Baptism and Regeneration

John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ “

I’m continuing posting this eye-opening study of the Christian sacraments. This lesson on “baptism” states that, as is true of the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament of baptism signifies or points to several spiritual realities. Westminster Confession of Faith - 28.1 helpfully lists several of these realities, and one of them is regeneration, or the new birth that the Holy Spirit grants to the “born again” believer. The Bible verse, John 3:5 is given in the confession as a proof text for the connection between baptism and regeneration. In theology, the word “regeneration” is defined as: new birth (born from above) by the grace of God; that change by which the will and natural enmity of man to God and his law are subdued, and a principle of supreme love to God and his law, or holy affections, are implanted in the heart. Humans are body, soul and spirit. This is talking about the regeneration of the “spirit” that died when Adam sinned, reconciliation and restoration of our access and relationship with God.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This is interesting because in the context of Jesus’ original encounter with Nicodemus, from which the statement recorded in John 3:5 comes, our Savior was almost certainly not referring specifically to Christian baptism. After all, at the time Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, the Great Commission had not been given, and Jesus could hardly have expected him to think of Christian baptism if it had not yet been instituted. What our Lord did expect Nicodemus to know in his vocation as a teacher of Israel was the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament. There, in Ezekiel 36:25–27, we find a prophecy that God would sprinkle clean water on His people Israel and fill them with His Spirit and with new life after they experienced the metaphorical death of the Babylonian exile.

Were the authors of the Westminster Confession wrong, then, to include John 3:5 as a proof text connecting water baptism and regeneration? No, because while there is no direct reference to baptism in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, Scripture does frequently connect water imagery with regeneration. Jesus uses water and Spirit to refer to regeneration in alluding to the image of “washing” in connection with regeneration. Baptism is a washing with water, so if Scripture connects regeneration and water, we must ultimately see the symbolic water of baptism as pointing to the reality of spiritual renewal.

Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

So, baptism tangibly confirms God’s promise to cleanse from sin and give new life to all, whosoever truly believes. In itself, the rite of baptism does not confer new life, but the sacramental union between baptism and regeneration means that ordinarily, no one is regenerated without also, at some point in his life, receiving the sacrament of baptism. When we struggle to believe that God has granted us new spiritual life we can remember our baptism and be encouraged that the Lord, who cannot break His promises, has regenerated all who believe in Christ alone for salvation.

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The lesson concludes that Jesus connects the Water with the Spirit, because under that visible symbol he attests and seals that newness of life which God alone produces in us by his Spirit. God promises in baptism to regenerate His people, and if you believe in Jesus, He has given you spiritual life; a new heart, eyes that see and ears that hear that which is spiritually discerned. The regenerated have been washed in the blood of Jesus, but this side of eternity, we still have our sinful flesh desires that are in conflict with the Spirit. So, if you struggle with assurance this day, walk in the Spirit and look to your baptism as a reminder of God’s faithfulness to cleanse you from your sin. Baptism is a sacrament to cherish and celebrate.