The Strand Study Bible

JOHN JOHN 2:24 Jesus knew all men because He was God; He could look on their hearts (I Sam 16:7). Jesus could discern the unspoken thoughts of His enemies as they sought to debate against Him, and laid bare their motives and secret plans (Mt 9:1-4 & 12:22-25, Jn 16:30 and Rev 2:23). 3:2 Nicodemus’ statement “ for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him ” is not true. The Devil and his false prophets are able to perform miracles as well (Deut 13:1-5, II Thess 2:8-10 and Rev 13:11-15), and to appear to be from God (II Cor 11:13-15). 3:3 a Jesus stated that there are no “exceptions” to how we are saved; we must be born-again. There is no other way to Heaven, but through faith in Jesus (I Jn 5:1 and Jn 14:6). 3:3 b This word ( born ) comes from a Greek word that is aorist in tense and means “ at once to be birthed. ” Just as human beings are birthed “once” into this world and cannot return back into their mother’s womb, so Christians are born-again spiritually “once” into the family of God and cannot be unborn (unsaved) (Jn 1:13, Jms 1:18, I Pet 1:23 and I Jn 5:1). NOTE – The physical is often a reflection of the spiritual ( Jere 14:1 ). R. L. Hymers, Jr. & Christopher Cagan in Preaching To A Dying Nation note: After a baby is born it cannot be unborn, and after a man is converted he cannot be unconverted (John 10:27-28; John 5:24). 1 Once a person is birthed into the family of God, via the Gospel of Christ, he is “permanently” birthed (saved). 3:5 There are some ( baptismal regeneration movement ) who teach that this term “born of water” means being baptized physically; thus those who wish to enter the kingdom of God (obtain salvation) must be baptized physically if they are to be saved. However, the context of the passage directs us to an entirely different interpretation. According to verse 6, there are only two kinds of births: (1) physical (flesh); and (2) spiritual (Spirit); and both require “water” in order to process the birth. If “water” here refers to physical baptism, then every OT saint (including Nicodemus here – vs 10 ) that was promised Heaven because he put his trust in a coming Savior ( Jn 8:56 ) is doomed to Hell because none of the OT saints were ever baptized in order to get their names written in the Book of Life. Even John the Baptist is in Hell today if the term “born of water” refers to water baptism because John himself, according to his own testimony, was never baptized (Mt 3:13-14). Clearly, the term “born of water” cannot refer to physical baptism as there are only two ingredients necessary for salvation (Ezk 37:1-10), baptism not being one of them. NOTE – Just as it takes two ingredients to bring forth physical life (the joining of the single spermatozoon cell and the single ovum cell – Gen 4:1a ), so it takes two ingredients to bring forth spiritual life (the Wind/Spirit and the Word/water – Ezk 37:8 ). There are three schools of thought when it comes to this verse: 1. The first school of thought believes that the term “born of water” refers to the physical birth (the water sac; amniotic fluid within a woman that breaks during the physical birth of a child) 2. The second school of thought comes from the baptismal regeneration movement , who believe that the term “born of water” refers to water baptism. However, there are four irrefutable reasons why the phrase “born of water” cannot mean baptism: * The Apostle Paul said plainly that baptism was not part of the saving Gospel ( I Cor 1:17 ). Therefore, it can have nothing to do with the new birth. * Bringing life to that which is dead requires two ingredients: the WIND ( SPIRIT - Ezk 37:1-10) and the WORD (Word of God, SEED - I Pet 1:23 and Jms 1:18), not the WIND ( SPIRIT ) and baptism (II Thess 2:13). * Nicodemus (like the thief on the cross) was considered an OT figure in which baptism did not apply If the term “ water ” here is referring to water baptism (as suggested by the “baptismal regeneration” crowd), then Jesus was commanding Nicodemus to be “baptized” for salvation before His resurrection, something the “baptismal regeneration” crowd says wasn’t commanded until after His resurrection. So which is it? And what do you do with the thief on the cross (who was never baptized) whom Christ promised salvation? * Unlike the doctrine of baptism (which was introduced by John the Baptist just a few years earlier - Mt 3:1-6), the doctrine of the new birth was not new ( Jn 3:7 ); it was as old as the Garden of Eden, having nothing to do with water baptism. 3. The third school of thought believes that the term “born of water” refers to the washing power of God’s Word (and it does). According to John 15:3, Ephesians 5:26 and Titus 3:5, there is a cleansing power within the Word, and when the cleansing power of the Word of God is implied in the Scripture, then the idiom for “water” is employed. Again, the new birth, according to all of Scripture (including Jesus Himself here), requires the same two ingredients: * water (Word/seed – I Pet 1:23, Jms 1:18, II Thess 2:13) * Spirit (wind – Ezk 37:1-10, Jn 3:5, II Thess 2:13 and Titus 3:5) 3:6 Notice here that Jesus did not say, “ and that which is born of the Spirit is soul .” The soul (mind, heart, and will) is not reborn when a person gets saved; the spirit is reborn via the SPIRIT OF GOD (I Cor 2:12 and II Pet 1:4). Also, the soul is not reborn instantly; it is transformed daily via the Word of God (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 4:22-24 and Colo 3:9-10). 3:7 Nicodemus should not have been surprised ( Marvel not ) at Jesus’ teaching on the doctrine of the new birth. The new birth was not a new doctrine (vs 9-10). When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, their spirit died and needed to be recreated via the new birth. The doctrine of the new birth is as old as the fall of man ( Gen 2:17 , I Jn 5:1 and Ezk 36:26-27). 1717

1 R. L. Hymers, Jr. & Christopher Cagan. Preaching To A Dying Nation , Los Angeles, CA, 1999. Print.