Water Baptism
John 3:1-18 - Born Again
Theme: Surrender to God, repent your sins
Baptism = place under, hide beneath
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. (I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never 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. (The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.)
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.)
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (So don't be surprised by my statement that you must be born again.)
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit.)
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things?)
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. (I assure you, I am telling you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe us.)
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (For only I, the Son of Man, have come to earth and will return to heaven again.)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 so That whosoever believeth in him (me) should not perish, but have eternal life.
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.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
1 John 5:6-8 - Water, Blood and Spirit
6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. (And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cress - not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that is true.)
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. (Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.)
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
This page
was updated by Lisa Davis on 7-24-05.
Data compiled by Gary La Porta.