Update to Baptismal Regeneration

This is an update to a previous post. I want to present another interpretation that I have since heard concerning John 3:5; I would also like to try to expound on my view a little more.

First, the alternate view. I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Bob DeWaay. He presented an interpretation of the phrase, "born of water and of the Spirit," that I don't remember ever hearing before. His view is simply that the reference to water is another way of describing the Spirit. He points to passages such as the following:

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (14) But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (39) (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

I don’t necessarily disagree with this since water is often clearly symbolic of the Holy Spirit. But I still think that there are two births in view here (the natural and the spiritual) simply because of John 3:6 – “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Now I’d like to present some more Scripture to reinforce the view that it is not the water that saves us. (And let me say once again that I do believe that water baptism is good and proper and should be done as soon as possible after a person is born again [i.e. “baptized into Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:3)].)

Let me use that verse as an example.

Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We are accustomed to thinking that the word ‘baptism’ always refers to water, but read it again carefully. It clearly says “baptized into Jesus Christ,” not baptized into water. This is reinforced here:

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

When we are born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, we are “baptized into one body.” Someone might say that we are placed into the Body of Christ through water baptism. But look who is doing the baptism: it is the Holy Spirit, not a man.

About the word “baptism”

We must realize that baptism does not always refer to water. Here is one of the best examples:

Matthew 20:20-23 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. (21) And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. (22) But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. (23) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Here Jesus is clearly referring to something other than water baptism. The word baptize simply means to immerse or overwhelm. Baptism basically has three aspects to it: 1. Something being baptized; 2. Something doing the baptizing; and 3. The medium in which the baptism takes place. The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon (based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary) gives the following:

"baptizo: to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk); to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe to overwhelm.

"Not to be confused with bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g. Mark 16:16. 'He that believes and is baptised shall be saved'. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!"
-- Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989.

Greek scholar Kenneth Weust says that the word baptizo is used in the Greek classics to describe a metal smith tempering a hot piece of iron by dipping it in water; it also described soldiers dipping their swords into a bowl of blood. He gives this definition for baptizo: “'the introduction or placing of a person or thing into a new environment or into union with someone else so as to alter its condition or its relationship to its previous environment or condition.” Weust claims that this is how the word is used in Romans 6 (see above).

I think it is clear that if a person believes the Gospel and is born again, they will desire water baptism, just as they will desire communion. (Remember Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8; Philip said that he could be baptized if he believed with all his heart.) But we have to be careful that we do not believe that the water is the agent of regeneration. Consider the example of Abraham:

Romans 4:1-5, 9-12 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? (2) For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. (3) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (4) Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. (5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness...(9) Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. (10) How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. (11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: (12) And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.