Seeking Jesus First Jan. 19, 2025
Born of Water and the Spirit
Today’s Reading: John 3:1–21
(Read the full passage before reflecting below.)
“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:5, NKJV)
As Jesus continues His conversation with Nicodemus, He brings greater clarity to what He means by being “born again.” This is not a new topic, but a deepening of it. Jesus now speaks plainly: entrance into the kingdom of God requires being born of water and the Spirit. This birth is not symbolic, optional, or secondary. It is necessary.
Jesus immediately rules out misunderstanding by adding, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Natural birth produces natural life. No matter how sincere, disciplined, or religious a person may be, the flesh can only produce what is flesh. Spiritual life must come from a spiritual source.
John has already made this clear—those who become children of God are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
When Jesus speaks of being born of water, He is not introducing a new or unfamiliar idea. As a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus should have recognized the language. The prophets had spoken of a day when God would cleanse His people inwardly. Through Ezekiel, God promised, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Water, in this sense, speaks of cleansing—of removal of defilement and preparation for new life.
This cleansing is closely connected to the Word of God. Scripture later tells us that God sanctifies and cleanses His people “with the washing of water by the word.” The Word exposes truth, awakens faith, and renews the mind. It prepares the heart for the Spirit’s work. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The water does not give life by itself—it prepares the way.
The Spirit, however, is the source of life. To be born of the Spirit is to receive something entirely new. This is not self-improvement or moral reform. It is regeneration. God’s Spirit becomes united with our inner man, imparting divine life where there was once spiritual death. Scripture calls this becoming a new creation. The old passes away; something genuinely new begins.
Jesus is not separating water and Spirit as two competing ideas. He is describing one divine work with two inseparable aspects: cleansing and life, preparation and power, truth received and life imparted. Together, they describe how God brings a person into His kingdom.
This teaching also guards us from a subtle misunderstanding of God’s love. God’s love is real, deep, and generous—but it is also holy. Love does not bypass transformation; it provides it. Jesus does not say that everyone already enters the kingdom by default. He says that entry requires new birth. This is not exclusion—it is invitation. The door is open, but it must be entered God’s way.
Jesus’ words are not meant to confuse Nicodemus, but to invite him beyond what he already knows. New birth is not earned, managed, or controlled. It is received. God cleanses, God gives life, and we respond in faith.
Today, let this truth rest in your heart: being born of water and the Spirit is not about ceremony or striving, but about God’s gracious work within us. The kingdom of God is not entered by human effort, but by divine renewal. And that renewal is offered freely to all who come to Christ in faith.
God’s love does not leave us as we are. It makes us new.