish the self-defenders, who boast that they are righteous, and think themselves to be something when they are nothing. But he that walks in His love and mercy, even being free from those great and deadly sins, such crimes as murder, theft, adultery; still, because of those which seem to be minute sins, of tongue, or of thought, or of intemperance in things permitted, he doeth the truth in confession, and cometh to the light in good works: since many minute sins, if they be neglected, kill. Minute are the drops that swell the rivers; minute are the grains of sand; but if much sand is put together, the heap presses and crushes. Bilge-water neglected in the hold does the same thing as a rushing wave. Gradually it leaks in through the hold; and by long leaking in and no pumping out, it sinks the ship. Now what is this pumping out, but by good works, by sighing, fasting, giving, forgiving, so to effect that sins may not overwhelm us? The path of this life, however, is troublesome, full of temptations: in prosperity, let it not lift us up; in adversity, let it not crush us. He who gave the happiness of this world gave it for thy comfort, not for thy ruin. Again, He who scourgeth thee in this life, doeth it for thy improvement, not for thy condemnation. Bear the Father that corrects thee for thy training, lest thou feel the judge in punishing thee. These things we tell you every day, and they must be often said, because they are good and wholesome.
18 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
The things that make us luminaries of the world are these—our good works. What is good, moreover (provided it is true and full), does not love darkness: it rejoices in being seen and exults over the very recognition it receives. To Christian modesty it is not enough to be so but to also appear so. For its fullness should be so great that it flows out from the mind to the clothing and bursts out from the conscience to the outward appearance.
What is good, moreover, provided it be true and full, loves not darkness: it joys in being seen, and exults over the very pointings which are made at it.
(Hom. xxviii. 3) He does not say this of those who are brought up under the Gospel, but of those who are converted to the true faith from Paganism or Judaism. He shows that no one will leave a false religion for the true faith, till he first resolve to follow a right course of life.
The Medieval Church4 voices
"But he who does the truth," that is, he who leads an honest and God-pleasing life, strives toward Christianity as toward the light, so that he may advance still more in goodness and that his deeds may be shown to be wrought in God. For …
"But he who does the truth comes to the light": Matthew 5: "No one hides a lamp under a bushel, but upon a lampstand"; because good works are light. Whence he also adds: "That his works may be made manifest, because they have been done …
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Now he shows the same things with respect to the good, who practice the truth, i.e., perform good works. For truth is found not only in thought and words, but also in deeds. Everyone of these comes to the light. But did anyone practice the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He that practiceth the truth (that is, true religion) cometh to the light - So even Nicodemus, afterward did. Are wrought in God - That is, in the light, power, and love of God.
But he that doth truth,....
The Nineteenth Century6 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Are that doeth truth - He who does right, or he that obeys the truth. Truth here is opposed to error and to evil. The sinner acts from falsehood and error. The good man acts according to truth. The sinner believes a lie - that God will not punish, or that there is no God, or that there is no eternity and no hell. The Christian believes all these, and acts as if they were true. This is the difference between a Christian and a sinner. Cometh to the light - Loves the truth, and seeks it more and more.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
We have in these verses the second part of the conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus. A lesson about regeneration is closely followed by a lesson about justification! The whole passage ought always to be read with affectionate reverence. It contains words which have brought eternal life to myriads of souls. These verses show us, firstly, what gross spiritual ignorance there may be in the mind of a great and learned man. We see a "master of Israel" unacquainted with the first elements of saving religion.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
doeth truth--whose only object in life is to be and do what will bear the light. Therefore he loves and "comes to the light," that all he is and does, being thus thoroughly tested, may be seen to have nothing in it but what is divinely wrought and divinely approved.
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A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
not to condemn, &c.--A statement of vast importance. Though "condemnation" is to many the issue of Christ's mission (Joh 3:19), it is not the object of His mission, which is purely a saving one.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
We have in these verses the second part of the conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and Nicodemus. A lesson about regeneration is closely followed by a lesson about justification! The whole passage ought always to be read with affectionate reverence. It contains words which have brought eternal life to myriads of souls. These verses show us, firstly, what gross spiritual ignorance there may be in the mind of a great and learned man. We see a "master of Israel" unacquainted with the first elements of saving religion. Nicodemus is told about the new birth, and at once exclaims, "How can these things be?" When such was the darkness of a Jewish teacher , what must have been the state of the Jewish people? It was indeed due time for Christ to appear! The pastors of Israel had ceased to feed the people with knowledge. The blind were leading the blind, and both were falling into the ditch. (Matt. 15:14.) Ignorance like that of Nicodemus is unhappily far too common in the Church of Christ. We must never be surprised if we find it in quarters where we might reasonably expect knowledge. Learning, and rank, and high ecclesiastical office are no proof that a minister is taught by the Spirit. The successors of Nicodemus, in every age, are far more numerous than the successors of Peter. On no point is religious ignorance so common as on the work of the Holy Spirit. That old stumbling-block, at which Nicodemus stumbled, is as much an offence to thousands in the present day as it was in the days of Christ. "The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God." (1 Cor. 2:14.) Happy is he who has been taught to prove all things by Scripture, and to call no man master upon earth. (1 Thess. 5:21; Matt. 23:9.) These verses show us, secondly, the original source from which man's salvation springs . That source is the love of God the Father.
Wrought in God - In his presence, and through his assistance. This is the end of our Lord’s discourse to Nicodemus; and though we are not informed here of any good effects produced by it, yet we learn from other scriptures that it had produced the most blessed effects in his mind, and that from this time he became a disciple of Christ. He publicly defended our Lord in the Sanhedrin, of which he was probably a member, Joh 7:50, and, with Joseph of Arimathea, gave him an honorable funeral, Joh 19:39, when all his bosom friends had deserted him. See Dodd.
Modern Voices3 voices
A commentator
GK ChestertonOn Political Secrecy (All Things Considered) · Written before 1936.
proposed
This secrecy is one which cannot be justified as a sensational joke nor as a common human freemasonry, nor as an indescribable personal whim. Strangely enough, indeed, it violates all three conditions and classes at once. It is not hidden in order to be revealed: …
A commentator
GK ChestertonAnonymity and Further Counsels (All Things Considered) · Written before 1936.
proposed
As has often been said, anonymity would be all very well if one could for a moment imagine that it was established from good motives. Suppose, for instance, that we were all quite certain that the men on the Thunderer newspaper were a band of …
A commentator
GK ChestertonHeretics, I. Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy (1905) (1905)
proposed
Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about something, let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in …
How the passage was read
On John 3:1-21On John 3:1-21
Nicodemus, and why “born again” baffled a teacher of Israel
Nicodemus is “a man of the Pharisees... a ruler of the Jews”: a member of the Sanhedrin, the seventy-one-member high council that governed Jewish religious life from Jerusalem. His night visit is respectful and searching, and he is the standing proof that the Pharisaic movement contained honest seekers; John follows his arc from this conversation to his protest on Jesus' behalf (John 7:50-52) and finally to the seventy-five pounds of burial spices (John 19:39).
Why does “ye must be born again” baffle “the teacher of Israel”? The tradition had rebirth language of its own, but for GENTILES: a convert to Judaism “has the legal status of a newborn child,” as the Talmud words the principle (Yevamot 22a). Rebirth was intelligible for an outsider entering Israel. Jesus applies it to a son of Abraham, a Pharisee, a member of the council: even Israel's teacher must be born of water and the Spirit, words that stand on Ezekiel 36:25-27's promise of clean water and a new spirit. The tradition's convert-rebirth is reception history; what Jesus claims from it is the verse's own Christian confession, new birth from above for everyone.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Yevamot 22a (Babylonian Talmud: the convert as a newborn)
The words behind it
19 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | the [one] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ποιῶν | poion | practicing | G4160 → | 569 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀλήθειαν | aletheian | truth | G225 → | 109 times |
| ἔρχεται | erchetai | comes | G2064 → | 628 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| φῶς | phos | Light | G5457 → | 72 times |
| ἵνα | ina | that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| φανερωθῇ | phanerothea | may be manifest | G5319 → | 45 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | his | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τὰ | ta | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἔργα | erga | works | G2041 → | 168 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| θεῷ | theo | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | have been | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| εἰργασμένα.¶ | eirgasmena | done. | G2038 → | 41 times |
ὁthe [one]
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
ποιῶνpracticing
poionG4160 →569 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
ἀλήθειανtruth
aletheianG225 →109 times
ἔρχεταιcomes
erchetaiG2064 →628 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
φῶςLight
phosG5457 →72 times
ἵναthat
inaG2443 →668 times
φανερωθῇmay be manifest
phanerotheaG5319 →45 times
αὐτοῦhis
autouG846 →5565 times
τὰ<the>
taG3588 →19766 times
ἔργαworks
ergaG2041 →168 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
θεῷGod
theoG2316 →1312 times
ἐστινhave been
estinG1510 →2333 times
εἰργασμένα.¶done.
eirgasmenaG2038 →41 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Philippians 2:13For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:21
equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
- 2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- Romans 9:16
So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of…
- Hebrews 13:21
Through
3 John 1:11Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:16–17
Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
- Isaiah 1:16–17
Through
1 John 1:6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
- 1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- 1 John 4:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
- Born of the Spirit
- The Bronze Serpent
- Entering the Kingdom
- Eternal Life
- Grumbling, the Opposite of Thanks
- Hard Questions in the Old Testament
Show the next 6 titles
About John
This page draws on 22 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE MERITS AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND ON INFANT BAPTISM 1.62; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 12; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 3; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 2; GK Chesterton, On Political Secrecy (All Things Considered); GK Chesterton, Anonymity and Further Counsels (All Things Considered); GK Chesterton, Heretics, I. Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy (1905); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Tertullian, ON THE DRESS OF WOMEN 2.13; Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Book II; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.