Verses 1-8
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Notice first of all that Jesus made Himself available for Nicodemus at night, when normally a person would sleep. To be like Jesus, be willing to help someone who seeks your help at any time, despite the inconvenience.
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Verses 3-6. Being born again is necessary for salvation, and it is a spiritual event, not a physical one. The spirit man is the part of us that is saved. How so?
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When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us (1 Corinthians 6:19), joins with our human spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), and washes us of our sin (Titus 3:5).
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As such, the human spirit is sealed and guaranteed salvation or entrance into the kingdom of heaven (Ephesians 1:13-14).
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As a result, we become what Scripture calls a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We receive a new beginning and new desires to obey God (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Salvation is like a new birth because you become brand new!
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All in all, if a person is saved if they have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). And if they have not received the Spirit, as to be made new, they are not saved.
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Verses 7-8. Even though we don't fully understand how the wind works, we don't spend our days frustrated over it. In the same way, don't frustrate yourself over not fully understanding the workings of the Spirit. Just trust and obey!
Verses 9-12
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Jesus has given us enough understanding in His Word, even with earthly illustrations, for us to believe Him. If we can't accept what the Word says on earth, using earthly metaphors, how could we believe in heavenly things or more difficult teachings?
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Believe the Word before anything else! And don't expect more from God if you're not being faithful to obey what He's already given you the ability to understand in the Bible.
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Verse 13
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No one has ever had the power to ascend to heaven on their own, and no one has been sent from heaven to the world, to speak to the world, except Christ. Christ is from heaven. As such, the only way to God in heaven is through the Son—Jesus Christ (John 14:6)
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Use this verse to teach that because Christ is the only one from heaven, and the only one with the power in Himself to ascend to heaven, He alone can bring us to heaven and to God.
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Verses 14-18
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Verse 14. Jesus speaks to His crucifixion here.
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After the Israelites had sinned, and were attacked by serpents, God had Moses fashion and mount a bronze serpent on a pole; and when the people looked at the serpent, after being bitten, they were healed (Numbers 21).
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Even so, Jesus became on the cross the very curse and sin that caused us death and pain (Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21). And when we look to Him, believing in Him, we are healed of our sins and granted eternal life.
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Verses 15-17. Because Jesus is the only One who has taken our sins upon Himself, He alone can save us.
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A person is saved by belief in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9), and remains unsaved because of disbelief in Jesus.
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Being saved or unsaved depends on what a person believes about Jesus.
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It is because God loves us that He sent His Son to save us.
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Even so, always be motivated by love for others, and teach that Jesus came to save us from the condemnation of hell, not to destroy us (Luke 9:56).
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Verses 19-21
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Now we move from belief in Jesus to repentance from sin. Alone, we are guilty and receive condemnation because we choose to stay in sin, we love sin, and hate to see our sin exposed. Our own works condemn us.
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You can recognize a believer, in part, as someone who wants their sin to be exposed, readily admits it, and repents (turns away from their sin). Like belief, repentance is required in order to be saved. The sign of an unbeliever is that they like their sin, and so they hide in it and hate to be honest.
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To repent in your own life, seek correction from the Word and from the wisdom of godly people. Desire to have your sin exposed so that you can change and obey God instead.
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Consider also what 1 John 1:6-7 says: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
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Verses 22-30
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Some would have thought of Jesus' ministry as a threat to John's, but John clarified that he came to be replaced by Jesus.
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John's humility and devotion to serving Christ here is profound.
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Verse 27. There is no reason to envy someone else because all that we have comes from God (1 Corinthians 4:7). God decides what we can and cannot do. To envy someone else, who seems to be granted more, is to be bitter against God.
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Verses 29-30. We are friends of Christ here to support and exalt Him. We exist to promote Christ, not to promote ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:5). The more that the name of Christ is exalted, the happier we should be!
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Think like John thought. He must increase, and you must decrease. If you are being a faithful servant to Christ, when people come to know and trust you, the result will be that they come to know and trust Christ.
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Don't take joy in your own name being famed. And have such a selfless attitude that your thoughts and feelings don't matter, but only gain for Christ and His kingdom.
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Verses 31-36
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Jesus is from God, speaks for God, and has the fullness of God's Spirit and God's power. To receive Jesus is to receive God.
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Teach that a person who rejects Jesus rejects God and calls God a liar (1 John 5:9-12)
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Verse 36. Also understand and teach about God's wrath. God's wrath is looming over the person who does not believe and obey the word of Christ, and upon death that wrath will be suffered in hell.
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Being saved from God's wrath requires both believing in the Son and believing (obeying) the Son (see ESV of this verse). This means we must be convinced that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again (His identity), and we must show that we believe His words by obeying them. This is believing the Son, not just believing in the Son.