WHAT IS THE WATER IN JOHN 3:5?

[GodsGrace]

This is John 3:5 NASB
5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless * one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot * enter into the kingdom of God.


Some believe water to be:
The word of God
Baptismal water
Natural birth

There might be other understandings that are not listed.

I tend to go with either natural birth or baptismal water.
Either can seem correct to me.

Please state what you believe and why.
Appreciated...

 

[Hepzibah]

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:25-27

'Some scholars link the verse to Ezekiel 36:25-27, where God promises to cleanse his people with water and give them a new heart and spirit. This reinforces the idea of a spiritual transformation where God removes sin and replaces it with a new, God-centered nature.'

• I wonder if this is where water baptism came from, as a sign of Spirit baptism, rather than the common belief that it is connected to the flood .
  

 

[3 Resurrections]

This is John 3:5 NASB
5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless * one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot * enter into the kingdom of God.


Some believe water to be:
The word of God
Baptismal water
Natural birth

The answer is none of the above. And the meaning of this verse is very simple. It involves the correct interpretation of the little Greek word "kai" which has mistakenly been translated as "AND" in this verse.

"Kai" can have various meanings. It can be used as a conjunction meaning "in addition to" (as many translations mistakenly interpret it in this case), OR it can also be used in an explanatory sense, meaning "namely" or "even", which is the case in this John 3:5 verse. In other words, this verse can justifiably be translated as follows: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water, NAMELY (kai) the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This identifies the "water" as being the equivalent of the "Spirit".

Do we have other texts which also indicate that this is so? Yes, we do, and in the words of Christ Himself in John 7:38-39 as He addressed the multitude on the last day of the feast. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (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.)"

The evidence that one has been born of the Spirit is the presence of the "rivers of living water" that flow from the individual.

"WATER" = "THE SPIRIT" They are one and the same thing in John 3:5 and also in John 7:38-39.