http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1516
Baptism and the New Birth
A major cleavage within Christendom pertains to the point at which the
“new birth” occurs. Most of Christendom maintains that a person is born
again, and thus has sin washed away by the blood of Christ, when that
person “accepts Jesus Christ as his personal savior.” By this
expression, it is meant that a person must mentally and/or orally decide
to embrace Christ as the Lord of his life. Hence, the new birth is seen
simply as a determination of the will—a moment in time when the person
accepts Christ in his mind and couples that decision with an oral
confession.
The passage in the New Testament that alludes specifically to being
born again pertains to a conversation that Jesus had with a high-ranking
Jewish official:
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that
You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You
do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most
assuredly, 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? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be
born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter 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 marvel
that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’ ” (John 3:1-7, emp. added).
In an effort to avoid identifying “water” (vs. 5) as water baptism,
many within Christendom in the last half century have proposed a variety
of novel interpretations. For example, some have proposed that “water”
is a reference to the Holy Spirit. While it certainly is true that John
uses the word “water” symbolically to represent the Spirit later in his
book (7:38-39), that fact had to be explained by the inspired writer.
However, in chapter three, the normal, literal meaning is clearly in
view, not only because water baptism throughout the New Testament is
consistently associated with the salvation event (e.g., Acts 2:38;
8:12-13,36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16; Romans
6:3-4; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 10:22; 1 Peter 3:21),
but even in this context, eighteen verses later, the term clearly has a
literal meaning: “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was much
water there” (John 3:23). Additionally, if
“water” in John 3:5 is an allusion to the Holy Spirit, the result would
be nonsensical: “unless one is born of the Spirit and the Spirit.”
Another quibble offered in an effort to avoid the clear import of John
3:5 is that “water” is a symbol for the blood of Jesus. Of course, no
rationale exists for making such a connection. Elsewhere John refers
explicitly to water and blood, but clearly distinguishes them from each
other in their import (1 John 5:6).
Perhaps the most popular notion, advanced only in recent years, is that
“water” is a reference to a pregnant woman’s “water”—i.e., the amniotic
fluid that accompanies the physical birth of a child. However, this
suggestion likewise fails to fit the context of Jesus’ remarks. In fact,
Nicodemus himself thought that Jesus was referring to physical birth
(“mother’s womb”). But Jesus corrected his misconception, and contrasted
such thinking with the intended meaning of “water and Spirit.” Indeed,
Jesus would not have told Nicodemus that he needed to be born physically
(“water”). He would not have included the act of physical birth in His
listing of prerequisites to entering the kingdom. That would make Jesus
say that before a person can enter the kingdom he or she must first be a
person! What would be the point of stating such a thing? [Would it
perhaps be to ensure that everyone understands that non-humans (i.e.,
animals) cannot enter the kingdom?!] Later in the same chapter, did John
baptize near Salim “because there was much amniotic fluid there”?
If one cares to consult the rest of the New Testament in order to allow
the Bible to be its own best interpreter, and in order to allow the
Bible to harmonize with itself, additional passages shed light on the
meaning of John 3:5. According to the rest of the New Testament,
spiritual
conception occurs when the Gospel (i.e., the seed of
the Holy Spirit—Luke 8:11) is implanted in the human heart and mind
(James 1:18; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Ephesians 6:17; 1 Peter 1:23). The Word
of God, in turn, generates penitent faith in the human heart (Romans
10:17) that leads the individual to obey the Gospel by being baptized in
water (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Hebrews 10:22). The resulting condition
of the individual is that he or she is now a child of God, a citizen of
the kingdom, and member of the church of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20;
Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:4).
Additional verses in the New Testament clarify and cinch this meaning
of John 3:5, pinpointing the “new birth,” while also allowing us to
understand the activity of the Holy Spirit in the act of conversion.
Consider the following chart (Jackson, 1988):
|
John 3:5 |
Spirit |
Water |
Kingdom |
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 12:13 |
Spirit |
Baptized |
Body |
|
Ephesians 5:26 |
Word |
Washing/Water |
Cleansed Church |
|
Titus 3:5 |
Renewal of Spirit |
Washing of Regeneration |
Saved by Mercy |
These verses demonstrate that God achieves conversion through the
Gospel message authored by the Holy Spirit. When a person comes to an
understanding (Acts 8:30) of the that inspired message, his penitent
faith leads him to submit to water immersion for the remission of sins
(Acts 8:36,38; 10:47). The result of his obedient response to the Gospel
is that he is saved and cleansed from past sin and instantaneously
placed into the kingdom of Christ.
Notice that submission to the divine plan of salvation does not mean
that humans save themselves by effecting their own salvation. Their
obedience does not earn or merit their forgiveness. Rather, the terms or
conditions of salvation are stipulated
by God—not by humans—and are a manifestation of
His
mercy! When people submit to the terms of entrance into the kingdom of
Christ, they are saved by the blood of Jesus and the grace of God—not
their own effort! Water immersion is not to be viewed as a “work of
righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5). When we submit to
baptism, we are being saved by “the kindness and love of God our Savior”
(Titus 3:4). We are being saved “according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).
REFERENCES
Jackson, Wayne (1988), “The New Birth: What is It?,” Christian Courier, 24:14, August.
At
Apologetics Press, we are constantly trying to provide tools that can
strengthen faith in God, defend the Truth, and spread the good news of
Christ. About a year ago, we realized that various school systems use
the Accelerated Reading program to encourage their children to read. In
this “AR” program, which is nationwide, students read books and take
tests that cover the material in those books. Depending on the length of
the book, the tests are worth a certain number of points. Tests over
longer books are worth more points; tests over shorter books are worth
fewer points. Teachers and schools then reward the students based on the
number of points they accumulate over a certain amount of time,
generally a grading period or a school year. The program has been
extremely successful in encouraging kids to read books that they might
not otherwise read.
In 2004, Sam Harris published his New York Times bestseller The End of Faith.
In that book, Harris supports atheism as the only rational view of the
world. He condemns all forms of religious faith, including and
especially Christianity, as detrimental and potentially dangerous. He
goes so far as to suggest that some beliefs are so serious that simply
holding such should be a punishable offense. He stated:
The
inspired penman of Hebrews reminds us repeatedly throughout his epistle
of the preeminence of Christ. The Lord Jesus is greater than angels; He
is superior to Moses; He is higher than the Jewish high priesthood. His
sacrifice is better; His everlasting covenant is better; His ministry
is better. The eternal Savior (not expired Judaism) reigns supreme.
If
I had a dollar for each time I heard someone use this phrase to add
thousands of years to the biblical, six-day Creation, I finally might be
able to purchase that newer model minivan my wife would love to have.
It seems as if whenever there is a discussion of the days of Creation,
someone mentions how those days may have been long periods of time.
After all, the Bible does say, “With God one day is a thousand years and
a thousand years is one day.” Does this phrase really support the
Day-Age Theory as many suggest?