Did Jesus Tell Nicodemus Baptism is Required for Salvation? [Baptismal Regeneration]
John 3:1-7
Did Jesus teach Nicodemus that baptism is required to be saved? The Belief that a person must be baptized in order to be saved is called “Baptismal Regeneration”. Many people use these verses in John 3 to teach this false doctrine.However if we look at the scripture in context it is not hard to see that Jesus is NOT teaching a person needs to be baptized for salvation. Baptism is not required for salvation. Friend, you do not need to be baptized to be saved.
This conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus gives us one of our most cherished verses in the entire Bible of how simple salvation is. John 3:16 is one of the most clear verses on salvation. I would dare say this is probably the most famous Bible verse of all time. Most people can quote it with ease…
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 is a simple and effective verse for proving that only faith in Christ is how a person obtains salvation. It would be odd to say that in this very same conversation, just moments before this verse, Jesus is trying to teach Nicodemus that he must be baptized to be saved. It just does not make any sense. Yet, people do this exact thing. They take verses 1-7 way out of context and teach Baptismal Regeneration.
Let's look at part of the conversation with Jesus and Nicodemus that causes this gross misunderstanding of scripture.
John 3:1-7
1. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
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.
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?
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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Let's start breaking this down..
In verses 1-2 Nicodemus, a ruler and teacher of the Jews, addresses him as “Rabbi” meaning teaching or master.
1. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Nicodemus also mentions that there is no way Jesus could be doing all these miracles without being sent from God. Now let's ask, what were the miracles even done for? To help people? Absolutely. But what is the bigger motivation? I would say to point people to Christ. See, more importantly than simply noting “hey Jesus, you have done some amazing things, you must be from God” is realizing and understanding what to do with that knowledge.
It is great that Nicodemus here realizes that Jesus is in fact sent from God, but he needs to understand how that applies to him. Jesus addresses this with zero hesitation. I love how all throughout the gospels you see Jesus just getting straight to the heart of the matter.
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.
(“Verily” just means “truly” by the way.) So verse 3 Jesus is introducing and addressing the subject of salvation. Nicodemus is stating he is well aware of the fact that God sent Jesus, but Jesus is informing him that although he may discern the power of God working through Jesus, he needs to get his soul settled. He will never actually see the kingdom of God unless he gets born again.
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?
The statement “born again” completely goes over the head of Nicodemus. He is so confused by this terminology that he asks Jesus how is it even possible for a man to be born again? He then makes what I believe to be a tongue and cheek comment, asking if a man has to crawl back into his mothers womb to be born a second time.
I won't go into great detail at this time, but born again simply means saved. The reason the terminology born again makes sense is because when a person sins they die spiritually, like Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden. So in order to be saved from this sinful and dead condition, a person must be born again. And then the person's soul becomes alive because they are a new creature in Christ.
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.
Verse 5 is where we get on to the meat and potatoes. This is crucial for you to understand. This is where the false teaching comes from. People will point out that Jesus says that a man must be born of water and the Spirit, or they won’t be saved. Which is true…but the problem is these people assume that the water mentioned by Jesus is baptism. This simply is not the case. If you go into this with the preconceived idea that baptism is required for salvation because you have heard that from your church, or from other people your whole life, then I could see how you would easily come to this conclusion. But that is not the way you read the Bible.
The Bible can speak for itself, we need to allow the Bible to do just that, and keep our preconceived ideas at the door and really pay attention to what the words on the page are telling us.
We must take scripture like this in its own context. Think about who is talking and what is being talked about.
Who? Jesus and Nicodemus. What? Jesus is relating salvation to birth, specifically a second birth.Also Jesus is mentioning that a man needs to be born of water and Spirit to be born again.
Lets keep reading on for even more context, and this will really start to make sense.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Jesus continues teaching Nicodemus and reveals He is talking about 2 things: Spiritual matters and physical matters. He even encourages Nicodemus not to marvel at the terminology that he was confused about. “Don’t be confused Nicodemus, I am explaining it to you right now.”
Jesus is already using a physical example to picture a spiritual one. Salvation is associated with birth, and specifically a second birth. Two things are needed for a person to experience this second birth: Water and the Spirit of God.
Now, do understand that someone is born of the Spirit of God the moment they believe. This is laid out fairly straightforward in the Bible..
John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
So what is Jesus referring to when He mentions the water? He is simply talking about the first birth of a man or woman. This actually makes sense in the context of the passage of scripture. What does not make sense is forcing the meaning of the term “born of water” to mean baptism because “so and so says so”. The text does not support this argument, to say so is to add to scripture.
Here is what Jesus is referring to based on the context: When a woman is about to give birth, her water breaks. Obviously for someone to be born again, they need to have lived. In order to be born a second time, you have to be born the first time.
Jesus says “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The flesh is the first birth, the Spirit is the second birth.
If we allow the scriptures to speak for themselves, things will make a lot more sense. We must use the immediate context of the passage we are in, as well as the context of the entire Bible to teach us the truth. Baptismal Regeneration is a total false doctrine. Anyone teaching a person to be baptized to be saved is either sorely mistaken or flat out lying to you. Jesus was NOT teaching baptism is mandatory for a person to be saved, and I think we did a good job of debunking that idea.
If you are not sure that you are going to heaven, please get this settled today by clicking here: How to Go to Heaven.
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