What does it mean to be born again “of water & the spirit”?
In a conversation with Nicodemus, a religious leader, Jesus said:
John 3:3 – “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Why do we need a spiritual birth? Because we are by nature sinners and spiritually “dead” (Ephesians 2:1) towards God. For our sin to be cleansed and removed, we must be regenerated spiritually, which is what it means to be born again. Jesus elaborated on this when he said:
John 3:5 – “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
God brings about this spiritual regeneration in a person by the activity of the “water and the Spirit”. By “the Spirit” Jesus meant the Holy Spirit. By “water” he meant the Word of God. Some people think that when Jesus referred to “water” that he was talking about baptism and that Jesus therefore meant that in order to be born again you need to be baptized. But Jesus wasn’t talking about baptism for two reasons.
First, he hadn’t instituted the command of baptism yet. That command was given after his resurrection, in Matthew 28:18-20.
Second, “water” is a symbol for the Word of God in the Scriptures. Just like water cleanses and cleans the body, so the Word of God cleanses and cleans the soul. Here are some verses which speak of the spiritual cleansing activity of the Word of God.
John 15:3 – “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Ephesians 5:25-26 – Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.
So, water is a symbol for God’s holy Word, and its cleansing power on the soul. It is interesting how both James and Peter also mention its involvement in the new birth.
James 1:18 – “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth.”
1 Peter 1:23 – For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
So, when all these verses are put together, it tells us that the activity of the Spirit and the Word of God bring about a kind of conception in a person’s life which leads to a spiritual birth.
Maybe you’re thinking, “If the Holy Spirit brings about the New Birth, in conjunction with the Word, what part do I play in all this?” After describing God’s part in the new birth, he told Nicodemus about man’s part, in that now-famous verse.
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
When the Spirit of God and the Word of God come together in the womb of faith a conception takes place that leads to a new birth. There can be no salvation unless we “believe” or trust in Jesus and receive his gift of eternal life, new life.
In thinking about all of this, I’ll admit it’s a bit of mystery how God’s sovereignty relates to man’s responsibility. But, both are taught in the Bible.
When my children were a bit younger I read the Chronicles of Narnia books to them. In one of those beloved books by C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, two characters, Eustace and Jill, enter into the magical world of Narnia when they call out to Aslan, who is a picture of Christ. When they arrive, Jill has this conversation with Aslan about how she got there. And she of course believes that she got there because she called out to Aslan, which is true on one level. But then Aslan says this: “You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you.”
Those lines contain a deep theological truth. If it were not for God’s Spirit working in us, we could not call out to him for salvation. Yet, the good news is that, “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It’s not talking about intellectual agreement. A lot of people say they believe in Jesus. What they mean is they believe there was a man named Jesus, or that Jesus lived and died. But what this verse means when it says “whoever believes” in him is that we need to individually and personally decide to put our faith in Jesus, who is God, to save us.
By nature we are sinners, and if that sin isn’t forgiven and if we aren’t given a new nature we will perish. God doesn’t want that. He loves the world. His loves us so much that his love caused him to enter into our world in the person of Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, paying our sins fully, and then he rose again victoriously so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
