What Does Being “BORN OF WATER and of the Spirit” Mean?
Let’s read the passage in question:
3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ”
4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:3-5
Christ was talking about spiritual regeneration as observed by his explanation in verse 6 of what he meant by being “born again”: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” So why did he say in verse 5 that “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”? In short, what does being “born of water” have to do with with spiritual rebirth?
He wasn’t talking about water baptism since we know from Scripture that a believer can be spiritually born-again and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit before undergoing the ceremony of water baptism. The first recorded Gentile believers is Exhibit A (Acts 10:43-48), as are plain passages like Romans 3:23-25, John 3:16, Acts 16:31 and Ephesians 2:8-9. Remember, being baptized in water is simply a public testimony of the believer’s baptism into Christ, which refers to spiritual regeneration, as observed by Galatians 3:26-27 and Romans 6:3.
Like Christ, Paul also linked water to spiritual rebirth and this helps us understand what the Lord meant:
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit
As you can see, inward regeneration involves 1. the “washing of (spiritual) rebirth” and the corresponding 2. “renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
A deeper interpretation is that the Lord used “water” in reference to the seed of the Word of God (Ephesians 5:25-26). In other words, being “born of water” means being born-again via the Word of God.
You see, believers are spiritually reborn of the Holy Spirit — as Jesus said “Spirit gives birth to spirit” (verse 6) — but this is only possible due to the the seed of the Living Word of God, Christ (1 Peter 1:23). In 1 John 3:9 ‘seed’ is translated from sperma, which is the Greek word for sperm. In other words, all true believers are spiritually reborn through the Holy Spirit via the sperm of Christ. Yeshua prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). And Christ is both the living Word of God (John 1:1) and the Truth (John 14:6).
Related Topics:
The Six Basic Doctrines of Christianity
SPIRITUAL REBIRTH: Is Being “Born Again” Biblical?
How You Can KNOW You Are Saved
What Does “the Spirit, the Water and the Blood Testify” Mean?
SPIRITUAL REBIRTH: Is Being “Born Again” Biblical?
It amazes me when I come across believers, especially ministers, who play down or write-off spiritual regeneration as core to the Christian experience. Let’s start with the fact that the doctrine of baptisms is the third doctrine of Christianity, according to Hebrews 6:1-2, and the very first baptism that a believer experiences is spiritual baptism, which is the baptism into Christ.
Notice what Scripture says about this baptism:
26So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
This baptism is not water baptism, but rather refers to being spiritually born-again through Jesus Christ.
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit
Water baptism isn’t as important as the baptism into Christ since water baptism is merely the symbolic testimony of what has already taken place spiritually through the baptism into Christ. What’s more important, the inward baptism or the outward baptism that represents it?
The reason the baptism into Christ is a foundational doctrine of Christianity is because it’s impossible to be a Christian apart from this new spiritual birth. If someone says they’re a believer, but aren’t spiritually regenerated then they’re a Christian in name only and aren’t genuinely saved.
Notice that this spiritual rebirth is by the Holy Spirit, which was also corroborated by the Lord:
3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ”
4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
While the Holy Spirit gives spiritual rebirth, it’s through the imperishable seed of the Word of God, which is Christ (John 1:1-2):
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Although ‘seed’ in the Greek here is spora, it’s a different Greek word in this verse:
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
Those who are “born of God” cannot “go on sinning” in the sense of practicing sin as an unrepentant lifestyle. We know this is the proper interpretation because other verses plainly point out that all believers miss it from time to time, but are expected to “keep with repentance” by ‘fessing up and receiving God’s forgiveness (Matthew 3:8 & 1 John 1:8-9).
Notice the reference to “God’s seed.” All genuine believers are born of the imperishable seed of Christ through spiritual rebirth. The difference between this verse and 1 Peter 1:23 (above) is that the Greek word for ‘seed’ is sperma, the Greek word for sperm. In other words, believers are born-again spiritually via the imperishable sperm of Jesus Christ!
Here are some additional verses for those who require further evidence of spiritual rebirth in the Scriptures:
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
It is through spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit through the seed (sperm) of Christ that believers become children of God and are thus “new creations.”
Needless to say, if you come across any minister or group that says people don’t have to be spiritually reborn to be a Christian they should be rejected as false teachers. As Christ said about the false teachers of his day:
“Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Related Topics:
The Six Basic Doctrines of Christianity
The Fall of Man (Humanity) and Slavery to Satan
REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation
How to Keep Yourself BLAMELESS (while Not Being SINLESS)
Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body
What Does “Christ in You, the Hope of Glory” Mean?
To understand what the phrase “Christ in you, the hope of glory” means, let’s read it in context of Paul’s letter to the believers at Colossae:
I have become its [the Church’s] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Colossians 1:25-28
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (verse 27) is the “mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations” but now is revealed to people through the awesome Christian message (verse 26). It refers to the Lord being in the believer through spiritual regeneration via the seed of Christ (1 John 3:9, 1 Peter 1:23 & Titus 3:5), as well as the permanent indwelling Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), which is the seal and hope of all glorious things to come (2 Corinthians 1:22 & Ephesians 1:13-14). The latter includes:
- Acquiring intrinsic immortality (2 Timothy 1:10);
- The bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-44);
- And inheriting the new heavens & new earth (2 Peter 3:13).
Related Topics:
What Is the MYSTERY OF THE AGES?
The Fountain of Life Within (video)
Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled
Second Coming of Christ — Rapture and Return to Earth
Eternal Life (“Heaven”): Questions & Answers