Some folks who promote water baptism (a work of man) as a requirement for
salvation mistakenly attempt to use John 3:5 to sup****t their erroneous
claim. Matthew Slick shows why John 3:5 actually doesn't sup****t that
claim.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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Baptism and John 3:5
by Matthew J. Slick, B.A., M. Div.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." 4Nicodemus *said to Him, "How can a man be born when he
is
old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can
he?" 5Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into 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 again.'
8"The
wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know
where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of
the
Spirit," (John 3:3-8).
There are five basic interpretations to this section of scripture in
reference to water.
The water refers to the natural birth.
The water refers to the Word of God.
The water refers to the Holy Spirit.
The water refers to the ministry of John the Baptist.
The water refers to the water of baptism as a requirement for salvation.
The first option looks to the context of Jesus' words dealing with being
born "again" (3:3). Nicodemus responds by mentioning the experience of
being
born from the womb (v. 4). Jesus then speaks of water and the Spirit and
then says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born
of the Spirit is spirit" (3:6). The implication is that the first birth
is
the natural birth and the second birth is the spiritual birth. In other
words, the water refers to the water of the womb -- the first birth. This
seems to have sup****t in the understanding of Nicodemus about entering
into
the womb to be born a second time. However, this view is not the most
commonly held view.
The second option holds that the water is referring to the Word of God.
Eph.
5:26 says, "that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the wa****ng
of water with the word." Some believe that the wa****ng of water is done by
means of the Word of God.
The third view says that the water refers to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps
Nicodemus was reminded of Ezek. 36:25-27, "Then I will sprinkle clean
water
on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness
and from all your idols. 26"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put
a
new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your
flesh
and give you a heart of flesh. 27"And I will put My Spirit within you and
cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My
ordinances." Certainly, Jesus' own words are applicable here when He says
in
John 7:37-39, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus
stood
and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink.
38"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being
shall flow rivers of living water.'" 39But this He spoke of the Spirit,
whom
those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet
given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified."
The fourth view holds that the water is in reference to the water baptism
of
repentance taught by John the Baptist. Matt. 3:1-6 describes John's
ministry
in the desert, his teaching about repentance, and baptizing people into
that
repentance. Contextually, the first chapter of John mentions John the
Baptist in verses 6-8 and 19-36. Certainly, John and his ministry is in
view
here. If this is the case, then Jesus would have been speaking of the
"baptism" (the initiatory ordinance) of repentance preached by John the
Baptist.
The fifth view is the one held by the International Church of Christ and
other churches that require baptism in order to be saved. They state that
the water is referring to baptism and that it is essential to salvation.
Does John 3:5 teach that baptism is essential to salvation?
As you can see, there are different interpretations to John 3:5. But, to
simply say that John 3:5 does not teach the necessity of baptism isn't
enough. Some sort of proof must be offered. The proof is found in God's
word, the word that has no contradictions. Clearly, salvation is by
faith.
For example, Rom. 5:1 states that we are justified (declared righteous) by
faith. It does not say faith and baptism. If baptism were part of
salvation,
then it would say we were justified by faith and baptism. But it does not.
If justification is by faith, then it is by faith. Baptism is not faith.
It
is a ceremony. It is something we do as a ritual. Furthermore, please
consider the following verses when declare how we are saved.
Rom. 3:22, "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for
all those who believe; for there is no distinction."
Rom. 3:26, "for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the
present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has
faith in Jesus."
Rom. 3:28, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from
works of the Law."
Rom. 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness."
Rom. 5:1, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with
God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Gal. 3:8, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
Gentiles
by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham."
Gal. 3:24 , "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ,
that we may be justified by faith."
Eph. 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God."
Additionally, Paul tells us that the gospel is what saves us and that the
gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
Baptism is not included in the description of the gospel. This explains
why
he said he came to preach the gospel, not to baptize: "I am thankful that
I
did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say
that
you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of
Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel..." (1 Cor.
1:14-17). If baptism is necessary for salvation then why did Paul downplay
it and even exclude it from the description of what is required for
salvation? It is because baptism isn't necessary for salvation. Therefore,
John 3:5 must be interpreted in a manner consistent with the rest of
scripture.
Another way of making this clear is to use an illustration. Let's suppose
that a person, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8),
believed
in Jesus as his savior (Rom. 10:9-10; Titus 2:13), and has received Christ
(John 1:12) as Savior. Is that person saved? Of course he is. Let's
further
suppose that this person who confesses his sinfulness, cries out in
repentance to the Lord, and receives Jesus as Savior, then walks across
the
street to get baptized at a local church. In the middle of the road he
gets
hit by a car and is killed. Does he go to heaven or hell? If he goes to
heaven then baptism isn't necessary for salvation. If He goes to hell,
then
trusting in Jesus, by faith, isn't enough for salvation. Doesn't that go
against the Scriptures that say that salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23)
received by faith (Eph. 2:8-9)? Yes it does. Baptism is not necessary for
salvation and John 3:5 cannot teach that it is.
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