The following “Question“ was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered“ by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Nelly Kaye of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, from the tape, GC 1301-E, titled “Bible Questions and Answers Part 7.“  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1976. All Rights Reserved.

Question

In John 3:5, “Jesus answered … Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Now what does it mean here when it talks about water? Being born of the water and the Spirit?

Answer

Well, some folks suggest that it is referenced to baptism. That in order to be saved you must not only be born of the Spirit but you must enter into water baptism. However, that is one thing that this verse does not mean. It’s not a reference to water baptism.

If you look over in John 4:2 you might be interested in noting that is says, “Though Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples.” Salvation is accomplished other than by baptism. Jesus was involved in leading many people to salvation. I would be convinced that the woman at the well was truly saved and Jesus did not baptize her, at least there is no record of that. Jesus led the thief on the cross to Himself and said, “This day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” and He never entered into baptism. There’s no reason to believe that there is water here in John 3:5.

And another thought is that Nicodemus to whom Jesus was speaking, wouldn’t have the remotest concept of Christian baptism, because Christian baptism never even occurred until the day of Pentecost. And that was after Jesus had died; that’s a long time in the future; and been risen from the dead. So that Christian baptism is something way in the future. Nicodemus, who was a teacher of Israel, a ruler of the Jews, would have had absolutely no concept. And when you said to Nicodemus, “You must be born of the water and the Spirit,“ Nicodemus without any further clarification wouldn’t have thought, “Oh, I got to be baptized like the Christians are.“ There weren’t any Christians yet.  They weren't called “Christians“ till Antioch Antioch and baptism wasn’t even instituted as the rite for the identification of a Christian at the point of salvation, till after Jesus had died.

Well other people say, “The water doesn’t mean baptism but the water means physical birth.“ That what Jesus is saying to him is you must be born physically, and we use the term the water breaks and that the baby is encased in water, and what He is saying here is you must be born of water and Spirit, in order to enter the Kingdom of God. But that is a ridiculous statement to make to an old man like Nicodemus, to tell him he must be born, he knows that. If he wasn’t born he wouldn’t be trying to get in the Kingdom of God anyway. And I hate to destroy some folks thoughts about this but the Greeks didn’t call it “water“ anyway. It isn’t really water, we just call it that in English, but let us not assign our medical colloquialisms to the Greeks. They didn’t term it that. And Nicodemus certainly wasn’t thinking about that.

You say, “Well, what water is it?“ Well it’s clearly the water that Nicodemus would understand and for that you go back to Ezekiel chapter thirty-six. If Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel and an authority on the Old Testament he would have only thought of one passage. One familiar, famous, well known passage and that would have been the key to interpreting to what Jesus said. And that is why Jesus never went any further with His statement then to say “water and Spirit” and leave it there--because Nicodemus would have understood.

In Ezekiel chapter thirty-six verse twenty-four, we have the promise of God to the nation of Israel to be fulfilled when the Messiah comes. “I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” Now watch, “Then will I sprinkle clean water on you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you…”

Now notice, He says, “I will wash you with water, and cleanse you of sin and place my spirit in you.“ That’s the water Nicodemus would have understood. It is the water of cleansing that occurs at salvation. If you want to put it in Paul’s term “it is the washing of the water by the Word,” that occurs when you’re saved. It isn’t baptism, it isn’t physical birth, it is simply the concept of cleansing that occurs at the point of regeneration and salvation. You must have that promised cleansing and the implanting of the Spirit, to enter into the Kingdom Of God. That’s what He is saying, so don’t confuse baptism, or the water that we associate with physical birth with the concept that Nicodemus would have understood.

And that is a good point to remember. Whenever you are studying a Bible passage, remember, that what is said will have it’s primary interpretation located at the point in time in which it was said to the people to whom it was said. And it is important that you reconstruct that situation so that you will understand. Nicodemus clearly understood: “Oh, what You are saying is there must be a purification of the inside, and there must the planting of God’s Spirit within my heart, to make me fit for His Kingdom.“ That’s exactly right.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's “MacArthur’s Questions and Answers“ by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
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Email: tony@biblebb.com
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