Q&A: What Does the Scripture in John 3:5 Refer to When it Says "Born of Water"?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="129a11c3.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Heart4God Website!"><U><B><IMG SRC="4b55a500.png" border=0 width="90" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin"><U><B>Writings by Date</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id212.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin Organized "><U><B>Writings by Topic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm"><U><B>Audio Files</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id690.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Videos"><U><B>Videos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id323.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings of Others"><U><B>Other Authors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id324.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions and Answers"><U><B>Q&A</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id328.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heart4God Email List"><U><B>Heart4God E-mail List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com"><U><B>Parables Blog</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id306.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="File Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="2b264140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>Q&A: What Does the Scripture in John 3:5 Refer to When it Says "Born of Water"?</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="c2827160.png" border=0 width="807" height="22" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Dear C., </div> <bR> <div> The Scripture reference you gave was Matthew 3:5, but I am assuming that you actually meant John 3:5, for I have received questions on the meaning of water in this verse from others. I will share my understanding. To understand what the water refers to it is good to look at a bit more of the context of this passage. </div> <bR> <div> John 3:5-6<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 5 Yahshua answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is <I><B>born of water and the Spirit</B></I> he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. </div> <div> 6 "That which is <I><B>born of the flesh</B></I> is flesh, and that which is <I><B>born of the Spirit</B></I> is spirit. </div> <bR> <div> When we look at these two verses as parallel statements we can easily understand what being bon of water speaks of. Water speaks of the natural birth. In verse 5 Yahshua states that two births are necessary, a water birth and a Spirit birth. In verse six He repeats Himself, but this time He says man must be born of the flesh (natural birth) and of the Spirit (spiritual birth). So we can see that the water is clearly correlated to the natural birth. </div> <bR> <div> It is not unusual to associate the natural birth of man with water, for the birth of a child is preceded by the rupturing of the bag of waters. A water birth attends natural birth. Yahshua's message to Nicodemus is that it is not enough to experience a natural birth, even if one is a Jew. For 1,500 years the Jews had lived with the schoolmaster of the Law and their entire experience with the Law proved that natural man was unable to meet the divine requirements of God. Man needed a further birth. </div> <bR> <div> Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, and as a teacher he should have understood what a failure it was for natural man to try to live out the divine life. As a teacher of Israel he should have realized that something further was required, and this further thing was prophesied in the Scriptures that were available to him. The Scriptures prophesied the following: </div> <bR> <div> Ezekiel 36:26-27<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. </div> <div> 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."</div> <bR> <div> Nicodemus, and all the other leaders of Israel, failed to perceive that another birth was necessary in order for man to walk according to the divine will of God. A spiritual birth had to take place in addition to the natural birth. </div> <bR> <div> We can see that Nicodemus understood one of the births correctly, the water birth, for he asked "Can a man enter a second time into his mother's womb?" Yet he did not perceive and understand the necessity of the Spirit birth. </div> <bR> <div> May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days, </div> <bR> <div> Joseph </div> <bR> <div> E-mail: </div> <div> website: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><A HREF="http://heart4god.ws" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://heart4god.ws"><U><U>http://heart4god.ws</U></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>