"Born of Water" (John 3:5)
What Does It Mean to Be Born of Water?

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Wide differences of opinion—at least five different views—exist as to what Jesus meant by “born of water.” Perhaps the two most widely accepted views are as follows: 1) “born of water” refers to being born physically (water being the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby in the mother’s womb); and 2) “born of water” refers to baptism in water, whether Jewish baptism or Christian baptism. Generally, those who do not believe “born of water” is Christian baptism either do not believe that baptism is essential or assert that the one baptism (Eph. 4:5) is Holy Spirit baptism rather than water baptism. This paper will be limited to discussion of the two views noted above.

To gain a confident understanding of the text one must consider the circumstance surrounding the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus. It is also important that we study other passages relating to baptism and the new birth. But first we will take a close look at this amniotic fluid argument—what it is and what it is not—and focus on understanding the true intent of the phrase “born of water.”

Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews who believed in Jesus because of the miracles He had performed. He approached Jesus in the dark of night, evidently to find out what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus, knowing his circumstances, told him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). This was puzzling to Nicodemus. His immediate thought was that Jesus was speaking of a physical birth. He asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”

According to the amniotic fluid interpretation, Jesus’ words refer to the biological birth (hence the amniotic fluid inside the mother’s womb) and again through the Spirit. But there are a few problems with this view.

First, we must not let Nicodemus’ misunderstanding and question lead us to a wrong conclusion. We must draw a conclusion that makes sense in view of Jesus’ statement to a man who believed in God but who evidently had not been baptized by John for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). Remember, Jesus said “except a man be born of water...” First, obviously men are already born and therefore can obey that command. Second, if Jesus is referring to an unborn baby then it sounds like a command to them. But unborn infants have no control over whether they are born or not. If Jesus intended to teach Nicodemus of John’s baptism, He would not have changed His comment to mean something totally different simply because of a somewhat silly question. Remember, the question was in response to Jesus’ statement that one must be “born again.” It would be expected that a ruler of the Jews would have understood what was mean by “born again” in view of John’s teaching on baptism. Thus, to conclude that Jesus was not referring to baptism but to a physical birth is imprudent. It was a new birth and spiritual one, but not TWO births. Jesus did not say “one must be born—first of water and then later of the Spirit.” The language implies that this second birth is both a birth of water and of the Spirit and something that happened simultaneously.

Second, since the verse reads “born of water and the Spirit,” a problem with the grammar exists for those who hold to the amniotic fluid argument. The word translated “of” (ex) is used to mean both “of” and “from.” The water being spoken of in the text is the source or cause of the person’s birth. Therefore, since the “fluid” isn’t what gives birth, because it is the mother that does this, the idea that being “born of water” refers to the amniotic fluid in the mother’s womb is a piece from some other puzzle that someone has thrown in to disrupt the process of putting things together. Nowhere in Scripture is natural birth referred to as being born “of water.” This is either an attempt to deny the simple truth of baptism, or an attempt to avoid condemnation of those who are not baptized. Whether it condemns all who are not baptized is not within the scope of this paper.

Third, amniotic fluid is not water.

“When the fluid first starts to form inside the amniotic sac (a few weeks after conception), it’s mostly made of your own body fluids. But when baby’s kidneys kick in and start putting out urine (at as early as 11 weeks), those new fluids start building up to help cushion and protect baby’s growing body. After around week 20, the amniotic fluid is mostly urine.” American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. Your pregnancy and birth. 4th ed. Washington, DC: ACOG; 2005.

Water, of which one must be born, is “pure water” (Heb. 10:22) —not urine or some other impure mixture. Therefore, “born of water” cannot refer to being born of amniotic fluid and must refer to baptism.

Fourth, if “water” in the text refers to the physical birth we have Jesus basically saying a truism—"except one be born.” To put it another way, it would have been redundant for Jesus to say that one must be born of the flesh to enter the Kingdom since Nicodemus had already met that condition. Who does not understand that one must be “born” to do ANYTHING? Surely Jesus was not saying one must be “born.” Such a remark in our day would have caused one to say: “Really?” Or, “You don’t say?” What Jesus did say was that one must be “born of water,” and other passages bear out the fact that the phrase has reference to baptism, which was being practiced at the time “for the remission of sins” (John’s baptism, Luke 3:3) and which would be something Christians would practice in the future dispensation. If indeed Jesus was saying that a person must FIRST be born, why did He not say, “One must be born and THEN he must be born of the Spirit”? Why add water to it? Why would Jesus mention water at all in view of what he could KNOW would take place in the future, i.e., that a huge number of scholars would think “born of water” was the same teaching as the Jewish baptism and the burial from which one rises “to walk in newness of life,” as taught to Christians (Rom. 6:3, 4).)? It seems apparent that Jesus interjected water not as a means to help Nicodemus understand that one must first be born physically, but to point out that the SPIRITUAL birth (not the physical) must be of water, at which point the recipient of water baptism is also born of the Spirit and made free from sin (Rom. 6:17, 18).

Let’s now consider three categories of evidence showing that “born of water” has reference to baptism.

Scriptures

The concern of Nicodemus, and our concern today, is how to get into the kingdom that constitutes the saved (Acts 2:37-47). In Acts chapter 2, we read that Jews who heard the gospel and were cut to the heart asked, “what shall we do?” They were told to “repent and be baptized…for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). [Born of the spirit has to do with receiving the Holy Spirit, which happens when one is baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).]

On another occasion, Peter preached the same gospel to numerous people at Solomon’s porch. He said unto them, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…” (Acts 3:19). This is what is called “a parallel passage.” It is a teaching that says basically the same thing as is said elsewhere, but in different words, and elaborates on the passage it parallels. Acts 3:19 parallels Acts 2:38, which was noted above. Repentance, as well as "for the remission of sins," is mentioned as essential to being saved in both passages, but “be converted” replaces “be baptized” in this text. Thus, being baptized is evidently involved in being converted.

To be “born of water and the spirit” is to be converted to Christ. Those truly converted begin a new life in Christ. Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17). (See also Col. 3:9.)

In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul portrays the new life, telling us HOW and WHEN it happens.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness (Romans 6:3, 4).

The doctrine being discussed (verses 17 and 18) included baptism, for Paul described it as a burial representative of Christ’s birth from the death (His resurrection). Certainly, the obedience from the heart would also include believing (Luke 13:3), repenting, and confessing Christ as being the Son of God (Acts 2:38; 8:37). The penitent believer by faith is immersed in water and rises to “walk in newness of life.” Evidently, when referring to the doctrine of baptism in water (something done outwardly for all to see), Paul was referring to its being an obedient act based on the heart (emotions, intellect, and will), at which point one is “then made free from sin” to become “servants of righteousness.”

If we compare John 3:5 with 1 Corinthians 12:13 (a parallel passage) it becomes apparent that “water” in the former passage is the same as the “baptism” of the latter passage.

John 3:5 – “Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!”

1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body.”

There can be no doubt that “born of water” is about being born again. To this all agree. But what logic is being used when one argues that by “born of water” Jesus was merely saying one must be born? The text is about being born AGAIN—not being born in the first place. It refers to being born again by means of water and the Spirit—one birth---not two. Nicodemus misunderstood, at first, and questioned how it could be done, which indicates that what Jesus said had nothing to do with a physical birth.

Commentaries

Clark

“Baptism by water…was necessary to every Jew and Gentile that entered into the kingdom of the Messiah.”

Barnes

Be born of water - By “water,” here, is evidently signified “baptism.” Thus the word is used in Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5. Baptism was practiced by the Jews in receiving a Gentile as a proselyte. It was practiced by John among the Jews; and Jesus here says that it is an ordinance of his religion, and the sign and seal of the renewing influences of his Spirit. So he said Mar 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” It is clear from these places, and from the example of the apostles Act 2:38, Act 2:41; Act 8:12-13, Act 8:36, Act 8:38; Act 9:18; Act 10:47-48; Act 16:15, Act 16:33; Act 18:8; Act 22:16; Gal 3:27, that they considered this ordinance as binding on all who professed to love the Lord Jesus.

Vincent’s Word Studies

Under his list of 5 things to observe he says, “We may observe…that water points definitely to the rite of baptism.”

The Fourfold Gospel (McGarvey)

Except one be born of water and the Spirit. By far the vast majority of scholars consider the word "water" in this verse as a reference to Christian baptism. The Cambridge Bible says "the outward sign and inward grace of Christian baptism are here clearly given, and an unbiased mind can scarcely avoid seeing this plain fact. This becomes still clearer when we compare Joh 1:26,33, where the Baptist declares, 'I baptize in water,' the Messiah 'baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.' The fathers, both Greek and Latin, thus interpret the passage with singular unanimity." Men would have no difficulty in understanding this passage were it not that its terms apparently exclude "the pious unimmersed" from Christ's kingdom. But difficulties, however distressing, will justify no man in wrestling the Scriptures of God (2 Pe 3:16; Ro 3:4). Water and Spirit are joined at Mt 28:19; Ac 2:38; 19:1-7; Tit 3:5.

New Testament Commentary Vol. III, JohnW.B. Johnson

Concerning born of water we agree with Alford that it refers to baptism, while “of the Spirit” refers to the inward change. He adds: “All attempts to get rid of these two plain facts have sprung from doctrinal prejudices by which the views of expositors have been warped.” Abbot says: “We are to understand Christ as he expected his auditor to understand him. The Jewish proselyte, as a sign that he had put off his old faiths, was baptized on entering the Jewish church. John the Baptist baptized both Jew and Gentile as a sign or purification by repentance from past sins. Nicodemus would then have certainly understood by the expression, born of water, a reference to this rite of baptism.” Milligan of Scotland, says: “John said: I baptize with water; the One coming baptizes with Spirit; but Christ says: The baptism of both is necessary. One must be born of water and of the Spirit.”

Jamison Faucet Brown

of water and of the Spirit — A twofold explanation of the “new birth,” so startling to Nicodemus. To a Jewish ecclesiastic, so familiar with the symbolical application of water, in every variety of way and form of expression, this language was fitted to show that the thing intended was no other than a thorough spiritual purification by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, element of water and operation of the Spirit are brought together in a glorious evangelical prediction of Ezekiel (Eze_36:25-27), which Nicodemus might have been reminded of had such spiritualities not been almost lost in the reigning formalism. Already had the symbol of water been embodied in an initiatory ordinance, in the baptism of the Jewish expectants of Messiah by the Baptist, not to speak of the baptism of Gentile proselytes before that; and in the Christian Church it was soon to become the great visible door of entrance into “the kingdom of God,” the reality being the sole work of the Holy Ghost (Tit_3:5).

Lightfoot's From the Talmud and Hebraica

[Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit.] He tells him, that the Jew himself cannot be admitted into the kingdom of the Messiah unless he first strip himself of his Judaism by baptism, and then put off his carnal and put on a spiritual state. That by water here is meant baptism, I make no doubt: nor do I much less question but our Saviour goes on from thence to the second article of the evangelical doctrine. And as he had taught that towards the participation of the benefits to be had by the Messiah, it is of little or of no value for a man to be born of the seed of Abraham, or to be originally an Israelite, unless he was also born from above.

Coke

Ver. 5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, &c.— Jesus replied, that he was not speaking of a natural, but of a spiritual regeneration; Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a "man be born of water, that is, be baptized, the only appointed means of admission into the visible church; and of the Spirit, that is, have a new nature given him by the Spirit, and shew forth in his life the fruits of that new nature; he cannot be a subject of God's kingdom here, nor have a share in his glory hereafter."

“The receiving of this rite is highly necessary in all cases where it can be had. If so, persons who undervalue water baptism, on pretence of exalting the baptism of the Spirit, do greatly err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the commandment of Christ.”

Great Texts

In religious circles in Jerusalem there was nothing being talked of but the Kingdom of God which John the Baptist had declared to be at hand. And when Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to enter this Kingdom he must be born again, He told him just what John had been telling the whole people. John had assured them that, though the King was in their midst, they must not suppose they were already within His Kingdom by being the children of Abraham. He excommunicated the whole nation, and taught them that it was something different from natural birth that gave admission to God’s Kingdom. And just as they had compelled Gentiles to be baptized, and to submit to other arrangements when they wished to partake of Jewish privileges, so John compelled them to be baptized. The Gentile who wished to become a Jew had to be symbolically born again. He had to be baptized, going down under the cleansing waters, washing away his old and defiled life, being buried by baptism, disappearing from men’s sight as a Gentile, and rising from the water as a new man. He was thus born of water, and this time born, not a Gentile, but a Jew. As the Gentile had to be naturalized and born again that he might rank as a child of Abraham, and enjoy the external privileges of the Jew, so must the Jew himself be born again if he is to rank as a child of God and to belong to the Kingdom of God. He must submit to the double baptism of water and of the Spirit—of water for the pardon and cleansing of past sin and defilement, of the Spirit for the inspiration of a new and holy life.

The Jewish doctors, it is said, not uncommonly described the Gentile as one who became a little child, who began his life anew, when he was received by baptism into the privileges of their outer court. If so, Nicodemus must have been familiar with the expression; but it must have been to him, and to most who availed themselves of it, a mere figure of rhetoric—one of those counters which pass among religious people, which have a certain value at first, but which become at length so depreciated that they serve no purpose but to impose on those who take and those who give them. However little Nicodemus might know of Jesus, he did know that He was not resorting to figures of rhetoric—that if He spoke of a birth, He meant a birth; and he must have perceived that what He said did not apply to sinners of the Gentiles, but to him, the religious ruler of the Jews. It was, therefore, a good and healthy sign, a proof of the power of the new Teacher, that he forgot the conventionalisms of the Sanhedrim, and spoke out coarsely and naturally, as a peasant might have done. Our Lord, surely, passed this judgment upon him; for, instead of rebuking him for his question, He meets it in the most direct manner possible: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The object of Nicodemus in coming to ask Him about His kingdom is still kept prominently forward; but there is a noticeable change in our Lord’s words. He had spoken of seeing the Kingdom of God; He now speaks of entering into it. Each expression may, unquestionably does, involve the other; still they are distinct. To see a kingdom is to have an apprehension of its reality and of its nature; to enter into a kingdom is to become a subject of it.1 [Note: F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of John, 90.]

Our Lord speaks of the second birth as completed by two agencies, water and the Spirit. To make the one of these merely the symbol of the other is to miss His meaning. The Baptist baptized with water for the remission of sins, but he was always careful to disclaim power to baptize with the Holy Ghost. His baptism with water was of course symbolical; that is to say, the water itself exercised no spiritual influence, but merely represented to the eye what was invisibly done in the heart. But that which it symbolized was not the life-giving influence of the Holy Spirit, but the washing away of sin from the soul. Assurance of pardon John was empowered to give. Those who humbly submitted to his baptism with confession of their sins went from it forgiven and cleansed. But more than that was needed to make them new men—and yet, more he could not give. For that which would fill them with new life they must go to a Greater than he, who alone could bestow the Holy Ghost.

These, then, are the two great incidents of the second birth—the pardon of sin, which is preparatory, and which cuts our connection with the past; the communication of life by the Spirit of God, which fits us for the future. Both of these are represented by Christian baptism because in Christ we have both; but those who were baptized by John’s baptism were only prepared for receiving Christ’s Spirit by receiving the forgiveness of their sins.

This passage brings out the deep truth of which Baptism was afterwards made an outward and visible exponent. Here we are shown the need of an external acceptance of promise and position, and of these being sealed on us, and still further the need of the Spirit dwelling in our hearts to make this outward confession a reality, and give us power for practicing it. And so, be it ever remembered, the mere form of baptism, unless the Holy Spirit be actually in the heart, can avail nothing. It is but, as it were, a husk, and can be no more, but the gift of the Holy Spirit is open to all; and as we read this passage, and are perhaps for the moment tempted to think it excludes some, or even ourselves, from the Kingdom, we should put beside it that other glorious passage of promise: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luk_11:13).1 [Note: J. H. Rogers, The “Verily, Verilys” of Christ, 28.]

Imagine not infants, but crowds of grown-up persons already changed in heart and feelings; their “life hidden with Christ in God,” losing their personal consciousness in the laver of regeneration; rising again from its depths into the light of heaven, in communion with God and nature; met as they rose from the bath with the white raiment, which is “the righteousness of the saints,” and ever after looking back on that moment as the instant of their new birth, of the putting off of the old man, and the putting on of Christ. Baptism was to them the figure of death, burial, and resurrection all in one, the most apt expression of the greatest change that can pass upon man, like the sudden change into another life when we leave the body.1 [Note: B. Jowett, The Epistles of St. Paul, i. 291.]

Popular New Testament

The first words have given rise to warm and continued controversy. Many have held that the birth ‘of water and spirit; can only refer to Christian baptism; others have denied that Christian baptism is alluded to at all. The subject is very important and very difficult. Our only safety lies in making the Evangelist his own interpreter. We shall repeatedly find, when a difficulty occurs, that some word of his own in the context or in some parallel passage brings us light. (1) First, then, as to the very peculiar expression, ’of water and spirit.’ We cannot doubt that this is the true rendering; no direct reference is made as yet to the personal Holy Spirit. The words ‘water and spirit’ are most closely joined, and placed under the government of the same preposition. A little earlier in the Gospel (chap. Joh_1:33) we find the same words—not, indeed, joined together as here, but yet placed in exact parallelism, each word, too, receiving emphasis from the context. Three times between chap. Joh_1:19 and chap. Joh_1:33. John speaks of his baptism with water; twice there is a reference to the Spirit (Joh_1:32-33); and in Joh_3:33. John’s baptizing with water and our Lord’s baptizing with ‘holy spirit’ (see the note) stand explicitly contrasted. It is very possible that this testimony was well known to others besides John’s disciples, to all indeed in Judea who were roused to inquiry respecting the Baptist and his relation to Jesus. (2) It is possible that the Jews of that age may have been familiar with the figure of a new birth in connection with baptism. It is confessedly difficult accurately to ascertain Jewish usages and modes of thought in the time of our Lord. The Talmud indeed contains copious stores of information, but it is not easy to distinguish between what belongs to an earlier and what to a later age. We know that converts to the Jewish religion were admitted by baptism to fellowship with the sacred people. The whole tenor of the law would suggest such a washing when the uncleanness of heathenism was put off, and hence no rite could be more natural. Yet we have no certain knowledge that this was practiced so early as the time of our Lord. There is no doubt that, at a later date, the proselyte thus washed or baptized was spoken of as born again. Here again, therefore, we have some confirmation of the view that in the words before us there is in some sort a reference to baptism,—at all events, to the baptism of John. (3) But what was John’s baptism? We see from chap. Joh_1:25 how peculiar his action appeared to the rulers of the people. Even if proselytes were in that age baptized, a baptism that invited all, publican and Pharisee alike, would but seem the more strange. John’s action was new and startling; and from chap. Joh_1:21-25 it appears that the leaders of Jewish thought beheld in it an immediate reference to the time of Messiah. It seems very probable that John’s baptism was directly symbolic, a translation into visible symbol of such promises as Eze_36:25, which looked forward to the new spiritual order of which he was the herald. To the sprinkling with clean water, the cleansing from all filthiness, of which Ezekiel speaks, answers closely John’s ‘baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (compare also Eze_36:31). To the promise which follows, ‘A new spirit will I put within you. ... I will put my spirit within you,’ answers just as closely John’s testimony to Jesus, ‘He it is that baptizeth with holy spirit.’ (4) The two contrasted elements in the baptisms of chap. Joh_1:33 are—(a) the covering and removal of past sin; and (b) the inbreathing of a new life. In that verse ‘holy spirit’ is the gift and not the Giver. The Giver is the Holy Spirit; but the gift, that which is the essential element in the new baptism, is the bestowal of ‘holy spirit,’ the seed and the principle of a holy spiritual life. (5) These two elements were conjoined in the Christian baptism instituted afterwards: the cleansing of forgiveness through Christ’s death and the holiness of the new life in Christ are alike symbolized in it. Here, therefore, our Lord says that no man can enter into the kingdom of God unless he have been born anew, the elements of the new birth being the removal by cleansing of the old sinful life, and the impartation by the Holy Spirit of a new holy principle of life.—If this view of the words is correct, there is error in both extremes of which mention has been made. There is no direct reference here to Christian baptism; but the reference to the truths which that baptism expresses is distinct and clear.

Early Christian Writers

McGarvey testifies that “The fathers, both Greek and Latin…interpret the passage with singular unanimity." (See his comments under Commentaries).

Justin Martyr

“As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, and instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we pray and fast with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father . . . and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘Unless you are born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ ” (First Apology 61 ).

Irenaeus

“‘And dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan’. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but 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 newborn 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’” (Fragment 34 ).

Hippolytus

“The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and he, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the Spirit of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the laver he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism” (Discourse on the Holy Theophany 8 ).

The Recognitions of Clement

“But you will perhaps say, ‘What does the baptism of water contribute toward the worship of God?’ In the first place, because that which has pleased God is fulfilled. In the second place, because when you are regenerated and born again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you have through men, is cut off, and so . . . you shall be able to attain salvation; but otherwise it is impossible. For thus has the true prophet testified to us with an oath: ‘Verily, I say to you, that unless a man is born again of water . . . he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’” (The Recognitions of Clement 6:9 ).

Testimonies Concerning the Jews

“That unless a man have been baptized and born again, he cannot attain unto the kingdom of God. In the Gospel according to John: ‘Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ . . . . Also in the same place: ‘Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye shall not have life in you’ . That it is of small account to be baptized and to receive the Eucharist, unless one profit by it both in deeds and works” (Testimonies Concerning the Jews 3:2:25–26 ).

Cyprian of Carthage

” they receive also the baptism of the Church . . . then finally can they be fully sanctified and be the sons of God . . . since it is written, ‘Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’” (Letters 71:1 ).

Council of Carthage VII

“And in the gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spoke with his divine voice, saying, ‘Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ . . . Unless therefore they receive saving baptism in the Catholic Church, which is one, they cannot be saved, but will be condemned with the carnal in the judgment of the Lord Christ” (Seventh Carthage ).

Cyril of Jerusalem

“Since man is of a twofold nature, composed of body and soul, the purification also is twofold: the corporeal for the corporeal and the incorporeal for the incorporeal. The water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul. . . . When you go down into the water, then, regard not simply the water, but look for salvation through the power of the Spirit. For without both you cannot attain to perfection. It is not I who says this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who has the power in this matter. And he says, ‘Unless a man be born again,’ and he adds the words ‘of water and of the Spirit,’ ‘he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ He that is baptized with water, but is not found worthy of the Spirit, does not receive the grace in perfection. Nor, if a man be virtuous in his deeds, but does not receive the seal by means of the water, shall he enter the kingdom of heaven. A bold saying, but not mine; for it is Jesus who has declared it” (Catechetical Lectures 3:4 ).

Athanasius

“…we are all from earth and die in Adam, so being regenerated from above of water and Spirit, in the Christ we are all quickened” (Four Discourses Against the Arians 3:26 ).

Basil the Great

“This then is what it means to be ‘born again of water and Spirit’: Just as our dying is effected in the water, our living is wrought through the Spirit. In three immersions and an equal number of invocations the great mystery of baptism is completed in such a way that the type of death may be shown figuratively, and that by the handing on of divine knowledge the souls of the baptized may be illuminated. If, therefore, there is any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of water, but from the Spirit’s presence there” (The Holy Spirit 15:35 ).

Ambrose of Milan

“Although we are baptized with water and the Spirit, the latter is much superior to the former, and is not therefore to be separated from the Father and the Son. There are, however, many who, because we are baptized with water and the Spirit, think that there is no difference in the offices of water and the Spirit, and therefore think that they do not differ in nature. Nor do they observe that we are buried in the element of water that we may rise again renewed by the Spirit. For in the water is the representation of death, in the Spirit is the pledge of life, that the body of sin may die through the water, which encloses the body as it were in a kind of tomb, that we, by the power of the Spirit, may be renewed from the death of sin, being born again in God” (The Holy Spirit 1:6 ).

“You have read, therefore, that the three witnesses in baptism are one: water, blood, and the Spirit (1 John 5:8): And if you withdraw any one of these, the sacrament of baptism is not valid. For what is the water without the cross of Christ? A common element with no sacramental effect. Nor on the other hand is there any mystery of regeneration without water, for ‘unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (The Mysteries 4:20 ).

“The Church was redeemed at the price of Christ’s blood. Jew or Greek, it makes no difference; but if he has believed, he must circumcise himself from his sins so that he can be saved . . . for no one ascends into the kingdom of heaven except through the sacrament of baptism.

. . . ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (Abraham 2:11:79–84 ).

Gregory of Nyssa

” the birth by water and the Spirit, himself led the way in this birth, drawing down upon the water, by his own baptism, the Holy Spirit; so that in all things he became the firstborn of those who are spiritually born again, and gave the name of brethren to those who partook in a birth like to his own by water and the Spirit” (Against Eunomius 2:8 ).

John Chrysostom

“No one can enter into the kingdom of heaven except he be regenerated through water and the Spirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink his blood is excluded from eternal life, and if all these things are accomplished only by means of those holy hands, I mean the hands of the priest, how will any one, without these, be able to escape the fire of hell, or to win those crowns which are reserved for the victorious? These truly are they who are entrusted with the pangs of spiritual travail and the birth which comes through baptism: by their means we put on Christ, and are buried with the Son of God, and become members of that blessed head ” (The Priesthood 3:5–6 ).

Gregory of Nazianz

“Such is the grace and power of baptism; not an overwhelming of the world as of old, but a purification of the sins of each individual, and a complete cleansing from all the bruises and stains of sin. And since we are double-made, I mean of body and soul, and the one part is visible, the other invisible, so the cleansing also is twofold, by water and the Spirit; the one received visibly in the body, the other concurring with it invisibly and apart from the body; the one typical, the other real and cleansing the depths” (Oration on Holy Baptism 7–8 ).

The Apostolic Constitutions

“Be ye likewise contented with one baptism alone, that which is into the death of the Lord . . . . that out of contempt will not be baptized shall be condemned as an unbeliever and shall be reproached as ungrateful and foolish. For the Lord says, ‘Except a man be baptized of water and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ And again, ‘He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be damned’” (Apostolic Constitutions 6:3:15 ).

Augustine

“It is this one Spirit who makes it possible for an infant to be regenerated . . . when that infant is brought to baptism; and it is through this one Spirit that the infant so presented is reborn. For it is not written, ‘Unless a man be born again by the will of his parents’ or ‘by the faith of those presenting him or ministering to him,’ but, ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit.’ The water, therefore, manifesting exteriorly the sacrament of grace, and the Spirit effecting interiorly the benefit of grace, both regenerate in one Christ that man who was generated in Adam” (Letters 98:2 ).

"Those who, though they have not received the washing of regeneration, die for the confession of Christ—it avails them just as much for the forgiveness of their sins as if they had been washed in the sacred font of baptism. For he that said, 'If anyone is not reborn of water and the Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven,' made an exception for them in that other statement in which he says no less generally, 'Whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess him before my Father, who is in heaven'" (The City of God 13:7 ).

Recommended Reading:

What Does It Mean To Be a Born Again Christian?
Wayne Jackson

The ONE Baptism – What Is It?
Robert Waters

Baptism Saves, but Not Water (1 Peter 3:21)
Robert Waters

The New Birth (John 3:1-21)
Mark Copeland