MARK 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
In preparing the way of the Lord, John the Baptist preached the baptism (per Mark 1:4, and remember your English grammar). What baptism? The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Twenty centuries later, people speak of God accepting us "just as I am" (or, "just as you are"). This may well be a good place to start (cf. 1Timothy 1:12-16), but it's a bit misleading too, given the current attitude (of arrogance) towards God. In point of fact, each of us is expected to repent of our evil deeds. The very first words to come out of the mouth of Jesus Christ (once He began to teach), was:
MATTHEW 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
As we shall soon see, He baptized as well (cf. John 3:22,25, John 4:1-2), even though Jesus had the power on earth to forgive sins—on the spot (cf. Mark 2:7-12).
On one particular occasion, which God specifically saw fit to include as part of the written scriptures, Jesus Christ "preached to" Nicodemus. He said:
JOHN 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
JOHN 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
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.
JOHN 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
JOHN 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
JOHN 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
This segment of the scriptures is commonly misunderstood, so the time should be taken to parse this, very slowly and deliberately. Jesus said:
JOHN 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Observation: Jesus is talking about one birth—not two!
JOHN 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Observation: Nicodemus, likewise, is asking about only one birth, not two! ("How can a man be born when he is old?") He may not have understood what Christ was talking about, but he was nevertheless asking about that one birth that Jesus mentioned.
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.
Observation: Jesus answered Nicodemus' question about that one birth. A man can be born "when he is old" by being born "of water and of the spirit!" This one (re)birth has two components: "water" and "Spirit."
JOHN 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
JOHN 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Observation: Jesus is still answering Nicodemus' question about how a man can be born when he is old. He is making the point that a man does not enter into his mother's womb for the second time, to be born again. Here (at verse 6), He mentions both births, only to clarify Nicodemus' misunderstanding of Jesus' original statement in verse 3, that a man "must be born again," and that this rebirth is not like the first birth. Jesus is talking about a birth-one birth-that is different from our first.
JOHN 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Observation: Here, the Lord describes the "and of the Spirit" part of John 3:5 "...Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit...". One cannot see the being born of the Spirit. One can only see the evidence that this has happened.
In John3, Jesus speaks for several more verses. After this, the scriptures immediately touch upon on the topic of John the Baptist. (John preached the baptism of repentence for the remission of sins, if you'll recall, and Jesus Himself was baptized in water. ) The scriptures continued:
JOHN 3:22 ¶ After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.
JOHN 3:23 ¶ And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
John's disciples noted that more people came to Jesus Christ's baptism than to John's:
JOHN 3:25 ¶ Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
JOHN 3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
In this very same context (about "purifying," i.e., baptism), John answered, saying:
JOHN 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
JOHN 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
JOHN 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
JOHN 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
From this point (at John 3:31-36), John the Baptist continued by saying that all men must follow the Christ, not His prophet (John). Remember though, that the context of these statements was about baptism (see John 3:25-26, above). After John's monologue, the scriptures immediately returns to the baptism of Christ:
JOHN 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
JESUS CHRIST BAPTIZED (IN WATER) MORE PEOPLE THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST DID (per John 3:22-23 and John 4:1)! The prophet John taught baptism so much that he is actually called "John the Baptist," and yet, Jesus Christ baptized still more people!
The baptism of John was "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). But "repentance and remission of sins" was taught by Christ as well, and baptism was part of this. Consider Christ's answer to Nicodemus concerning how a man can be born (again) when he is old:
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.
(Keep in mind that "water" means water. )
The phrase "born of the spirit" in John 3:5, implies repentance. Repentance is a change in one's ways. Nobody can see repentance itself, but the evidence of repentance (the change of attitude and behavior) can be seen. (cf. John 3:8).
The phrase "born of water" in John 3:5, means water baptism. It must be accompanied by repentance (and therefore faith itself) to be of any value. Being "born of water" is part of the beginning of a spiritual rebirth, and is a requirement, not an option.
To be "born of water and of the spirit" is nothing short of "repentance and remission of sins." (Compare this to His instructions to the eleven at Luke 24:46-47. )
To suggest that the water of John 3:5 refers to "the water of childbirth" is incorrect. This error typically arises when a one-to-one correlation is assigned between Jesus' statement that "Except a man be born of 1) water, and 2) of the Spirit" (John 3:5) and the next verse "1) that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and 2) that which is born of the spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).
As methodically examined above, Jesus was only talking about ONE birth, in John 3:3. In verse 4, Nicodemus asked about this one birth. In verse 5, Jesus answered Nicodemus' question about this one birth (i.e., this is how a man can be born when he is old). It is not a birth in the flesh, as stated in John 3:6. John 3:7 re-asserts the fact that they are only talking about one birth.
If the word "water" in John 3:5 really referred to "the water of childbirth," and since both Jesus and Nicodemus had already been born in the flesh, then Christ's instruction at John 3:3 would have read:
"Except a man be [born and] born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
That would be silly.
Nowhere in the Bible is there an association made between water and childbirth. Childbirth can, however, be associated with blood. According to the Law of Moses, a new mother is unclean for a grand total of either forty days (if she bore a son), or for eighty days (if she bore a daughter), because of the "issue of her blood" (Leviticus 12:7). In addition, an animal sacrifice was required: one animal for a burnt offering, and another for a sin offering. See Leviticus 12 for details (it's a short chapter). Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, obeyed this law (Luke 2:22-24).
To suggest that the water of John 3:5 means "spirit" is incorrect. Typically, this error is facilitated by the failure to notice that after Christ's discourse in John 3, the very next actions to be recorded were baptisms done not only by John, but by Christ and His disciples as well (John 3:22-26), and a failure to notice that Christ baptized more disciples than John did (John 4:1-2). Lacking this background for these words of Jesus, this error then, is specifically based upon verses 6 and 8 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," from which they conclude that the rebirth to which Christ referred is "born of the Spirit."
If the word "water" in John 3:5 really meant "spirit," then John 3:5 would then read:
"Except a man be born of [spirit] and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Why include the word "and" (as in, "of [spirit] and of the Spirit")?
Later, the Apostle Peter wrote:
1 PETER 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1 PETER 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Peter specifically mentioned water baptism, saying "...eight souls were saved by water, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us..." Here, this reference to "baptism" was deliberately associated with a reference to Noah and the flood. It is not reasonable to suggest that "water" actually means "spirit." Likewise, when baptism is referred to in John 3:5 (i.e., "born of water"), "water" does not mean "spirit" there either.
Remember that Jesus baptized (with water) more disciples than John the Baptist did. Also, it was this same Peter (who wrote 1Peter 3:20-21) who was the first to preach water baptism, starting on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:38).
1Peter 3:20-21 will be discussed at more length in section 21 of this document. At this point, only John 3:3-8 is being examined.