Thoughts On "Born of Water and Spirit"

John 3:3-9

3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ 8 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?"

Is the phrase “of water” (from 3:5, “born of water and Spirit”) a reference to water baptism, or is it a reference to a natural, physical childbirth into the natural world? From the second century through at least the fifth century of the Church, the phrase "born of water" was understood as a reference to water baptism.

A. Here, however, we will begin with a common argument supporting the notion that the phrase refers to natural birth, and not to baptism.

1. Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to see the kingdom of God, one must be born from above (3:3), intending birth into a spiritual order.

2. Nicodemus responds incredulously asking about a second natural birth (can a man when he is old enter again into his mother’s womb and be born?), missing the point entirely that Jesus speaks of a spiritual birth.

3. When, therefore, Jesus mentions water, he acknowledges Nicodemus’ unhappy misunderstanding, but then Jesus goes on to say that does not mean a contrived second natural birth (“of water”) but speaks of a spiritual birth (“of Spirit”) instead. It is as though Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, once a man has been born naturally there is no longer need for a second natural birth; rather, what is needed is a spiritual birth without which one may not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

4. Thus, there is a parallelism to be found in Nicodemus’ phrase, “enter his mother’s womb again” (3:4), with Jesus’ word, “of water” (3:5), and again with Jesus’ word, “what is born of the flesh is flesh” (3:6).

5. The second parallelism is “born from above” (3:3), “born . . . of Spirit” (3:5), and “what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:6).

Consequently, Jesus’ phrase “born of water” does not refer to water baptism, but it humors Nicodemus’ misunderstanding and leads the Pharisee to Jesus’ actual meaning, namely, a new, spiritual birth.

B. And now we consider an argument supporting the notion that “of water” refers to water baptism as part of the process toward a spiritual birth.

1. Jesus introduces the concept that a new birth must take place in order to enter the kingdom of God.

2. Nicodemus, failing to grasp the fact that the birth is a spiritual event, ridicules the notion by referring to the impossibility of a second natural birth.

3. Jesus corrects his misunderstanding by showing that the birth is not physical, but spiritual in nature by indicating that reentry of the womb is not necessary, but that water suffices for the event that leads to spiritual birth.

4. In all of Jesus’ discussion, the only matter he insists upon is the new birth, “You must be born from above” (3:7). He contrasts the flesh with the spirit, and never speaks of one complementing the other. He shows how the flesh and the spirit are in opposition to one another, such that what is born of the flesh does not understand the things of the Spirit. To understand things of the Spirit requires a new, spiritual birth.

5. When Jesus says “born of water and Spirit”, he does not provide a contrast of water on the one hand and Spirit on the other, but speaks of them in a singular and complementary fashion. He speaks of one birth having two components, a birth “of water and Spirit”; he does not speak of two births, one a water birth and the second a Spirit birth.

6. The language Jesus uses ties “of water and Spirit” into one grammatical unit. The thought is this: a person is born out "of water and Spirit" more or less simultaneously; one is not born out of water first, and then born out of Spirit in a second event.

7. The parallelism consequently is this: To enter the kingdom of God one must be born from above, (3:3); to see the kingdom of God one must be born of water and Spirit (3:5); what is born of the Spirit is spirit (3:6). In contrast to these notions, Nicodemus speaks of a fleshly rebirth (3:4); Jesus redresses the fleshly as being ineffective for spiritual realities, what is born of the flesh is flesh (3:6).

Thus, the phrase “born of water and Spirit” details the singular spiritual birth of which Jesus speaks in this passage.

So, which is it? The most straightforward solution results that "born of water" concerns water baptism into Christ, and is not a reference to physical childbirth. Indeed, baptism is what Jesus commanded for discipleship, Mt. 28:18ff.; baptism is what Jesus’ Church heard on Pentecost, Acts 2:38; baptism was the practice of Jesus’ apostles, Rom. 6:3-4; baptism is one of the seven unifying fundamentals of those called by Christ, Eph. 4:5; baptism is one of three agreeing witnesses to Jesus, Son of God, 1 Jn. 5:8.

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The statement was made above that the understanding of Jn. 3:5 as a reference to water baptism into Christ was held exclusively in the Church during its first five centuries. A few examples will suffice: the first example returns to us from early in the second century, the second from late in the second century, the last from the fourth century. We understand that the practice and belief of the Church in those early centuries (after the first century) do not become automatically normative; nonetheless, they help us see how the earliest preachers, teachers, and bishops received and passed on the tradition.

Irenaeus (Ante-Nicence Fathers, Vol. 1, Apostolic Fathers, Fragments, p. 574)

"And dipped himself," says (the Scripture) "seven times in Jordan." It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but (it served) as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: "Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Tertullian (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, Fathers of the Second Century, p. 675)

When, however, the prescript is laid down that "without baptism, salvation is attainable by none" (chiefly on the ground of that declaration of the Lord, who says, "Unless one be born of water, he hath not life"), there arise immediately scrupulous, nay rather audacious, doubts on the part of some ...

Augustine (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, Letters, p. 407)

But the possibility of regeneration through the office rendered by the will of another, when the child is presented to receive the sacred rite, is the work exclusively of the Spirit by whom the child thus presented is regenerated. For it is not written, "Except a man be born again of the will of his parents, or by the faith of those presenting the child, or of those administering the ordinance," but, "Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit." By the water, therefore, which holds forth the sacrament of grace in its outward form and by the Spirit who bestows the benefit of grace in its inward power, cancelling the bond of guilt, and restoring natural goodness, the man deriving his first birth originally from Adam alone, is regenerated in Christ alone.