Continuing on in John 2:23-25, Jesus is still in Jerusalem during Passover and these verses tell us that many believed in Him when they saw the miracles that He did. Then it says Jesus did not trust them because He knew what was in man. This brings us to John 3 and an important passage, the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee (John 3:1), a member of the Sanhedrin (John 7:45-53) and thought to be one of the richest men in Israel at the time. By his own testimony he evidently believed Jesus was from God (John 3:2).
So, now we need to follow this conversation from verse 3 through verse 10. After Nicodemus said what he did in verse 2, Jesus got right to the point saying, “unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The first thing we have to do is look at this term “born again”. This is from gennethe anothen. Gennethe (from gennao, to be born) is used here metaphorically to indicate a new life or new beginning. Some translate it “born from above” (anothen can be translated “above”, as in John 3:31, or “again”, as in Galatians 4:19), but as we go through this conversation, I think it’s clear that Jesus meant “born again”.
Nicodemus answers in verse 4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” It’s clear from his answer that he understood Jesus’ statement to be about being “born again”, not being “born from above”. Then in verse 5 Jesus tries to clarify His statement by saying, “I assure you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
There are two issues now that have to be understood. The first is the meaning of being “born again”. The second is what Jesus meant by using the words “born of water and of the Spirit”. It might be useful if we look at “born of water” first. There are those who want to use this term to describe physical birth, the “water” being the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb. However, I don’t believe this is the meaning of Jesus’ statement given the context. I’ll explain this later.
Then, there are those who insist this “born of water” refers to water baptism. They try to make water baptism a requisite for their idea of salvation. We can definitely rule this out for several reasons. The first is that Jesus and others make it plain that salvation is by faith, not by works (see John 3:16, 36; Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5). The thief on the cross certainly was not baptized in water (Luke 23:39-43), yet Jesus promised him they would be together in paradise that very day. Christian baptism was not practiced until Acts 2:38, and then only for a time as a teaching tool to illustrate the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As we will see later, communion is the only authorized ordinance of the New Testament church. Water baptism was phased out and not practiced by the early church as the understanding of Holy Spirit baptism became clear.
The best interpretation of this passage and the one that fits the overall context, not only of this passage but of the Bible as a whole, is the one that sees the phrase “born of water and the Spirit” as both describing different aspects of the same spiritual birth, or of what it means to be “born again”. So, when Jesus told Nicodemus that he must “be born of water and the Spirit” He was not referring to literal water (i.e. water baptism or physical birth), but was referring to the need for spiritual cleansing or renewal. In both the Old Testament (Psalm 51:2; Ezekiel 36:25) and the New Testament (1 Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 10:22) this cleansing is illustrated with water. The “cleansing of the new birth” and the “renewing of the Holy Spirit” are mentioned together as the two necessary aspects of deliverance in Titus 3:5. In fact, Jesus uses “water” to illustrate deliverance in its entirety, or eternal life in John 4:14.
Water is a symbol of cleansing; the Spirit is the symbol of power. When we submit our lives to Jesus the past is forgiven. Then, there enters into our lives a new power, which enables us to be what we could never be on our own. Now, the ministry of the Holy Spirit comes (this is what Jesus meant with the term “born of the Spirit) to begin a process of conforming us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:10). Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ. This enables us to be renewed, to put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:20-24).
The “water” mentioned in this verse is not literal water but the “living water” Jesus promised the woman at the well (John 4:10) and the people in Jerusalem (John 7:37-39). It is the inward purification and renewal produced by the Holy Spirit that brings forth spiritual life (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Titus 3:5). Jesus reinforces this truth in John 3:7 when He restates that one must be born again and that this newness of life can only be produced by the Holy Spirit in John 3:8.
Now, in verse 9 Nicodemus is incredulous. All this talk of being born again and born of water and the Spirit has him confused. He asks, “How can these things be possible?” Then Jesus rebukes Nicodemus in verse 10 by asking him: “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not understand these things?” This tells us that what Jesus had just told Nicodemus was something he should have understood from the Old Testament. As a teacher of the Old Testament, what should Nicodemus have understood? It is that God had promised a time was coming when He would: “sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 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. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
Immersed in his religious traditions and rituals as he was, Nicodemus was subject to Jesus’ disapproval because he seemed totally ignorant of the New Covenant that had been promised and the spiritual dynamic that would accompany it (Jeremiah 31:31-33). He could not understand the inward spiritual, because he was blinded by the outward religious. What follows from verse 11 to verse 21 is the rest of Jesus’ rebuke, which will continue in the next lesson.