The real meaning of John 3:5

The Nugget:

John 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

My comment:

John 3:5 has nothing to do with ritual water baptism.

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

The doctrine of baptismal regeneration is heresy. This doctrine is evident when water baptism is claimed to be necessary for salvation or that water baptism procures salvation. We are not saved by water baptism.

The failure to understand John 3:5 is rooted in the failure to accurately study the text, the context, and the wider context of the whole of Scripture.

There is present in John 3:5 the Figure of Speech called Hendiadys. This figure is present when two words are used but only one thing is meant. In John 3:5 this involves the two words “water” and “Spirit.” This grammatical construction, properly translated into English, would read “water, even the Spirit.” The reference in John 3:5, therefore, is to real baptism by the Holy Spirit, not ritual baptism in or by water baptism.

In context, Jesus indicates His surprise that Nicodemus, a ruler and teacher of the Jews, was not fully aware of this. If Jesus expected Nicodemus to be aware of this, this must be a teaching which is found in the Old Testament, thus reflecting the important principle that to properly interpret the Bible, and particularly a particular verse in the Bible, we must be careful to consider the larger context of the whole of Scripture. That is what Jesus did in His discussion with Nicodemus.

Here is my documentation regarding the Figure of Speech Hendiadys, critical to understanding John 3:5, which I placed in my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, and its expanded digital version, The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:

and. FS93A, +Gen 1:26, Hendiadys; or, Two for One F/S 657, Two words are used (water, Spirit), but one thing is meant (Spirit). By this figure water and spirit are joined by “and.” There is no of in the Greek, supplied here by the translators. There is no article to either of the two nouns.

This figure gives the meaning, “born of water, even the spirit.” That only one thing is meant by the two words is clear from verses 6 and 8 (Joh 3:6; Joh 3:8), where only the Spirit (the one thing) is mentioned. The figure may also be understood to mean “born of spiritual water,” where the “spiritual water” is, by the figure Metonymy, put for the Holy Spirit Himself, as is clear from Joh 7:38, 39.

The reference is to the real baptism by the Holy Spirit which is the one indispensable condition of entering the kingdom of God (Rom 8:9, 1Co 12:13), not to the water of ritual baptism (Acts 1:5 note).

The Old Testament text that bears most directly and emphatically upon these themes spoken by Jesus is Ezekiel 36:25-27,

25  And I have sprinkled over you clean water, And ye have been clean; From all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, I do cleanse you.

26  And I have given to you a new heart, And a new spirit I give in your midst, And I have turned aside the heart of stone out of your flesh, And I have given to you a heart of flesh.

27  And My Spirit I give in your midst, And I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them.

1898 Young’s Literal Translation