Hi Albert,
Yes, there are different ways to view this Scripture passage:
John 3:3-7,
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus 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?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into 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 be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' " While I have tended to view the
"born of the water" as meaning
"the Living Water, the Word of God" -- Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel presents three views, each of which have some credibility. The main point which he makes -- and with which I agree completely is: Regardless of which view we adopt, this does not affect our salvation. The main point we should get from this Scripture passage is: We
MUST be Born Again to see the kingdom of God.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pastor Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel -- Commentary on John 3-4 (C2000 Series)http://www.blueletterbible.org...opic=John&ar=Jhn_3_3 Now Nicodemus was interested in being born again, but the process,
"How can it happen? There's no way that I can return to my mother's womb and be born again." And I do not believe that he was being facetious, I think that he was just really curious as to,
"What do you mean, born again?" And then Jesus said,
"Unless a man is born of the water and of the Spirit." Now, what does He mean water and Spirit? We know what it is to be born of the Spirit. What is He referring to being born of the water?
There are those who declare that He is talking about water baptism. Unless you have been baptized in water, you're not going to see the kingdom of heaven, and that born of the water refers to water baptism.
I do not believe that Jesus is referring to water baptism here, because I believe that there are people who have gone through the ritual of water baptism who are not going to see the kingdom of heaven. It was only a ritual.
There are those who say the water refers to the Word of God. As Peter in his first epistle, chapter l, verse 23, said that we've been
"begotten unto this living hope through the Word of truth." And so, we've been born again through the Word of God. And Jesus said in John l5,
"Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." And so it is being born of the Word of God. And, the theological giants have taken their positions and there are those who say water baptism and those who say born through the Word God, and they write their commentaries and their ideas and thoughts and blast each other's ideas.
But, it would seem to me that being born of the water would be a reference to our natural birth, as the fetus is in that water sac being protected, and then there is the water bursting and the child is born. To be born of the water would refer to the natural birth, because in context then, Jesus said,
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which born of the Spirit is spirit." And so, He's talking about the two births: born of the water, and born of the Spirit. And that the born of the Spirit is referring to the new birth, the spiritual birth that we have, where born of the water would refer to the fleshly birth.
Now, I don't intend to make any brief for this position. If you want to believe that it refers to water baptism, you're welcome. If you want to believe that it is referring to being born by the Word of God, you're welcome. And if you want to believe it is being born of the flesh, you're welcome.
You can take whatever position you want and it's not going to alter your relationship with God one iota. But there are these positions that people take, and sometimes they get very argumentative with them, but I have no argument.
We do know that that which is born of the flesh is flesh. You were born once, naturally, of the flesh.
You are not a child of God by natural birth, you are a child of God by the spiritual birth. Paul the apostle, talking about your life before Christ, said,
"And you, hath He made alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins; who in times past walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that even now works in the children of disobedience: among whom you all once lived, according to the lust of your mind, and the lust of your flesh; and you were by nature the children of wrath" (Ephesians
2:1-3) Not the children of God, the children of wrath.
It is only by a new birth that I become a child of God. So that which is born of the flesh is flesh. A person apart from the new birth lives a life that is dominated by his fleshly desires. His body rules over his soul and spirit. In fact, his spirit is dead. That's what comes alive when a person is born again, the spiritual birth, that is when my spirit comes alive. Prior to that, I am living in the flesh and after the flesh, and my mind is dominated by the flesh, and thus, I have what the scripture terms the mind of the flesh, which is death. My chief concern is what I'm going to eat, what I'm going to drink, what I'm going to wear. My fleshly needs, my body needs. These are the things that occupy my mind.
But when a person is born of the Spirit, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Then, the spirit becomes alive and begins to rule within my life, and now my mind is occupied with the things of the Spirit, with how I might please God, in the worship of God, in the opening up of my life and my heart unto the things of God and of His Spirit, and these are the things that now dominate my mind. A mind dominated by the Spirit is called the mind of the Spirit, which is life and peace and joy.
So Jesus said,
"Don't marvel when I said, you must be born again" (John 3:7).
The word must, again, is one of those words you've got to pay careful attention to, because there, you're coming to the heart of the issue when a person says,
"I must." When God said,
"You must," -- it is something you need to pay careful heed to -- and He said,
"You must be born again." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I pray this gives everyone a better perspective on this vital Scripture passage.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill