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INTRODUCTION
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This is an important question because it concerns a person’s eternal salvation. So, what exactly is born of water and Spirit? Amazingly, what seemed to be a straightforward interpretation turned out to be more complicated than we expected. There are at least three different interpretations especially for the phrase, “born of water.” Even more disappointing is that some theologians have focused more on the issue of being “born of water” in their interpretations than the work of the Holy Spirit. Some say that “born of water” refers to water baptism while others say that it refers to spiritual cleansing and there are also others who claim that it could not be referring to natural birth. This commentary will attempt to disprove their claims and explain what we think John 3:5 truly means.
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ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY – IS BORN OF WATER REFERRING TO WATER BAPTISM?
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John 3:5 (NASB95) states:
(5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
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There are some who say that “born of water” is referring to water baptism. In our opinion, this is not possible because it would be equal to saying that unless one goes through water baptism, in addition to being “born of the Spirit,” he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Water baptism is a reflection of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. All disciples of Christ should go through water baptism as it represents the disciple’s death and burial of his old self of sin and rebellion against God, and his coming out of the water represents his rising from the grave and walking in new life with God. A very important event for all Christians to go through as it allows the believer to declare his faith and discipleship in Christ. Nonetheless, we wish to highlight that water baptism though important, is still not a requirement for eternal salvation. The true believer’s salvation is always by grace alone, through faith alone and in Christ alone. By grace alone, because salvation is given by God’s grace alone and not by any merit on the part of the Christian. Through faith alone, because Christians are judged righteous in the sight of God purely on the basis of their faith in Christ, where the faith that they have to believe in Christ, came from God and not from themselves. And in Christ alone, because Christ is the one and only mediator between God and man, and their salvation is accomplished through His death on the cross and resurrection.
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Eph 2:8-9 (NASB95) states:
(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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It is clear from Eph 2:8-9 that water baptism is not required for eternal salvation. Only the three requirements mentioned earlier need to be met. In addition, in John 4:2 we read that Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples did the baptizing, and in Luke 23:40-43, when one of the criminals crucified next to Jesus said, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Here, it can be seen that the three requirements are being met, that is, by God’s grace alone, through the criminal’s faith alone, and his faith in Christ alone. There were no works to boast about and no water baptism required for that criminal. Therefore the “born of water” in John 3:5 cannot be referring to water baptism.
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ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY – IS BORN OF WATER REFERRING TO SPIRITUAL CLEANSING?
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Many commentators believe that when Jesus said that a person must be born of water and Spirit, He was referring to Eze 36:24-27. They assumed that since Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a teacher of Israel, then He must have been referring to something in the Old Testament. And if it is the Old Testament, then it had to be Eze 36:24-27 as it looked somewhat parallel to John 3:5. We disagree with their views. One of those commentators is an eminent Bible scholar. We suppose the rest of the commentators just followed this Bible scholar’s opinions probably because of his academic credentials. Anyways, Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus in John 3:10 could simply mean that He expected him, a teacher of Israel, to understand what He was trying to tell him and that is all. There is nothing in John 3:10 that states that Jesus was referring to the Old Testament. Those commentators were speculating. Nonetheless, let us now take a look at Eze 36:24-27.
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Eze 36:24-27 (NASB95) states:
(24) For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. (25) Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. (26) Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (27) I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
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Eze 36:24 Commentary: In our view, the first problem of their interpretation is that God was speaking only to Israel. If Eze 36:22 and Eze 36:24-27 are read plainly, it can be seen that God was speaking only to the house of Israel. Whereas in John 3:5, Jesus said, “unless one is born of water…” The “one” is referring to everyone, not just to Nicodemus and certainly not just to Israel alone. So how can John 3:5 when refers to everyone, be parallel to Eze 36:24-27, which refers only to Israel? Additionally, in John 3:5 we see the requirements for entry into the kingdom of God. Whereas in Eze 36:24-27, we see God telling Israel that He would bring them “into your own land.” Is the land of Israel the same as the kingdom of God? Definitely not. The kingdom of God is not just a piece of land somewhere in the middle east, the kingdom of God is an imperishable kingdom whose King has all authority in heaven and on earth.
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Eze 36:25 Commentary: The second problem of their interpretation is that cleansing action is not birthing action. Verse 25 is about God’s cleansing action on Israel in order to remove all of their filthiness and their idolatry. The action of sprinkling clean water for purification purposes is an Old Testament ordinance found in Num 19:19 which states, “Then the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.” Whereas in John 3:5, Jesus said, “unless one is born of water…” The word “born” means coming into existence by birth. So how can coming into existence by birth, be similar or parallel to Eze 36:25 which plainly speaks of cleansing for purification purposes? Cleansing action and birthing action are vastly different from each other.
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Eze 36:26 Commentary: The third problem of their interpretation is that transformative action is not birthing action. Verse 26 is clearly a figure of speech as naturally it is not possible to have a heart made out of stone. Verse 26 is God telling Israel that He will change their obstinate and dead insensibility of heart (their heart of stone) with a new spiritual mindedness and sensitiveness toward God (a new heart of flesh and a new spirit). The verse also does not mean that God will actually replace all of their existing human spirits with new human spirits. It just means that God will do a work of spiritual transformation in them, to change their thinking and their motivations. Spiritual transformation work may seem somewhat similar to John 3:5, but it is still different from the action of coming into existence by birth. The condition and status of being born of the Holy Spirit far exceeds the condition of any spiritual transformative work being done on any person.
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Eze 36:27 Commentary: The fourth problem of their interpretation is that statutes and ordinances are a part of the Old Testament Law. The moral laws (mishpatim) relate to justice and judgement, are often translated as “ordinances” and the ceremonial laws (hukkim and chuqqah) are often translated as “statutes.” An example of an ordinance can be found in Exo 21:1-2 (NASB95) which states, “Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.” Are Christians supposed to observe such ordinances? An example of a statute can be found in Num 19:21 (NASB95) which states, “So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.” Are Christians supposed to walk in such statutes? Yet, Eze 36:27 states, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Let us see what Rom 7:6 has to say regarding such laws. Rom 7:6 states, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” As seen from Rom 7:6, all Christians have been released from the Law when they died with Christ to their old sinful selves. They are no longer bound by the Law. Now, they walk according to the Spirit, being subject to the law of the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit. How then is it possible for Eze 36:24-27 to be parallel or similar to John 3:5? Are Christians supposed to go back to walking in statutes and ordinances of the Old Testament? No. Christians are not bound by these laws. For Rom 10:4 states, “(4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Therefore, Eze 36:24-27 belongs to the Old Testament and John 3:5 belongs to the New Testament. They are not parallel to each other. Those commentators may have meant well, but we believe they are truly mistaken. It is our view that the, “born of water” in John 3:5 cannot be referring to spiritual cleansing, and the “born of the Spirit” in John 3:5 is not similar in any way to Eze 36:24-27. Let us now look at the third possible interpretation of John 3:5.
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ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY – IS BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT REFERRING TO PHYSICAL BIRTH AND SPIRITUAL BIRTH?
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In order to accurately interpret what Jesus said, it is important to see the verses before and after John 3:5. Let us read from John 3:3 to John 3:8.
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John 3:3-8 (NASB95) states:
(3) Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (4) Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (5) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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John 3:3-5 Commentary: In verse 3, Jesus said that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So, if verse 3 is paraphrased it would be, “I am seriously telling you the truth, unless a person comes into existence by birth a second time, he is not getting into My kingdom.” This led Nicodemus to tell Jesus in verse 4 about the impossibility of an adult person entering into his mother’s womb to be birthed a second time. Then in verse 5, we can see that Jesus did not correct Nicodemus. In fact, Jesus further emphasized His initial statement in verse 3, by elaborating, saying that unless a person is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. If Jesus meant that the phrase, “born of water” to mean cleansing, He would have said so. Was He trying to confuse Nicodemus? Or could it be that Jesus had limited vocabulary? No, to both. Jesus knew exactly what He said. When He said, “born of water,” He meant born of water, and not cleansing with water – born, not cleansing. It is amazing how Bible commentators can misinterpret something so straightforward.
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John 3:6 Commentary: There are two births in verse 6 – born of flesh (first birth) and born of the Spirit (second birth). If verses 5 and 6 are read together, born of water would be referring to born of the flesh, and born of the Spirit in verse 5 would be referring to born of the Spirit in verse 6. In verse 5, there are 2 births and in verse 6, there are also 2 births. It is clear as day that to be born of water is referring to being born of the flesh. Therefore, the phrase, “born of water” is referring to natural birth and not spiritual cleansing. Verse 6 explains verse 5. May we humbly request readers to reread verses 5 to 6.
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John 3:7 Commentary: In verse 7, Jesus again repeated Himself to Nicodemus about the importance of being born again. For reader’s general knowledge, an unborn baby floats in amniotic fluid for the duration of the pregnancy. Typically, when the born is born, the amniotic fluid is released. This amniotic fluid is about 98% water and the other 2% is made up of minerals, hormones and other nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and vitamins. Thus, to say that being born of water is referring to being born of the flesh is not only biblically correct, but also medically correct. But then again, being born of water is not enough, a person needs to be born a second time in order to enter into the kingdom of God. The second birth, that is to be born again, is referring to a person being born of the Spirit. So, what happens when a person is born of the Spirit?
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John 3:8 Commentary: Jesus said that the wind blows where it wishes. The phrase, “where it wishes” lets Nicodemus (and us) know that it is an independent decision of the Holy Spirit. It is God who decides who is to be born again. It may seem like Christians chose to believe in Christ, but that is not true. Christians were chosen long before they were born and even before the world existed (Eph 1:3-6). It was God who chose them from a long time ago. No one knows how or when a person will be born again. The believer’s regeneration is invisible like the wind. But the effects can be seen and heard. In other words, there will be signs of the person’s regeneration. A person who is truly born of the Holy Spirit will have signs that can clearly be seen and heard by others. Depending on the rate of his growth in Christ and the progress of his sanctification, there will be good fruit produced by him because out of the good treasure of his heart, he will invariably bring forth what is good (Luke 6:45). Is there more signs? Yes, he will believe that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 5:1), he will love his fellow brethren in Christ (1 John 5:1), he will overcome the world (1 John 5:4) and very importantly, he will not practice sinning (1 John 3:9). The one who says he is a true born-again Christian but go on sinning deliberately, knowingly and habitually is either very deluded, or he is lying to himself. Invariably, over a period of time, the born-again Christian will progressively conform to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29).
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CONCLUSION
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