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| To Part 2 |
Allow me to give you a brief eschatological snapshot of upcoming events since the kingdom of God was mentioned. The next
end-time event for us is the imminent rapture of the body of Christ, His
Church, followed by seven years of tribulation. Then the saints return with
Christ to rule on earth for one thousand years. After that, there is a
catastrophically destructive final battle referred to as Armageddon.
After
that, Satan and all of his critters will be cast directly into the Lake of
Fire. The final sentencing at the Great White Throne judgment is rendered to
every man, woman, or child (of accountability) without Christ. There is a new
heaven and a new earth: no Satan, no demons, no sin, no lost people, no wars,
no hunger, no thirst, no dying, with Jesus forever, and whatever else you can
come up with according to the Scriptures!
Note
that after the millennial kingdom, there is a process of nothing man and all of
God. Think of it; the history of man will be obliterated with the new creation,
except that which is recorded eternally in His Word (Mk 13:31). No remembrance
of any empires, legacies, monuments, familiar places of the earth; where you
were born, for instance, will no longer exist. It will all be gone, gone
forever. There are various details left out, but you get the gist of what is
coming our way initiating with the imminent (at any moment) return of Christ. With
this COVID pandemic, this does not mean the end is near. Nothing needs to be
fulfilled for Christ’s coming for His bride.
Like
any good Jew, Nick was more than ready for the Messiah to show up on the scene
and free Israel from its Roman occupation and set up the Messianic kingdom on
earth so that Israel would be chief among the nations. If you read political
only in all of this; you would be correct. They were not looking for a
spiritual Messiah! Nick must have felt that he was worthy to be a part of the kingdom of
God on earth given his bio, that is, until He met Jesus!
John
3:5, Jesus
answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Jesus
is clarifying v3.
Most
assuredly, or
truly truly
I
say to you
Again,
the pronoun, you, is singular, I say to you (Nicodemus). Jesus is
redirecting him to the most critical thing needed in his life, spiritual birth,
being born from above.
Unless
one is born of water and the Spirit
This
phrase born
of water and the Spirit, is challenging to understand, particularly the born of water part and remains
controversial today because there are good men divided on the meaning and not
so good men. Contextually, there is only one right view, right? I don’t
consider it a stretch to say that if Nick didn’t understand born again (v3) as revealed by v4;
he probably struggled with this clarification phrase (Jesus knew Nick went
physical in his thinking), born of water and of the Spirit in v5 (cf. v11) which
is an expanded meaning of born again or born from above.
John
3:5 is one of those verses where there will always be a division of thought
this side of eternity. It is ironic to me that reputable scholars differ as to
its meaning, and yet, we are to witness to the world and explain the need to be
born again or born from above, and here, we cannot even agree on exactly what
Jesus meant!?
As
I was revisiting an argument on the meaning of the phrase born of water from a professor I highly respected, I didn’t
agree with his argument that it referred to natural birth. Everybody has
a contentious point as to why everyone’s interpretation but their own is unsatisfactory in meeting
the standards of “historical propriety and theological acceptability.” Hence,
the chasm.
I
wanted to avoid subtle theological predilections and not automatically read
into it my theological understanding. Easier said than done by the way. Every time
we open up the Scripture, we bring our theological luggage along. Being true to
Scripture rather than our theological point of view is paramount. Scripture
shapes theology, not the other way around. After weighing the different views and asking Yahweh for some insight on this controversial passage, what I received was not what I
expected. I was reminded of a time when I took a class on biblical hermeneutics, the art and science
of the interpretation of Scripture. I recalled D.L. Cooper’s golden rule of
interpretation. The short version is this,
“When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense seek no
other sense.”
After reading the major views of the meaning of born of
water and of the Spirit, the one view I
totally rejected hands down was baptismal regeneration. We never read in
Scripture, “For by grace you have been saved through baptism.” Since this conversation
was taking place during pre-Passion (before the suffering, death, resurrection,
and walking in newness of life), I didn’t hold to the traditional view of water
baptism either. Another view that has merit is that the water refers to the
Bible or the Word (Eph 5:25-26). One objection raised to this view comes from a
highly Word-centric professor of mine, “There is no OT basis that the water
symbolized the Word. Therefore, Nicodemus, could not have possibly known (cf. v10).”
1
Pet 1:23 and Jas 1:18 indicate that the new birth takes place through the Word.
There is no salvation apart from the Word. Amen! Born of water also has been
taken to mean the Holy Spirit which also has merit (Jn 7:38-39). And could also be
translated “even,” and read, “…unless one is born of water, even the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God.” This would eliminate the redundancy of “born
of water (Spirit) and of the Spirit.” Born of the Spirit (vv. 6, 8) supports
this view.
Another
view claims that born of water has reference to the repentance ministry of John the
Baptist (Mt 3:1-6) and the phrase, and (born of) the Spirit, referring to the application by the Holy Spirit
of Christ to an individual. It is interesting that baptism is never mentioned
directly. For some reason when people see water, they automatically look around for the nearest
source, and some find it in John the Baptist. John’s baptism, however, was
unique and was an occasion for personal purity in anticipation of the coming
Messiah. A verse similar to that anticipation, though it doesn’t include a
forerunner or a public rite of purification as John’s baptism, is found in 1 Jn
3:2-3.
Instead
of baptism, the verb born is used some 8 times (vs. 3-8) during Nick’s conversation with
Jesus. This is the second time the verb born (v5) is mentioned by Jesus. He used it 5 times
in reference to spiritual birth (v3, 5, 6, 7, 8) and 1 time referring to
physical birth (v6); Nick used it twice in reference to physical birth (v4).
This is as clear as mud to Nick, yes?
This
brings up another view that I was, admittedly, prejudiced to dismiss, but I go
back to the immediate context of what is being discussed, and it has, in my
opinion, the least problems of trying to make sense of it all. Hence, if it
makes sense, seek no other sense kind of thing, right? Context is still the
sovereign of hermeneutics and not the golden rule of interpretation for common
sense is not so common. We can agree to disagree on the meaning of born of water and of
the Spirit,
but this last opinion is a spiritual reality in pre-Passion or post-Passion.
Born of water is referring to natural birth and of the Spirit is referring to spiritual
birth.
Initially,
you wonder why Jesus said born of water and of the Spirit and not just the
latter, leaving out the born of water? Doesn’t one have to physically be born first in order to
be born of
the Spirit?
Yes, but that was not what Jesus was getting at. When we keep in mind the
baggage Nick is bringing to this secret rendezvous, it will make sense. There
has been a contrast going on between physical birth and spiritual birth (cf. v4-6,
8).
Nick’s
baggage included having bought in “whole hog” to the work-system of the Rabbis.
He was sure that being a descendant of Abraham and keeping the centuries-old interpretations
of the rabbis on the Law, being good, and doing good works would allow him to see
the kingdom of God. When Jesus expanded
on being born from above (v3) in v5 to include born of water and the Spirit, after hearing of Nick’s
response in v4 of thinking that Jesus was talking about a second physical birth.
Jesus
was declaring in no uncertain terms that physical birth was not enough being born of water; there must be a
spiritual birth produced by the Holy Spirit by believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This view is supported by the expression born of the Spirit in v6 and 8. Apart
from believing, Nick would not enter the kingdom of God.
This
had to have been a hard pill to swallow for he was of the Pharisees (v1), a ruler of the Jews (v1), and the teacher of Israel (v10)! The verb
translated “believe” (Gk., pisteuo) is central in John’s Gospel account;
he employs pisteuo 100 times. This had to be a stunning revelation to
Nick for He was certain he would qualify to enter the kingdom by his resume
alone.
We
know Nick is spiritually blind; he is not who he thinks he is. His world is
getting rocked! Why, he is going to realize that he is a sinner, after all, based
on a true understanding of soteriology or the doctrine of salvation. Realizing
you are a sinner and in need to be born from above is not the same thing as
being saved. Until you are actually born again spiritually, you will
never see or enter the kingdom of God. Nick will revisit these haunting words
of Jesus in the future.
Being
born from above must have stayed at the forefront of Nick’s thinking. He had to
deal with the greatest challenge of his life by admitting that he was
spiritually bankrupt though a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and the teacher of Israel, and in letting go of
what he was trusting in for salvation if he was to enter the kingdom of God. What
did he want more, the praise of men (like his colleagues, Jn 12:42-43)? Or was he truly hungry for entering the kingdom of God by faith alone, putting how great I am and all works aside? For those with nothing to lose and all to
gain, the choice is far easier than for those in positions of power and status,
like Nicodemus.
Notwithstanding, the truth remains the same whoever and
whatever you are,
For what
profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or
lost (Lk 9:25)?
John’s baptism was the visible sign of what
took place in the unseen heart prior to baptism, an attitude of repentance.
Afterward the immersion, there should be a visible reflection of repentance in
the dry (Lk 3:8a). If not, it was all for naught. Lk 7:30 is just another
indication that the Sanhedrin saw no need for repentance nor accepted the
kingdom. You know that these guys would never enter the kingdom of God; they
didn’t believe in Jesus (cf. Jn 8:24).
You
know; if Jesus had said, “Unless one is born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God,” there would be no controversy here. It is the phrase, born of water and the Spirit, that is creating the
troubled waters. This spiritual birth has nothing to do with humanity,
(Jn
1:12) But
as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of
God, to those who believe in His name:
(Jn
1:13) who
were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.
This
was Nick’s problem – unbelief. Read what Jesus said of him,
(Jn
3:11) Most
assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen,
and you do not receive Our witness (read Jn 1:12).
I
mentioned Nick’s problem was unbelief because this word needs to surface in
this talk about born of water and the Spirit. He left that night in unbelief and did not
experience being born again which meant from the time he left Jesus until he
believed or received Jesus, he would not enter the kingdom of God. “Believe” is
such a huge verb in the book of John.
When
we pay a visit to passages like Num 19:17-19; Isa 4:4; 32:15; 44:3; 55:1; Ezek
36:24-27; Joel 2:28-29, and Zech 13:1, water and Spirit often signify spiritual
renewal and cleansing.2 What does that mean to us? As John MacArthur
explained,
“Without the spiritual washing of the soul, a cleansing accomplished
only by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) through the Word of God (Eph 5:26), no one
can enter God’s Kingdom.”3
I agree 100%, but in the context of John 3:5, born of water is not the same as (born of) the Spirit, with all due respect. It has reference to
physical birth, as in Nick’s situation, his Jewish lineage was not enough; he
must be born of the Spirit.
Nick
never picked up on this being stuck back there on natural birth. I will suggest
two reasons for this. (1) He was spiritually blind, and (2) Being born again or from above was so
profoundly different than the salvation of works in order to see the kingdom of
God that he was stunned and unprepared for this spiritual reality. Nick’s ethnicity
and religious pedigree, his credentials were all useless.
He
cannot enter the kingdom of God
There must be a spiritual birth if one is to enter the kingdom
of God.
Do you see any works of any kind anywhere in this (cf. Jn 1:12-13)? It is
through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9).
Jesus
answered, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:5).
Nick
desperately needed to hear this. Should we desire to enter the kingdom of God,
we sorely need to hear this and heed it – you must be born again. Otherwise,
one day, you might come to a stark realization at a most inconvenient time that
you will never see or enter the kingdom of God as you are cast into hell because
you refused to be born from above (Jn 3:3; 14:6). <><
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| End of Series: John 3:3-5 |
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1. The longer version of the golden rule of interpretation by Dr. David L Cooper is this. “When the
plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore,
take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the
facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic
and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.”
2. John MacArthur, The
MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11, (Chicago: Moody Publishers,
2006), 105.
3. Ibid., 105.
