Question: \u00a0“Does ‘born of water’ in John 3:3,5 refer to baptism?<\/p>\n
Answer: \u00a0<\/b>Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God<\/em>,” and “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God<\/em>” (John 3:3,5).<\/p>\n <\/b>From the statements of our Lord, we can readily see that the new birth, if essential to entering the kingdom, and entering the kingdom, is tantamount to being saved. \u00a0When one is “delivered from the power of darkness<\/em>,” he is “translated into the kingdom<\/em>” of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13). \u00a0When he becomes “such as should be saved<\/em>,” he is added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:47).<\/p>\n Preachers (Baptists, in particular) have such a prejudice against the idea that baptism is essential to salvation that they will go to great lengths to “explain away” the simple language of Jesus. \u00a0Taking their stand on the doctrine of “salvation by faith alone,” they must argue that baptism has nothing to do with salvation.<\/p>\n Historically, New Testament scholars have taught that “water” in John 3:5 refers to baptism. \u00a0Only within the last couple of centuries have men tried to argue that it surely must mean something else. \u00a0The reason for such is simple. \u00a0For, if “born of water<\/em>” refers to baptism, then baptism is essential to salvation and to entering heaven at last.<\/p>\n But in trying to defend their doctrine of salvation by faith alone, they are inconsistent with the Word of God. \u00a0Further, they are inconsistent with the denominational scholarship of the past. \u00a0Let us review a few comments on this passage from the past.<\/p>\n In an article on “Baptism and Remission” in\u00a0Baptist Quarterly\u00a0<\/i>(July 1877, pg. 309), Wilmarth said:<\/p>\n “Christ Himself, in His early Judean ministry ‘made and baptized disciples.’ \u00a0His preaching at the outset was of similar purport with that of John. \u00a0It is natural to suppose that His baptism (in connection with repentance and faith) was, like John’s, in order to remission. \u00a0We are confirmed in this by our Savior’s words to Nicodemus, who came to Him during that early period to learn more fully, no doubt, of the kingdom which Christ and John were preaching. \u00a0Christ said to him, “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God<\/em>;” i.e. Baptism and Renewal by the Spirit are the conditions of true citizenship in the kingdom of God on earth. \u00a0Unquestionably, Remission was one of the blessings of that kingdom.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In\u00a0Wall’s History of Infant Baptism\u00a0<\/i>(Vol. I, pg. 443) we find:<\/p>\n “All the ancient Christians (without the exception of one man) do understand that rule of the Savior, John 3:5, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God<\/em>‘; of baptism.<\/p>\n “I had occasion in the First Part to bring a great many instances of their sayings: where all that mention that text, from Justin Martyr down to St. Austin (Augustine) do so apply it. \u00a0Neither did I ever see it otherwise applied in any ancient writer. \u00a0I believe Calvin was the first that ever denied this place to mean baptism. \u00a0He gives another interpretation, which he confesses to be new.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Philip Schaff:<\/p>\n “In view of the facts that John baptized, that Christ Himself was baptized, that His disciples (4:2) baptized in His name, it seems impossible to disconnect water from baptism. Calvin’s interpretation arose from doctrinal opposition to the Roman Catholic over-evaluation of the sacrament, which must be guarded against in another way” (footnote on John 3;5, Lange’s Commentary, Vol. III, 127).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In his\u00a0Notes<\/i>\u00a0on John 3:5, Albert Barnes said:<\/p>\n “Be born of water<\/em>. By water, here, is evidently signified baptism. \u00a0Thus the word is used in Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5).”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Adam Clarke said:<\/p>\n “Baptism in water, into the Christian faith, was necessary to every Jew and Gentile that entered into the kingdom of the Messiah” (Commentary on John 3:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A little over 50 years ago, I heard a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary say to a large class: “If you have not been tampered with, you will admit that the water in John 3:5 refers to baptism.” \u00a0No doubt, many of the students in his class had been “tampered with.”<\/p>\n The same professor said to a second-year Greek class studying the book of Galatians, that Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:26,27 shows that “in New Testament days it was understood that a person was not in fellowship with Christ until after he was baptized.” After some discussion on the statement, he said, “I don’t make it (baptism) essential to salvation.” \u00a0I believe in the first statement he spoke as a Greek scholar, but in the latter statement he spoke as a Baptist preacher!<\/p>\n by James E. Cooper in\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 5, No. 2, Feb. 2005 Question: \u00a0“Does ‘born of water’ in John 3:3,5 refer to baptism? Answer: \u00a0Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” and “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-12167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28068,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/born-again-into-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":0},"title":"Born Again Into The Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by H.E. Phillips via\u00a0Searching the Scriptures, February 1992, Volume 33, Number 2 The church is the people who are \"a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-must-be-born-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":1},"title":"You Must Be Born Again","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 3:1-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had a fellow ask me if I had been born again. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular, he wanted to know how I came to believe such a thing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I replied with I John 2:3-6; 4:6; 5:2-3, he became quite upset \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wanted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-a-born-again-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":2},"title":"Are You a Born Again Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Dewhirst What other kind of Christian is there? Jesus told the night-visitor Nicodemus, \"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" When Nicodemus expressed his puzzlement, the Lord explained, \"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/130324-F-KL201-065-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":94982,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-sure-jesus-is-talking-about-actual-water-in-john-35\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":3},"title":"I’m not sure Jesus is talking about actual water in John 3:5","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just had some questions about John 3:5. I am not sure whether Jesus is referring to literal water here. The reason I say that is that later in the book of John, Jesus attributes the Holy Spirit and calls it \"Living Water\" when talking to the woman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-receiving-the-holy-spirit-mean-baptism-in-water-is-unnecessary\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":4},"title":"Does receiving the Holy Spirit mean baptism in water is unnecessary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have another friend that believes you don't need water baptism because once you believe that's when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and that's when you're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. She gave me theses Scriptures: Acts 11:14-16, Acts 11:47-48, Matthew 3:11-15, Acts 10:44-48, Titus 3:5,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/born-of-god-ramifications-for-a-lifetime\/","url_meta":{"origin":12167,"position":5},"title":"Born of God: Ramifications for a Lifetime","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In John 3:1-7, Jesus told Nicodemus, \"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" \"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.\" \"You must be born again.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Baptism.jpg\")
Scholarship admits that “water” in John 3:5 refers to baptism. Of course, it has been true all along; it doesn’t take “scholarship” to make it so. \u00a0But it is obvious that anybody who tries to argue that it means something else is inconsistent with both the “scholars” and the word of Christ. \u00a0“Let God be true, but every man a liar<\/em>” (Romans 3:4).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"