Water & Spirit from John 3:5 EXPLAINED | (un)ANSWERED

John 3:5 and the Question of Being Born of Water and Spirit

We've all experienced the odd occurrence of the Bible and was left with fringe questions. Watch and listen as we leave no question unanswered.

Today we're going to be going through one of the most disputed texts in all of Scripture. Between theologians, professors, scholars, pastors, and even the average Bible student, you name it, there's been questions regarding this text that have largely gone unanswered, but there are four possible answers to this question that people have thought largely unanswered.

So let's take a look at that now. We're gonna go to the gospel according to John chapter 3. Starting in verse 3 of John chapter 3, it says this,. And that verse 5, that last verse that I just read, is really the main issue that people are running into.

What does Jesus mean that someone must be born of water and spirit? Now before we can go into those four possible interpretations of water and spirit in verse 5, we have to consider the fuller context.

The Meaning of Born Again and Born from Above

And to do that, we have to go to verse 3. Verse 3 holds the key to properly understanding verse 5. Jesus says, The fact is that phrase, born again, in the Greek is genethe anothen. Genethe being born, anothen having two meanings.

Now let me give you those two meanings. That word anothen means again, which is in my text, and it's probably in yours, but it also means from above. So all at once, Jesus is saying, with that word, this word should be conveyed in this way to Nicodemus, this Pharisee who came in the middle of the night.

This word, he should understand that he should be born again and born from above. But what we see in verse 4 is that Nicodemus doesn't understand. He just sees the one meaning of anothen. He thinks he needs to be born again physically.

But if he would have understood the play on words and what Jesus is trying to say in the dual meaning is that he has to be born from above. He has to be born again. He was already physically born. He already had generation.

Now he needs regeneration. And so with that we can go to verse 5 and consider those four possible interpretations. We see, once again, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Rejecting Baptismal Regeneration and John the Baptist's Baptism

Now the first possibility to water and spirit, and when I say water and spirit, we're really going to hit at water here. People are wondering what water means here. Some theologians, some scholars have argued that water is Christian baptism.

Some have said that the Apostle John has made an anachronistic insertion into the text that he added Christian baptism, the baptism that's commanded at the end of the Gospels in Matthew 28, the baptism that we see in the book of Acts, the baptism that we see in the Pauline Epistles.

He's saying that John is inserting that here. Now, I would argue against that. Why? Because number one, it doesn't fit the context. But number two, this would then allude to some sort of baptismal regeneration.

That one must be baptized to enter the kingdom of God, and we have scriptures that repudiate that. We see that that would become a work added on top of the Gospel. There's a plethora of scriptures that would argue against adding any work to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

One off the top of my head is the thief on the cross. He was never baptized. Today you will be with me in paradise, Jesus tells him. So we can't insert and add to the text and think that John is talking about one must have Christian baptism and being born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God.

That would make it a work. The second possibility to this is some have argued, and it goes along the same vein of the first one, some have said that the water is John the Baptist's baptism, while the spirit aspect is the spiritual baptism that's mentioned in the Gospels.

That as John the Baptist says, he says I come baptizing in water, but one comes after me who's going to baptize you by the Holy Spirit and fire. And they would say that's what John is talking about. A water baptism of repentance by John and then a baptism by Jesus.

But again, that doesn't fit here. Number one, we see with Nicodemus' incredulous response. He knew about John the Baptist. He knew about the water baptisms that were taking place beyond the Jordan. He himself doesn't think that that's it.

He doesn't say, oh so one must be baptized by John. The fact is John is now dead. John is gone. So it goes along with the first one as well in that if we make John's baptism required to enter the kingdom of God along with being baptized by Jesus, then it's a salvific work.

Why Natural Birth Does Not Fit John 3:5

And that is not the gospel my friends. Now the third potential interpretation of water in verse 5, I have to tell you is one of the most popular among Christian scholars today. It is unlike the Christian baptism or John's baptism that we just went over.

It is truly unique. And when you go to verse 5, you'll see it with me. It says, I say to you unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And what they say regarding water there is that that is like a woman's water breaking before natural birth.

They would say that verse 5 contains not one birth, but two births. One has to come into the world, be born, and then they must be born spiritually to enter the kingdom of God. Now that carries with it some issues.

Number one, what about those who are in the womb who are never fully born? What about them who pass away? What about the possibility that God might shed grace on those who will never be born? Then the other thing is that natural birth is already presupposed.

It's not something that is needed. You must be born. This is Jesus telling us how someone can be saved. How can I enter the kingdom of God, Nicodemus? You must be born naturally? It just doesn't fit. And I also have to tell you that being born of water is a phrase that is never referring to natural birth in all the rest of the Bible, number one.

And in an ancient text of this time, no one has ever referred to natural birth by saying being born of water. So we just don't see that being the case here. Now, I'm going to give you the fourth potential interpretation of water in verse 5.

Water and Spirit as the New Birth from Above

I think, in my opinion, along with many others, that this is the most biblical, the most faithful to the text. And let me give that to you now. I told you that the key to unlocking verse 5 was in verse 3, and it was in genethe anothen.

That dual meaning of anothen, which is born again and born from above. Two meanings in one. And what we're supposed to look at with verse 5 is that verse 3 and verse 5 are parallels. Jesus is literally restating the same exact thing he said in verse 3.

That's how we're supposed to take it. So if we're supposed to take it that way, then we are to look at spirit and water as two in one, just as anothen has two in one, born from above and born again. Water and spirit are one birth.

They are not two births. They are one single birth. In fact, they are coordinated together. They are meant to be one block. If I were to write this out like a mathematical equation, it'd be verse 3, born from above, born again, equals born of water and spirit.

They are two of the same things. We also have the fact that the Greek says genethe ek huditas kai numitas. Born of water and spirit. And now what I'm hitting at is that Greek preposition ek. That Greek preposition ek brings water and spirit together.

They're not separate things. It's not saying born of water and born of spirit. It is bringing them as one unit. You must be born of water and spirit. That is one single block together. Now you might say, okay, I get that.

Being born again, being born from above is to be born of water and spirit. But you might be asking yourself, so why does Jesus mention water? What is he alluding to in that? And to do that, we have to consider what John did in the prologue.

John talked about the fact that Jesus is the logos, the eternal Creator God. Not anything that was made was made apart from Him. And so where do we go to see that account? We go where? Genesis chapter 1.

Now if you look there, you'll see the fact that it says, And the Spirit of God, see that? Spirit. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Spirit and water. We're to think back to this creation account in this.

Remember, the whole key to the prologue is that Jesus created everything and He's come to create again. Now what we'll find when we look through Scripture is that water or pouring out and spirit are always associated with each other.

And when they're associated together, they're pointing to the fact that a new birth, a rebirth is coming. If we look at Joel chapter 2, it says, Pouring out His Spirit, that is like water being poured out.

If we go to Isaiah chapter 44, it says, Water and spirit are associated together. One of the biggest ones is of course in Ezekiel chapter 36. It says this, From all your filthiness and from all your idols, God promises, 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. He promises, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues. You see that? We see the fact that water and spirit are associated with the regeneration of a believer.

Even beyond Ezekiel chapter 36, the very next chapter shows that there is a valley of dry bones, that they need to come alive, that there needs to be a resurrection. In this world, in this fallen humanity, we are dead.

We are like corpses walking around. We need that water and that spirit that only God can give. And that's really the heart of John chapter 3. Jesus is saying that you can't do this without me. This is an act of God.

So it's not that you can have salvation, that you can enter the kingdom of God by baptism and being born again. It's not that you can have John's baptism and Jesus's baptism and enter the kingdom of God.

And it's clearly not being born of your mother and being born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God. Why? Because it's nothing that we can do. It's nothing that we can do. We can't even be born and born again to enter the kingdom of God.

Verse 5 is showing that this is all an act of God. We are without hope. We are without help from ourselves. We need God to do a miracle. We need God to pour out His Spirit on us. As Paul says in Titus chapter 3, we need to go through the waters of regeneration.

We need cleansing from our sin. And that's only something that Jesus can do. That's the heart of this. And so we consider the theme that John has put out in John chapter 1, 2, and 3 so far. That Jesus is the Logos.

He's the Creator God from all eternity. He created before in Genesis, and He's creating again. This is a new Genesis. It says in the prologue very well that this is not going to be of blood. This is not going to be of flesh.

This is not going to be of the will of man, but of God. This is a birth of God. So it's not something we can do. It's not baptism. It's not John's baptism, and it's not natural birth, because it's not of the flesh.

It's of water and Spirit. It's from above. And so when you consider these four potential interpretations, I ask you, has what been given to you today still leave this question unanswered?