Contrary to what the Pharisees believed about a works-based righteousness, Jesus is stating that salvation isn’t about their religion, rituals, or efforts; it is about God cleansing the individual and giving that person a new heart through the regenerating power and work of the Holy Spirit.

Over the years I have been asked what Jesus is referring to in John 3:5, where Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” This verse has been misinterpreted by many regarding its possible meanings; however, when considered within the context of the passage and in relation to whom Jesus is speaking, I believe we can arrive at a clear biblical interpretation as to what Jesus is referring. The third chapter of John begins with an interaction of Christ with Nicodemus. Understanding Nicodemus is crucial in arriving at an accurate interpretation of this verse.

Who Is Nicodemus

John tells us in the first verse that Nicodemus is a Pharisee. The role of the Pharisees arose during the Intertestamental Period (between Malachi and Matthew), a four-hundred-year span in which they became highly esteemed and influential. They were not priests (like the Sadducees) but were religious reformers whose very name means “separated ones.” According to Josephus, there were over six thousand Pharisees at the time of Christ, and they were significantly influential over the religious and political parties. Many of them were scribes, which means they were experts in interpreting the Mosaic Law. Nicodemus was one of those, in addition to being one of the top teachers, as Jesus alludes to in John 3:10, indicating that he was one of the seventy who formed the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. All of this suggests that Nicodemus was a scholar of the highest pedigree as it relates to the Old Testament. He approaches Jesus, and doesn’t begin the dialogue with our Lord with a question, but rather with a statement: “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” This indicates that Nicodemus is among those whom John identifies in John 2:23 who believed in the signs that Jesus performed, but not to the point of salvation. Additionally, as John concludes the second chapter, he provides insight into Jesus knowing the heart of man and what man thinks, as was earlier demonstrated in His interactions with Peter (John 1:42) and Nathanael (John 1:47–48), where Jesus demonstrates His divine knowledge of man. All of this is necessary for understanding what transpires in the first few verses of John 3.

Jesus Raises the True Reason for Nicodemus’s Visit

When Nicodemus begins the dialogue with Christ in John 3:2, he opens the dialogue with a statement. However, look at Jesus’ response in verse three: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” Nicodemus didn’t ask Him about salvation (the Kingdom of God), so why then did Christ answer his statement with another statement? It is because Jesus truly knew why Nicodemus had come to Him, as “He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25). Nicodemus came seeking answers, and Jesus read his mind to discern his true purpose in the visitation. The phrase “born again” is introduced to us for the first time in John’s gospel and is carried throughout.

Furthermore, Jesus signals a sine qua non, a necessary condition, for “new birth” (being born again) to Nicodemus, indicating that something supernatural must take place before one can enter the kingdom of God (salvation). To which Nicodemus responds with bewilderment in his confusion as to what form this new birth takes? He asks a somewhat silly question; however, I do not believe that Nicodemus is cracking a joke or attempting to be crass. I think his mind cannot grasp to what Jesus is referring, which is why Jesus responds with a statement bound up in an Old Testament understanding to which Nicodemus would be well-versed.

Water and The Spirit

The response Jesus provides to Nicodemus’s statement is not a veiled response shrouded in ambiguity, but rather the answer to his question. Jesus explains the process for how one is brought into the kingdom: they must be born of water and the Spirit. Now, there are many differing interpretations of this passage, which I wish to address quickly to explain why those cannot be the answer, nor are they to what Jesus refers.

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