Born Again
Refers to Baptism
The
phrase “born again” is one that has become very popular in Christianity over
the past several decades. So great an emphasis has been put on the term that
it has become the name taken by a rather large number of Christians; these
people are called ‘Born Again Christians.’ The phrase has, of course, always
been a meaningful term to Christians. Today as in the past it is clear that
all Christians are born-again. It is a requirement for being a Christian, as
Christ said, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) This raises the question of, given that all Christians are by necessity born
again, why some Christians specifically hold the name of born-again. The
answer is one of emphasis. To these believers, Christianity is nothing more or
less than the faith of the born again, and the born again become that way by
accepting Christ as Lord and savior. To be called born-again is to emphasize
the reliance of the believer upon Christ and to emphasize the believer’s having
been born again through this acceptance of Christ. The emphasis and
understanding of the term has also become an extremely prominent aspect of
Evangelicalism. So important is the matter of being born-again to Evangelicals
that asking “have you been born again?” is a primary factor in matters of
evangelization for these believers.
These
Christians are quite right in stressing the necessity of being born again. It
is, as Christ said, absolutely necessary. As is so often the case with
Protestant theology, the Catholic disagreement here is not one of emphasis, but
rather of understanding. It is the means by which it is understood by
Evangelicals that one is born again that Catholics disagree with. The Catholic
Church teaches the necessity of being born-again for salvation, and Catholics
are born again, because according to the Scriptures, people are born again in
baptism. There are only 3 places where the term occurs in Scripture. The first
is John chapter 3:
”Jesus
answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man
be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and
be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do
not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'”(3:3-7)
Jesus here speaks of water being necessary to be born again. The Church
identifies this water with baptism. Session 6 of the council of Trent declares:
“By which words, a description of the
Justification of the impious is indicated,-as being a translation, from that
state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace, and
of the adoption of the sons of God, through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our
Saviour. And this translation, since the promulgation of the Gospel, cannot be
effected, without the laver of regeneration, or the desire thereof, as it is
written; unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot
enter into the Kingdom of God.” (chapter 4)
However, some have interpreted Jesus’ mention of
water to refer to other things. One interpretation points to amniotic fluid.
According to this interpretation, Jesus’ words mean that a person must be born
once of his or her mother, that is to say biologically (hence the amniotic
fluid), and again through the Spirit in order to enter Heaven. However, such an
interpretation is completely without Scriptural support; there is no exegetical
reason to identify amniotic fluid, and the context contains no indication that
amniotic fluid is intended here. Aside from this is the fact that amniotic
fluid is really a rather insignificant aspect of birth. It is certainly one of
the last things most people would mention in reference to a birth. If Jesus
wanted to say that one must be born once biologically and then again from the
Spirit, it would have been far clearer and certainly much more in line with the
context to say something such as, ‘born of the womb and the Spirit,’ or,
‘born of flesh and the Spirit.’ In fact, these readings make so much
sense that the suggestion that Jesus meant this in saying “water and the
Spirit” seems at best extremely
unlikely by comparison.
Even the grammar of the sentence opposes the
interpretation of amniotic fluid, because the verse reads “born of water
and the Spirit.” In Greek, the word for ‘of,’ ex, is used to mean both ‘of’
and ‘from’. The water being spoken of here is the source or cause of the person’s
birth. People are born from their mothers; they are not born from amniotic
fluid. The fluid isn't what gives birth to them, their mother is. The Catholic
Church teaches, however, that the water of baptism actually causes the rebirth,
and the Spirit actually causes and gives rebirth. It is from the water and
from the Spirit that a person is born again, according to John 3:5. This fact
is also important to consider in the various other interpretations of this
verse that have been suggested in opposition to the Church’s teaching that John
3:5 refers to baptism.
Furthermore, while the context does not contain a reason to understand amniotic
fluid to be the water of John 3:5, it does explicitly provide reason to
understand it to refer to baptism. When Nicodemus asks about being born again,
Jesus presents a short monologue, which lasts from verses 10-21. The entire
monologue is one; it does not take place on multiple occasions. The moment
that Christ finishes this monologue, the very next thing He does is to start
baptizing in verse 22. Then, in verse 23, the gospel mentions John the Baptist baptizing.
This does not all occur at some later time, or in some unrelated portion of
John’s gospel or the chapter. Rather, it takes place immediately after Christ
finishes discussing being born again and about God sending His Son for the
purpose of bringing eternal life to people. Within the very same context, John
records Jesus’ mention of being born-again, His mention of the Son brining
eternal life, and His record of Christ and John the Baptist baptizing. The
three items are connected.
The only other time the phrase born again occurs is in the 1st letter of Peter.
He writes:
Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he
has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,(1:3)
This teaching is that people are born again through the resurrection. St. Paul writes of salvation through the resurrection as well, and he links is directly to
baptism:
Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a
death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.(Rom
6:3-5)
In
Colossians 2:12, he echoes the same idea, writing that Christians have been “buried with him in baptism, in
which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of
God, who raised him from the dead.” It is through baptism
that people die with Christ and are raised again. Being born-again occurs
through His resurrection, and according to Paul, men are brought into that Resurrection
by baptism.
Finally Peter says “born again” one last time in his letter:
Having purified your souls by your obedience to
the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure
heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of
imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;(1 Peter 1:22-23)
Here is where the Evangelical understanding of being born again is most closely
taught in Scripture. People are indeed born again through the word of God. However,
this does not discount baptism. In fact, the very words "I baptize you in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," are
regarded by the Church to be necessary for baptism to take place; the water is
called the ‘matter’ of baptism and the words the ‘form.’ Without either,
baptism cannot occur. This is another case in which the Catholic Church
accepts the entirety of Scriptural teaching on a point whereas some non
Catholics seem to acknowledge only part. John 3:5 and 1 Peter 1:3 teach that
being born again occurs through baptism, whereas 1 Peter 1:22-23 teach that it
occurs through the word of God. Catholicism accepts both of these teachings.
In
addition to this is the fact that John 3:5 was universally regarded as
referring to baptism by the early
Church fathers. In the 250s, Cyprian of Carthage wrote:
“…those who have been dipped abroad outside the
Church, and have been stained among heretics and schismatics with the taint of
profane water, when they come to us and to the Church which is one, ought to be
baptized, for the reason that it is a small matter [He quotes Act_8:17]
to “lay hands on them that they may receive the Holy Ghost,” unless they
receive also the baptism of the Church. For then finally can they be fully
sanctified, and be the sons of God, if they be born of each sacrament; since it
is written, “Except a man be born again of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.” (Joh_3:5) – Epistle 71, to Stephen,
chapter 1
Tertullian wrote similarly in his treatise on Baptism:
“When, however, the prescript is laid down that
“without baptism, salvation is attainable 675 by
none” (chiefly on the ground of that declaration of the Lord, who says, “Unless
one be born of water, he hath not life (John 3:5, not fully given)” - chapter
12
Even as
early as the second century the verse was understood to mean baptism:
“And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” (2Ki_5:14) It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from
leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication
to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred
water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being
spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except
a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.” (Joh_3:5)” – Irenaeus, 34th Fragment
God Bless,
Shane
Coombs 2006
