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Nicodemus |
Nicodemus was curious about
Jesus because He had performed many signs (Jn. 3:2). So, he came to Jesus at
night to speak to Jesus and to find out more about Him. Notice what Jesus tells
Him in the following verses:
“Jesus
answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born-again, he cannot see the
Jesus’ answer confuses Nicodemus because all he
could think of was the physical. He knew that he belonged to the physical
In verse 4, Nicodemus is trying to make sense of
Jesus’ statement from a physical point of view. This is why he asked, "How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born?" He thought Jesus statement was crazy because he knew it
was impossible to be physically reborn. So, Jesus restates what He said to help
Nicodemus understand that He was talking about a spiritual rebirth and not a
physical one. Jesus makes it clear that a person cannot enter the kingdom of
God that John the Baptist said was at hand (Mk. 1:15), unless they are
born-again. This means a person cannot be saved unless they are born of water
and the spirit. Since, these two elements are necessary for salvation, it’s
important that we take a closer look at what they are and how we are
born-again.
First, let’s take a look at the word “water” and how
it relates to being born-again. The word “water” comes from the Greek word “hudor,” which simply means water. It should be easy to see
that water is one of the elements necessary to be born-again, which points to
baptism. In fact, we can see that water is required for baptism. For instance,
when John was baptizing, he baptized with water (Mk. 1:8-10; Jn. 3:23). When
the apostles and disciples were carrying out the great commission, they
baptized with water (Acts 8:36-39; 10:47). When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he
declared there is only one baptism that saves (Eph. 4:4-5), and Peter tells us
that one baptism is by water (1 Pet. 3:20-21). In
“In his monumental work, History of Infant
Baptism, William Wall, a leading scholar in the Church of England, asserted
that not a single writer of antiquity denied the identification of the “water”
of John 3:5 with baptism. He suggested that John Calvin was the first to
disassociate the two items, and that Calvin even conceded that his
interpretation was “new” (
Not only does the Bible prove that Jesus is
talking about water baptism, all these early noninspired
writers understood that Jesus was talking about water baptism as well.
Second, let’s take a look at the word
“spirit” and how it relates to being born-again. Now, we need to keep in mind
there is only one birth and it consists of water and spirit. Therefore, there
are not two births as some teach, but only one. Jesus is teaching us the Holy
Spirit is involved in being born-again. But, the question is, how? To answer
this question, we must go beyond this one passage and look at the whole counsel
of God. What you will discover is the Holy Spirit instructs us through the Word
of God on how to be saved. This is the role that He plays in our being
born-again.
The Holy Spirit’s primary purpose was to
reveal the Word of God to us (Jn. 14:26; 16:13-15). He spoke through some of
Jesus’ disciples, who in turn recorded these revelations to us in our Bibles (2
Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Cor. 2:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). So there would be no confusion,
He proved a person was speaking the Word of God by backing it up with a miracle
(Mk. 16:20; Acts 2:43; 5;12; 6:8; 8:13; Rom. 15:19). Jesus says, "It is the Spirit who gives
life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they
are life” (John 6:63) Paul
refers to the New Testament as being a spirit (2 Cor. 3:6). This teaches us the Holy Spirit works through the Word to
show us how we are to enter the
To further show how the Holy Spirit works in
our conversion with water baptism, take a look at the following parallel
passages.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the
church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Notice, the 3 elements: the word, washing of water and cleanse. The
“word” is obviously a reference to the Word of God. “Washing of water” refers
to water baptism. “Sanctify and cleanse” refers to being saved with our sins
being removed.
“…He saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
Notice the 3 elements: Holy Spirit, washing of regeneration and saved.
“Renewing of the Holy Spirit” refers to how the Holy Spirit works through the
Word to save us (James 1:21). “Washing” is defined as “Washing, cleansing;
water (USB).” “Regeneration” is defined as a new birth or renewal or
restoration of life after death (Strong’s).” So, “washing of……….. regeneration” is
referring to water baptism and “saved” means salvation.
“For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13).
Notice the 3 elements:
Spirit, baptized, one body. Please notice Paul says, “By one Spirit” and not
“With one Spirit.” This is important because this shows the baptism being
spoken of here is not Holy Spirit baptism, but is by the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit instructs us through the Word that we must be baptized in water into the
name of Jesus for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). So, “baptism” refers
to water baptism. “One body” is the same as saying the kingdom because the body
is the church (Col. 1:18, 24) and the
church is the same as the kingdom (Mat. 16:18-19). Now, examine the following chart.
|
John 3:5 |
Spirit |
Water |
Kingdom |
|
Eph. 5:26 |
Word |
Water |
Cleansed |
|
Tit. 3:5 |
Holy Spirit |
Washing |
Saved |
|
1 Cor. 12:13 |
Spirit |
Baptized |
Body |
All these verses show that the Holy Spirit
works through the Word of God and teaches us what we must do to be born-again,
which includes believing Jesus is the Son of God (Jn. 8:24), repenting (Lk. 13:3), confessing Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10) and
being baptized (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 3:21; Acts 22:16). When we obey the Holy
Spirit’s instructions, we are added to the kingdom by God (Acts 2:47), which is
Jesus’ church or body (Col. 1:18, 24) that He will save (Eph. 5:23).
Whenever we are born-again, we receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 5:32), which means we have been sealed by
Him (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Cor. 1:22). The word “seal” means “To
mark with a seal as a means of identification, mark, seal so that the mark denoting
ownership also carries with it the protection of the owner (BDAG).”
This fits perfectly with the great commission (Mat. 28:19), which teaches us
that we are baptized into the name of, or into the possession of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This seal is our guarantee of a home in heaven if
we remain faithful (Rev. 2:10). Just as the Holy Spirit was a witness for Jesus
(1 Jn. 5:6), He bears witness that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). Once we
are born-again, we are considered to be the temple of God and all three members
of the Godhead will dwell in us (Holy Spirit: 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Rom. 8:9, 11;
Father: 2 Cor. 6:16; Jn. 14:23; Jesus: Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Jn. 6:56). How
do they dwell in us? It is by our faith (Eph. 3:17). We can know that they
dwell in us just like we can know that our sins are being removed and we are
being united with Christ at the point of baptism (Col. 2:12). Again, it is by
our faith in the working of God.
So, Jesus taught
Nicodemus and us a valuable lesson. If we want to be saved and be able to enter
the
Now, I want to deal
with the objections that some have with these verses.
1. Some would say that Jesus is talking
about Holy Spirit baptism. Now, I have already proven the baptism that saves us
is water baptism, but let’s take a look as some more reasons this cannot be
talking about Holy Spirit baptism. Holy Spirit baptism only occurs two times in
scripture and it was followed with the miraculous ability to speak in another
language. First, at the day of Pentecost
(Acts 2) and second, at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10).
Holy Spirit baptism was a promise that Jesus would administer and He only
promised it to His apostles (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; 2:33). If Jesus was talking
about Holy Spirit baptism, then it would be necessary for every single person
to receive it to enter the
2. Some have said the water is talking about
the amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb and the spirit is referring
to being born of the Spirit, which brings us back to Holy Spirit baptism.
First, it wouldn’t make sense for Jesus to say that you must be born from the
water of your mother because who isn’t born from their mother? So, if Jesus
wanted us to know that Holy Spirit baptism was necessary, he would have simply
said you must be born of the Spirit. Second, Jesus had the chance to explain to
Nicodemus that he had already accomplished the first element in verse 5. But
instead, he said he must be born of water and spirit. Obviously, Jesus was
letting him know that he had not experienced this new birth of water and
spirit. Third, the word water used in this text is never used in the Bible to
refer to childbirth. This should be enough to show the water in this verse does
not refer to childbirth.
In conclusion, we have examined the first
reference to water baptism that Jesus would command under the new covenant,
which was necessary to enter the
If you have a question or comment, send
it to lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net