What is the Meaning of Being Born of Water and the Spirit?
John records for us in his gospel many of the Lord Jesus’s encounters with different characters and His conversation with them. Such as His conversation with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, His conversation with the Jews about the work of the Father and the Son in chapter 5, His final conversation with the disciples in chapters 14-16, and many short conversations such as His conversation with Mary Magdalene after the resurrection, His appearance with the disciples, His conversation with them at the Sea of Tiberias, and His private conversation with Peter and the disciple whom He loved.
The Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 is one of the long encounters in which the Great Teacher, the Lord Jesus, explains to the Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews and "the teacher of Israel," many biblical and theological truths. In His talk about the birth "from above," Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
The Johannine Context
In the context of the chapter itself, the word "from" (or "of") is repeated five times; He says:
"From above" (v. 3)
"From water and the Spirit" (v. 5)
"From the Spirit" (v. 6)
Once again "from above" (v. 7)
Finally, He says "from the water and the Spirit" (v. 8)
So here, He mentions "from above" twice, and "from the Spirit" twice, and once He says "from water and the Spirit."
Through these expressions—that the birth is from above (twice for confirmation) and from the Spirit (twice for confirmation), and then that it is from water—we understand that this birth is a divine, heavenly work and not earthly. This agrees with John’s theological thought recorded earlier: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).
Notice here that he explains who the children of God are through comparison, saying "not of" and "but of," for they were born of God. Here also we understand that there is no element or human intervention in this birth; rather, it is of God.
What About the Water?
In the context of the Gospel of John, we find that the talk about water is distinctive and has a spiritual dimension. Therefore, we find in the first chapter John saying that he baptizes with water, and testifies that God indicated to him, "Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (1:33). So here we find the element of water and we find the Spirit, a reference to what the Lord noted in His conversation with Nicodemus in chapter 3, and the water and the Spirit have a prophetic dimension, as I will explain later.
In the second chapter, we find the miracle of turning water into wine. Its theological dimension here is that, "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him" (2:11). The beginning of signs, or the beginning of the marks of the coming of the Savior Messiah; therefore, this miracle caused the manifestation of the theological side of Christ and then the disciples’ faith in Him. Here, the Lord used the element of water to manifest His glory.
Later, after His conversation with Nicodemus, comes the Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, and He says to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (4:10).
Here the Lord Jesus declares to a woman from the common people—after He had declared to the ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus—that there is a gift from heaven accompanied by water of life. It is worth noting here that the Lord linked between "who He is" and that He is the One who has the living water and gives it to whom He wills, "You would have asked Him, and He would have given you."
The Lord says later, distinguishing between human water and the water that is from Him: "Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’" (4:13-14).
So, through the Lord’s conversation, when He was like a riddle to the Samaritan woman—"If you knew... who it is who says to you," and twice saying, "the water that I shall give"—this is a declaration of the identity of "who" Jesus is; what He offers of water grants eternal life. Through the chapter, we find that all the Lord offered to the Samaritan woman was "Himself" when the Lord declared to her that He is the Messiah, saying to her, "I who speak to you am He" (v. 26). Here, the Lord declared Himself to her. He did not give her water; rather, He was the water.
In the fifth chapter, the Lord comes and fulfills that He is the water that heals and gives life to the paralytic who was waiting for the angel to stir the water. So with a word, the Lord Jesus healed him.
As for the seventh chapter, the clear public declaration comes when the Lord Jesus cried out on the great last day of the feast and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given" (7:37-39).
Here, quite clearly, He merges the water and the Spirit that He spoke about with Nicodemus. Notice these phrases once again: He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said (a prophetic dimension I will discuss later), ... rivers of living water, this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given. So here we read about:
Faith in Christ
Living water (confirmed by prophecies)
The Spirit, or the Holy Spirit.
Finally, in John chapter 19, John testifies, "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe" (John 19:34-35). Here we find
The Lord says in Leviticus 17:11, "The life of the flesh is in the blood." Whether you agree or disagree with me, the human soul (life) is the invisible element that gives life to the human, which we can call the "spirit of man." In the beginning, Adam became a living soul by the breath of life from God. Later, the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 rose as a great army when the spirit entered them, then the Lord said, "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live" (Ezek. 37:14). So here, man lives by the soul or by the spirit.
Returning to John 19, we find that the Blood (or the Spirit—as Paul says to the believers in Rome: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you" [Rom 8:9]) and the Water (the Spirit whom those believing in Him would receive) were a sign for faith (and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe).
The Text in the Context of Biblical Theology
On the first page of the Bible, the inspiration records for us that the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and later it mentions the presence of (1) the Spirit and (2) the Water, saying, "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2). So from ruin and emptiness to a good and wonderful creation as God desired. Is it possible that God’s creative, inventive work is always through the Spirit and the Water? Just as Paul calls the birth that is from above, making man a "new creation... behold, all things have become new" (2 Cor 5:17).
A new creation! After the ruin caused by sin in human life, the Holy Spirit and the Water (the Word of God)—which in John's context were linked to manifesting God's glory, the faith of others, and eternal life—are able to create.
If we jump to the Book of Revelation, we find that the voice of the Lord Jesus in His glory is "as the sound of many waters" (Rev 1:15). Later, we find that the followers of the Lamb "shall neither thirst anymore" and "the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters" (Rev 7:16-17). Is this not an accurate fulfillment of what the Lord Jesus said earlier, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37)?
Finally, the Spirit and the Bride invite at the end of the Book of Revelation, "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'... And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely". So we read here again about the Spirit and the Water as a manifestation of the eternal state of the believer.
Returning again to the context of biblical theology regarding Water and Spirit between Genesis and Revelation, we find that Ezekiel 36 catches the reader's attention. After God’s judgment and punishment of the people of Israel and sending them to the Babylonian captivity, the Lord promises their people forgiveness and return to the land of Judah, and in this context, the Lord says:
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezek. 36:25-27).
Just as we understood from the beginning of creation that Water and Spirit were two essential elements in creating a creation
So, What is Meant by Water and Spirit?
After this fruitful biblical discussion, we find that the phrase "Water and Spirit," which the Lord said to Nicodemus, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5), means nothing but the work of God. It is the work of the Father, the Son, and primarily the work of the Holy Spirit in changing the human.
Just
What is this pure water? It is the work of God by His Word and by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Confirming this, Jesus told Nicodemus that this birth, which is of water and Spirit, is "from above" (John 3:3) and "from the Spirit" (v. 6).
From the Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, we find that the Lord Jesus Himself is the source of free living water, and His voice is like many waters (Rev 1:15). So the water is nothing but: The Word of God (in Eph 5:26), which cleanses like the washing of water for something unclean. This agrees with what Paul said to Titus, "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done" (because it is a birth from above), "but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:4-5). Here, he also mentions the washing and the Holy Spirit. The concept here distances the reader's thought from any kind of tangible earthly water, pointing instead to the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in the human for the new birth by the Word of God.
This interpretation agrees with what the Apostle James said: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:17-18). Here we find a birth from above by the Word of Truth, which is the word of the Gospel.
It also agrees with Peter’s clear statement, saying: "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever" (1 Peter 1:23).
This agrees completely with:
John’s distinction of the children of God from children born of the flesh, saying, "who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
The Lord Jesus’s comparison, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).
And Peter confirms, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:24-25).
Thus, the Second Birth here in biblical theology is a purely divine process without debate. There is no human intervention whatsoever; rather, it is from God, from above, from the Spirit, and from the Water that proceeds from the mouth of God to give eternal life.
Rev. Dr. Nathan Awad
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