Surely you jest! You are implying that in nearly 400 times that the word water is use it always means baptism. Is this correct?Originally posted by Frank:
DHK:
You said,The word "water" is used 396 times in 363 verses of the Bible. You can rest assured that every time you see the word "water" it does not mean "baptism," and this happens to be one of those times.
Prove by the harmonious evidence of the totality of the scriptures that your ASSERTION is true. Prove by the same standard that John 3:3-5 has nothing to do with baptism.
(Gen 2:10 KJV) And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
(Gen 16:7 KJV) And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
(Gen 18:4 KJV) Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
(Gen 21:14 KJV) And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
I don't intend to go through all 396 references for you. The above are the first four references in the Bible where water is mentioned, and none of them refer to baptism. It is evident that the great majority of verses in the Bible referring to water do not refer to baptism. If you would like to prove that they do, then you would have give me approximately 200 references containing the word "water" all referring to baptism. I will leave that study to you.
Does the word "water" in John 3:5 refer to baptism?
No, there is no evidence, Biblical or otherwise, to demonstrate that "water" in John 3:5 refers to baptism, other than one's own presuppositions.
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Notice that the scholars of the King James translation correctly translated the word "Spirit" in verses 5 and 6, with a capital "S," indicating that the word refers to the Holy Spirit. One must be born again of the Spirit of God. This is the clear teaching of verses five and six. Without the Holy Spirit of God it is impossible to be saved, impossible to be born again, impossible to enter into the Kingdom of God.
"Spirit" definitely refers to the "Holy Spirit."
"Water" definitely does not refer to "baptism."
"Water" may refer to natural birth, as Briguy contends.
It is my belief that "water" of John 3:5 refers symbolically to the Word of God, as is borne out by other Scripture. Compare Scripture with Scripture.
The principle truth here is "You must be born again!" What does the Scripture teach about being born again? How is one born again?
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
--One becomes a son (child) of God by believing on the name of Christ. Verse 13 goes on to say that we are born of God. It also tells us that we cannot be born of the blood, the flesh, or the will of man. Baptism is an act of the will of man. You decide if you want to be baptized. It is a choice you make. You are not born of the will of man. You are not born of baptism. You are born of God. That is the first thing one needs to note in this context.
Secondly: In the study of water we find that it is a cleansing agent. Though this is ought to be obvious to even the most casual of readers, we will find Biblical support for it in Jer.2:22
22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
Take as much water as you like, and the strongest possible soaps that you can find, scrub as hard as you will, but you will never, never wash away your sin with water. Jeremiah uses this illustration because both water and soap are cleansing agents, otherwise the illustration would not make sense.
Water is a cleansing agent. So is the Word of God.
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
--Jesus uses the Word to cleanse His disciples. He says to us, that we are clean through the Word. The Word, like water, is a cleansing agent. The water is symbolic of the Word. Both are cleansing agents. Water does not symbolize baptism; rather the Word of God. Let's continue.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
? The word "begat" here speaks of birth. Of God's will, he gave us new birth with the word of truth. We were born again! How? Through the Word of God. The Word of God is a primary agency of the new birth. You must be born again: How? By the Spirit of God, and by the Word of God. Continue on in Scripture:
1Pet.1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
--- Peter also says that one is born again by the Word of God.
There are only two things mentioned in Scripture, two agencies by which one is born again: the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. This would lead one to the obvious conclusion that "water" is symbolic of "the word" in John 3:5, given the weight of the evidence above. You must be born again. You must be born by the Spirit of God. You must be born by the Word of God.
DHK