In John 3:5 Jesus told Nicodemus: ‘No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’. Being born of the Spirit is straight forward, it involves a new life that only the Holy Spirit can produce. But what about being ‘born of water’? What does that mean? As we read the passage, focus on following the thread of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.
John 3:1-7
There was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“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!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
At Least 3 Explanations
There are three possible ways to understand what Jesus meant by ‘born of water and the Spirit.’ I will share all three, starting with the least likely, and ending with the most likely interpretation.
Water Baptism
One suggestion is that ‘born of water’ refers to water baptism. This is highly unlikely because nowhere in the Bible are we taught that we must be baptized in water to be saved. Baptism is not mentioned anywhere in the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, nor did Jesus ever imply that we must do anything to receive eternal life, except believe in Him (John 3:16). The emphasis of Jesus’ words is on repentance and spiritual renewal, we need the “living water” (salvation) promised the woman at the well in the next chapter (John 4:10). Water baptism is a public declaration that we have given our lives to Jesus, showing that we have died to self and are raised to new life in Jesus. Personally, I think it’s a wonderful expression of the Christian faith, but it is not a requirement for salvation, as one of the criminals who died alongside Jesus discovered (Luke 23:40-43).
Physical and Spiritual Birth
Another view is that “born of water” refers to physical birth and “born of the Spirit” refers to spiritual birth. When the time for birth of a baby arrives, the sack of amniotic fluid breaks, so that the birth is accompanied by a rush of water. In this view, natural birth parallels spiritual birth. A person once-born has physical life; but a person twice-born has eternal life (John 3:15-18). Just as a baby contributes no effort to the birth process, the hard work is done by the mother, so it is with spiritual birth. We are merely the recipients of God’s grace as He gives us new birth through His Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9).
According to this interpretation, Jesus was using a common teaching technique, that of placing, side-by-side, a spiritual truth with a physical reality. Nicodemus did not understand the spiritual birth, but he understood physical birth, so that was where Jesus started. This is certainly a plausible interpretation, although it does contain some weakness. Jesus did not quite place the two ideas side by side, rather He ‘squashed’ them into one phrase – ‘born of water and the Spirit’. This view would have carried more weight if He had said: ‘Born of water and born of the Spirit. It does also seem strange to tell someone they must undergo physical birth. Everyone does that. Nicodemus was already born when he came to Jesus. Still, used as a comparison or parallel, this is a good way of understanding our verse, especially since in the next verse Jesus says: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, spirit gives birth to spirit”.
Spiritual Cleansing
The third possibility is that “born of water” refers to spiritual cleansing and “born of the Spirit” refers to spiritual renewal – two aspects of what Jesus had just called being born again. This may well be how Nicodemus would have understood it. Titus explains salvation in much the same way when he writes: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) According to this view, “born of water” and “born of the Spirit” are different ways of saying the same thing, once metaphorically and once literally. The words “born of water and the Spirit” describe different aspects of the same experience, that is, being born again. This makes sense since when we read the whole conversation, we see that Jesus is repeating himself. First, He says: ‘No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again’. Nicodemus doesn’t get it, so Jesus says it again, using different words: ‘No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit’. So, in this interpretation, ‘born of water and the Spirit’ is simply a synonym for ‘born again’. This is supported by the fact that two verses later Jesus again points out: You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘you must be born again’.
So, when Jesus told Nicodemus that he must “be born of water,” He was referring to his need for spiritual cleansing. As a strict Jew (a Pharisee) this would have resonated with Nicodemus. Throughout the Old Testament, water is used to indicate spiritual cleansing. For example, Ezekiel 36:25 says: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities” (also Numbers 19:17-19 and Psalm 51:2). Nicodemus would have been familiar with the concept of physical water representing spiritual purification. He would have also been familiar with the sacrificial system, which included a laver (large basin) of water for washing, before one reached the brazen alter for making animal sacrifices.
The New Testament, too, uses water as a metaphor for the new birth. Regeneration is called a “washing” brought about by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation (Titus 3:4, Ephesians 5:26, John 13:10). Paul also wrote to the Corinthian believers: “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God “(1 Corinthians 6:11). The “washing” Paul speaks of here is a spiritual one.
My Personal View… for what it’s worth For many years I believed the second view to be the correct one. Over the last decade, however, I have changed my mind. I now think the third option, when viewed along with the rest of the Bible, makes the most sense. I suppose that in this earthly life we will never know with 100% certainty, but we can be pretty sure that Jesus did not have the first option in mind. In this verse to be born of water has nothing to do with water baptism.