John 3:5-7 – Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Ezekiel 36:26-27 – I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
While some think John 3:5-7 means one has to be baptized to be saved, the answer is actually, yes and no. Don’t get upset and please read this entirely and it will explain this remark.
Some use John 3:5-7 to assert for baby baptisms. They want to assure that their baby will go to Heaven. Admirable but not necessary once we understand what is behind these words from Jesus, hopefully it will be understood that this has nothing to do with a necessity for baby baptisms. We need only have faith in our God and His nature and we know that our babies are safe in Him.
First we ought to understand that we are not saved by baptism, but rather baptism is an outward testimony of what God has done to and for us previous to the baptism. Additionally we know that salvation is only by grace and not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Therefore baptism is something we do, so it is a work. Our salvation is not because of our work but because of the “work” of Jesus. Ephesians 2:10 states that we are “God’s handiwork” meaning that God did the work. Since God did the work and then rested, we only have the obligation to rest (to trust and therefore not worry) in the completed work of Jesus. (Hebrews 4:9-11) To assert that we need to do anything to add to the work of Jesus is to insult Him, to insult God, as the assertion is that the work of Jesus was not a complete work, or a potent enough work, to fully cover our sins. Family that is blasphemy. No, baptism has nothing to do with our salvation, but is only a sign of our conversion from death to life by the will, the full plan, and the completed work of God.
Some believe that John 3:5-7 refers to water that is part of a natural birth. In V4 Nicodemus is puzzled by being “born again,” or “from above.” So perhaps Jesus was bringing it home for him by trying to spark a memory of Ezekiel 36:26-27. In these verse God speaks about giving them a new heart and new spirit, which, of course, is new life. He does that after being bringing them out of the nations (the world) and after He cleanses them. We know that we are nothing but flesh with no life until the breath, the spirit enters us. When man was made he did not come alive until spirit (breath) was put into him. (Genesis 2:7, Ezekiel 37:10) So even in the Old Testament God told them of a time of new life, or spiritual rebirth.
Also we remember that John the Baptist came preaching repentance to the people in order to be ready to receive the Messiah. (John 1:26-27) Afterward when John the Baptist saw Jesus he pointed out Jesus to the disciples as the Messiah. John then reminded them that he (John the Baptist) baptized with water (repentance) but Jesus (whom the Spirit had come down upon) was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (New Life). The water baptism of John brings us to repentance and prepares our hearts to receive Jesus. But only through Jesus are we born again and receive the Holy Spirit within. (John 1:29-34) John’s baptism was repentance, it was preparation. The baptism of Jesus was of the Holy Spirit not only upon us but within us. John the Baptists baptism was an outer experience of being submerged in the water and brought up from the water as we are resurrected with Christ. It was a preparation for the cleansing. Jesus died for our sins and cleansed us from our sins.
Jesus became the first to be resurrected, the firstborn spiritual Son of God, and He simultaneously created the way for us to follow Him. That is why the Gospel proclaims that we must first repent (water) and then we are ready to receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord in the Spirit. (Acts 3:19, John 4:23-24) We cannot be saved until we repent, because it is only with the true understanding or our utter lack of ability to save ourselves, do we run and fall at the feet of Jesus with an urgent cry for Him to save us, for only He can. Therefore baptism shows the process of us being saved. It is a public testimony of what God has done for us and within us. His Spirit has called us to repent and to come to Jesus. After we yield to the calling from God we glorify Jesus in our submission to Him, wherein we are also glorifying God the Father and the Holy Spirit comes within to live with us eternally. Then we are born again and that is what baptism represents has already happened. It is a work we do to show that we have been saved by God, not by our works, but by His.
So the water referred to in John 3:5-7 is not saying that we are saved by the combination of water baptism and the blood of Christ. That is insulting to Jesus who did the complete work. What Jesus is relating is that we must repent (John’s baptism that is the end result of God drawing us to Him [Romans 8:30, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:9]). After repenting of our sins and acknowledging our absolute inability to save ourselves, then we are ready to receive the gift that comes only through the shed blood of our Savior and Lord Jesus.
In answer to the question of why it is both true and false about whether we must be baptized to be saved, we see that it is true that we must have John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance (not literal) in order to come to the Lord. We also know that we are not saved by our work (baptism) but only by the grace of God through the work of Jesus. We know that we are called and enabled by our God to repent and to come to the foot of the cross and rely upon Jesus. Our God who knew all things before they happened (Romans 4:17, Isaiah 42:9) has called us to His eternal love, mercy and grace. And so we, in great jubilation, rejoice in the One who is our God. We praise God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit who is within us! (Ephesians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Corinthians 3:16) PRAISE GOD! Oh hallelujah! PRAISE GOD!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”