DHK
Your devious response above is untrue. And I still think you should step down as moderator given your attitude!
I said:
What I said was not untrue at all. If you have a complaint about moderation than you can contact the administration or another moderator. Any further public complaints will be deleted.
Like I previously said, one can choose from a random list and insert anything they like: grace, justice, holiness, etc. Your method of hermeneutics is lacking. You do not connect "water" with anything. You start well using John 7 showing how it could refer to the Holy Spirit, but then you jump from there to "grace" without any connection. Why not another attribute like justice or holiness?
You have correctly defined grace. What does the Bible say about grace.
Jesus said that God makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. That is grace.
He makes the rain to come upon the just and the unjust. That is grace.
Grace is free unmerited favor. Your paradigm doesn't fit.
Again, none of the verses that you quoted have any connection to "water" of John 3:5. I gave at least half a dozen verses linking "water" to the Word of God. Comparing Scripture with Scripture is a must in Bible study.
I won't go through the entire post again. I will simplify it for you. It is not hard to comprehend. Here is the verse:
John 3:5 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.
--We all agree that we must be born of the Holy Spirit.
Now what does the water mean?
This is the only other agent that Christ mentions. One must be born of the Spirit and of________________
1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
--One is born again of the Word of God.
This is where the answer is given. There are two agents whereby a person is born again. One is the Word of God, and the other is the Holy Spirit. The connection is made by Christ, who said:
John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
--Water is a cleansing agent. See Psalm 119:9. It is the Word that cleans, washes. It is through the Word that one is born again. It is through the Holy Spirit that one is born again. There is no other way.
If one does not hear the gospel he cannot be saved; thus the Word.
If one is not convicted of his sin he cannot be saved; thus the Holy Spirit.
Both are needed to be born of God.