Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

 

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

 

John 3:3-5 『Jesus answered and said to him, 'Very truly I tell you, unless one is born again (γεννηθῇ), he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 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, 'Very truly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

The Greek word for 'born again' is gennedeh (γεννηθῇ, basic form gennao), which means to give birth, to be born, to give birth to a baby. Since Jesus spoke as if one must be born again, Nicodemus misunderstood that he must be born physically again, and was talking about a second womb. However, Jesus rebuked Nicodemus, saying that a so-called rabbi does not know the reason.

In the Old Testament, when people committed a sin, they brought a sacrificial offering, transferred their sins, killed the animal, and the priest sprinkled the blood on the altar and burned the meat of the offering. The sacrificial offering died in place of the sinner, but in fact, the sinner also died. And the sinner received forgiveness from God and returned home. In the process of this countless repetition, the sinner should have looked at the sacrificial offering and thought of the Messiah, the descendant of the woman who would come, but Jesus pointed out that they did not.

The word gennede (born) can find its meaning through the Old Testament sacrifices. Those who are born into the world and become sinners die with the sacrificial offering and are born as new creatures. This is expressed today by baptism, which means dying in the flesh and being born as a different being. 1 Peter 3:18 explains this through the death and resurrection of the cross: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.”

In the flesh, he died for sinners, but in the spirit, he was made alive. From the sinner's point of view, he died with Jesus in the flesh, but in the spirit, he was made alive with Christ. Romans 6:4-5 says, "Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we too should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection."

Peter connects the water used in baptism with the story of Noah's flood. 1 Peter 3:19-21 "In which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison who had once been disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water; and this is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Jesus, who died on the cross, rose from the dead in spirit. He proclaimed to the spirits in prison in spirit. The spirits in prison are knocking on the door of the heart of all sinners who do not know God because of their sins. The story of Noah's ark also says that God preached repentance through Noah for 120 years, but no one returned except for the seven members of his family.

The plea of ​​a good conscience is a word to return to God. Even today, the saints preach the true word of God to believers who say they believe in God, but they do not listen. The true word of God is the death of the cross and the present resurrection.

『Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.』 The Holy Spirit refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Christ gives to the saints who come into Him. When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you receive resurrection life and become a new creation. The dead spirit comes back to life, puts on a spiritual body (the clothes of Christ), and becomes a new creation. Therefore, it says in Ephesians 2:6 that we have been seated at the right hand of God in Christ. 『And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.』 It declares that the identity of the saints is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, and that they have actually been seated in heaven.

Then what does water (hydatos) mean? In John 2:7-8, "Jesus said to them, 'Fill the jars with water (hydatos)' and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, 'Draw out now and take it to the master of the banquet.' So they did." The water that filled the jars is the water that fulfills the old covenant, the law. As a result, it becomes the wine of the new covenant.

Water is reborn as wine. Matthew 26:26-28 "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

It is not that water is changed into wine, but that the water of the old covenant disappears and the wine of the new covenant is born. The old man dies and the new man is born. The water symbolizes the death and resurrection of the cross.

This is the word of John 6:43-54. "Jesus answered, 'Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.'"

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, the work of the cross had not yet been done, and the resurrection had not yet been accomplished. Therefore, this is a prophecy of what would happen in the future. Drinking the blood of the Son of Man means dying with Jesus on the cross and being forgiven of all sins, and eating the flesh of the Son of Man means participating in the resurrection of Christ. This means that without the death of the cross, there is no resurrection. In order for a believer to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he must have faith that dies in union with Jesus’ death on the cross and is resurrected together.

Therefore, in the phrase “born of water and the Spirit,” water symbolizes the death and resurrection of the cross as the Word of God, and being born of water and the Spirit means believing in one’s heart that one is united with Jesus in His death on the cross and His resurrection, and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit from Christ, one becomes a created being born into heaven. Therefore, the saints’ unity in the death and resurrection of the cross is connected to being born of the Holy Spirit from heaven. In the phrase “born of water and the Spirit,” water symbolizes the death and resurrection of the cross, and can be accepted as having the same meaning as baptism.