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?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:4–8 ESV
All of us hear things through the filter of our own experience. For many of us, the term “born again” is very familiar. We immediately think of someone who has been converted through faith in Christ and is serving Jesus. We don’t blink at the idea. The danger for us is that it becomes so familiar that we don’t stop to think about what it means.
Nicodemus was a religious man and very well educated, but he had trouble with this “new birth” idea. His question makes perfect sense in his first-century Jewish context. How can a grown man be born again? Isn’t it physically impossible to go back to the womb and be reborn? Well, yeah.
Jesus’ goal was to get him thinking a little differently. Jesus seems to be saying it takes two births to be a citizen of the Kingdom—water and Spirit. The next question is what He meant by being born of water. Many honest people who love the Lord differ on this one. My point of view is that Jesus wanted us to think deeply about it. If not, He would have made it plain.
Here are the most common ideas on what Jesus meant by water:
- Water is just another word for Spirit. The Greek word for spirit is the same as the word for wind. Water is used in the Old Testament as a picture of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3–5). Jesus uses similar symbolism in the next chapter, talking about the water from the well of salvation (John 4:14). Maybe Jesus was saying, “be born of water and wind,” or maybe “of water which is Spirit.”
- The water of baptism. Remember, the whole country had been hearing of this fellow John the Baptist. He was drawing big crowds preaching about a baptism of repentance. He baptized Jesus just a week earlier. Being born of water probably means repenting and being baptized.
- The water of the Word. Paul made a statement in Ephesians 5:26 about the washing of water by the Word. He was referring to the process of sanctification of the believer that comes from hearing the word of God and growing in Christ’s image. We also know it takes faith to be born again, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Maybe Jesus meant you have to hear the gospel so you can enter in by faith.
- Water refers to being born of woman. Notice that Jesus didn’t stop talking at the end of verse 5. Verse 6 seems to parallel verse 5. The two births are flesh and Spirit. To be born of water is to be born of the flesh. Anyone who has ever had a baby can see the comparison. To become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, you must first be a human being with a body.
So how do we understand this phrase? God knew we would read this 2,000 years later. He also knew what options we would come up with. I believe He wants us to think about it, pray about it, even discuss it. I have my own favorite, but there are things to learn from exploring each of these ideas. This I know for sure: He doesn’t want us to fight about it.
Here’s the point: There is a second birth that is powered and effected only through the Spirit. Without it I can’t enter the Kingdom of God (verse 5). That birth comes by hearing the good news about Jesus and letting it bring faith to my heart. When faith comes, I need to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, repent, and be baptized (Romans 10:9–10; Acts 2:38). Then it’s time to study and hear the word of God and let it transform me day by day (John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18). I need to become aware of the Spirit working in each of us like water flowing and wind blowing—to prepare us for the day of His return, when “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
