In all of life and especially in Christianity, there exist “hills to die on.” What does this mean? It means unwavering obedience to and proclamation of a command.
God’s commandments (Exodus 20:2-17; Deuteronomy 6:2, 4-7; 11:1) are to be obeyed, and Jesus reiterated them to His disciples in Matthew 19:19 22:38-39 and Luke 10:27. The Lord Jesus also gave His disciples two ordinances to follow as evidence we are His: baptism and communion (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-23; 1 Corinthians 11:23-27).
In John 3:5, Jesus is in a deep conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus questioned Jesus about His works, and Jesus answered by referring to the Kingdom:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Was Jesus saying we must be baptized to be saved? The answer to this, as we will see, is “a hill to die on.”
A solid student of the Bible will use excellent hermeneutics (the study of biblical interpretation) to discover the meaning of this verse. We must look at what the verse means in relation to its surrounding verses, chapter, book, and in the whole context of the biblical narrative. The whole Bible is God’s Word, and from start to conclusion, it’s about Jesus Christ (An excellent resource which gives further explanation and study principles is “Christ From Beginning to End,” by Trent Hunter and Peter Wellum).
Immediate context:
Surrounding verses:
In John 3:3, Jesus answers Nicodemus’ statement with a kingdom proclamation, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Chapter Context:
Book Context:
The Greek word used here (γεννημένος ξανά) is ambiguous and can mean “again” or “from above,” and either rendition works in the passage. Jesus knew the man needed to experience new birth, as does everyone. This passage is our introduction to that truth.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2:13, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” Again, in Ephesians 2:1, Paul says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” One more verse cements this truth, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). Without Christ, we are dead—we are darkness (Ephesians 5:8).
had
with Christ
newin Christ the dead is now dead.
To understand this phrase, we need to consider a passage in Ezekiel. “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
The Kingdom of God of which Jesus speaks is a spiritual kingdom. Flesh has no part in or of it, and neither does human will nor works.
As Scripture has revealed to us, both John 3:3 and John 3:5 do not say we have to be baptized to be saved. Neither is this command found anywhere else in Scripture.
Mark 16:16 – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Belief (faith in Jesus Christ) comes before baptism. The second part of the verse affirms this when it equates unbelief (and not lack of baptism) with condemnation.
Baptism, as we saw earlier, is an ordinance commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ for believers as a witness to our identification with Jesus in death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore, we partake in baptism as a result of our salvation and as witness to Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. The Holy Spirit works through it to help us remember what Christ did to save us.
God created Adam as a perfect and sinless man, until Adam and Eve sinned and brought death to the human race. Jesus came to earth — fully God and fully man — to atone for the sin (and death) imputed to use by our federal head — Adam. We sin because we are born sinners. We deserve death and we need God to save us, for we can’t save ourselves. God sent Jesus Christ — fully God and fully man — to do for us what we cannot. Only those who recognize this, confess, and repent in faith will be saved. And it is God who draws people to Himself through Jesus (John 3:27; 6:44). Christ takes on our sins and we are declared righteous before God because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross.
Lord Jesus,
I pray for all who are reading this who do not know You as Lord and Savior. Speak to them and, as the Father draws them to You, save them and place them in Your kingdom where they will enjoy Your presence forever.
In Your name I pray,
Amen.
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
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