What does it mean to be Born Again by Water and the Holy Spirit?

Hello Everyone,

How is your week going? In the last 3 weeks, I have been writing about the Holy Spirit. I hope you have been blessed by the articles that the Holy Spirit has inspired me to write.

Today's article is about being Born Again by Water and the Holy Spirit 

Nicodemus and Jesus

Nicodemus was a moral man who was held in high regard in his community. He came to Jesus one night privately and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher.” Nicodemus probably had a question to ask Jesus but before Nicodemus could say anything else, Jesus told him in the Book of John 3:3, what it means to be Born Again. 

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are Born Again. Nicodemus was marvelled by this statement, he had to ask Jesus how it was possible for someone that is old to be born again, and how it was possible for an individual to enter into their mother's womb to be born a second time.

Perhaps Nicodemus did not understand why someone that is already living their life (perhaps a good life? an upright life?) needed to be Born Again. 

What does it mean to be Born Again?

To be Born Again is to have the life of God. God wants you to have His life. He wants you to experience a new birth by accepting to follow Him. He would like you to be born spiritually with the life of God. He would like to guide your life rather than for things around you to guide you. He created you, He would like you to make a choice to follow Him.

The new birth gives you spiritual life and welcomes you to the family of God. John 1:12 says "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right (the authority, the privilege) to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." John 1:13 further states that "They did not become his children in a human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God (spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified)."

So, how can you experience this new birth? 

Jesus answered Nicodemus and said "I tell you the truth unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God's Kingdom (John 3:5)."

Some would argue that to be born again by water is to experience physical baptism of water when you are immersed in water as it symbolises that the old self is dead, and when you are raised from the water, it symbolises your new life in Christ has begun. Let me expand this teaching further, the Word of God places greater meaning to the word "water" in the Bible. 

In the Book of Ephesians 5:26, the Bible says that "That he might make her holy (sanctify her), cleansing her in the washing of water by the Word."  The washing of water here teaches us that the Word of God washes us, the Word of God performs spiritual cleansing in an individual life once an individual has chosen to follow Jesus.  Titus 3:5 says that "Jesus saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

God said:

             "He will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean, and He will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and your idols. Also, God said He will give you a new heart, and He will put a new way of thinking (spirit) inside you. He will remove from you the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and He will give you obedient hearts of flesh. God said He will put His Spirit inside you and help you walk by His rules and carefully obey His laws (Ezekiel 36:25–27)."

Once you have made a decision to follow Christ, He is ready to help you walk by His laws as He has placed His Spirit inside you and He said His Word will cleanse you from all uncleanness. In fact, John 15:3 talks about how we are cleansed through the Word of God. 

Are you spending time to know God through His Word? The devil's aim is to distract you from spending time studying the Word of God (The Bible). His preference is for you to engage in other activities that will not make you grow in depth or to learn how to conform to God's ways.

Create time to regularly drink from the Living Water (John 4:14).

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say ‘hello’ by leaving a comment.

Enjoy your week!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How they lived a Purpose Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download on Google Drive for free, click here.