by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, 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.”’” (John 3:5-7)
According to our Lord Jesus, water is the medium by which we must be born into the kingdom of God, that is, the spiritual dominion of eternal life and communion with God Himself. The alternative is to remain merely in the flesh in which we were biologically engendered, a corrupted, mortal existence terminating in death and separation from the cleansing grace of God (see Rom. 7:18-25).
The Apostles reiterate this new birth of Christ. “[God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).
This new birth of water and the Spirit, this washing, is otherwise known as Holy Baptism, baptism (Gk., noun: baptismos; verb: baptizo) meaning “to wash, or plunge, in water.”
- “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” (1 Cor. 12:13)
- “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3f.)
- “For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27)
- “There is also an antitype (Gk., “exact copy”) which now saves us – baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God).” (1 Pet. 3:21)
Holy Baptism along with teaching, is the precise method by which Christians are truly born. “Go therefore,” said our Lord to His apostles, “and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matt. 28:19-20). Having effectively preached to the crowds on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter told those convicted of the truth, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” About three thousand people who received Peter’s instruction were baptized that day and “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and in the communion, the breaking of bread, and in the prayers” (Acts 2:38, 42). They were born as true children of God the Father to a new life in the Son Jesus Christ through water and the Holy Spirit.
The connection of water and the Spirit is original to our existence and signals a re-creation of that which has gone astray. To put in another way, “water and the Spirit” returns us to God’s original design for us and the entire created order, a design God never abandoned but restored in the incarnate Son of God Jesus Christ.
“In the beginning God made heaven and earth. The earth was invisible and unfinished; and darkness was over the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light,” etc. (Gen. 1:1-2). This “hovering” of the Spirit of God implies a moving of the water in a guiding way (Gk., epipherein), and not just a natural force like the wind, because the Spirit of God is One of the tri-personal Godhead alongside the Father and the Son. This action of the Spirit of God at creation is akin to the inspiration of Scripture, “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved (Gk., pheromenoi) by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).
From the very beginning we witness the created element of water intentionally affected by the uncreated energy of God the Holy Spirit. Water is the original vehicle for conveying the manner of the Holy Spirit’s working, together with the equally expressive element of the wind. The English words “spirit” and “wind” both translate the same Hebrew and Greek words, ru’ach or pnevma, respectively. The re-creation of the world after the Flood is described in imitation of the prediluvian world: “And God made a wind (Heb., ru’ach; Gk., pnevma) to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Gen. 8:1; cf. Gen. 1:2).
The connection of water and wind pointing to the working of water and the Spirit manifests itself powerfully in the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptian army by its Spirit-led passage through the Red Sea. “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord carried back the sea by a strong south wind all that night and made the sea dry ground. Thus the waters were divided” (Ex. 14:21). Then in the song which followed we have the explanation: “By the Spirit of Your anger the waters were gathered together…You sent forth Your Spirit; the sea covered [the enemy]; they sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Ex. 15:8, 10).
Finally, “when the Day of Pentecost had fully come…suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” After the apostles’ preaching the Gospel to the crowds, “cut[ting] them to the heart” so that they asked, “What shall we do?” The Apostle Peter replied: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4, 37-38).
Creation and redemption are fulfilled in the joining of water and the Spirit in Christian Baptism and the Spirit-filled life of the Church which subsequently follows (see Acts 2:42f.). This very pattern is repeated at every juncture of the apostolic mission (e.g., Acts 8:14-17 [Samaria]; Acts 10:44-48 [Gentiles]) confirming it is the foundational experience of the genuine Christian Faith as reiterated in the apostolic epistles of the New Testament.
One other way this experience is described, especially pertaining to new birth and renewal, is the joining of the source of water (e.g., a fountain, a river) with the activity of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Christian experience is always personal, vivifying, and satisfying. For instance, “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive” (after Jesus’ glorification by crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; Jn. 7:37-39). The Apostle explains, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (of Christ)…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).
The first man Adam was formed from the soil of the ground watered by a fountain irrigating the whole face of the earth. Into this man God breathed the “breath of life (the grace of the Holy Spirit); and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:6-7). Our Lord speaks of giving living water which will become in a person “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn. 4:14). And earlier in this same Gospel, the Lord told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5).
The kingdom of God is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Therefore we are re-made, re-born, into a spiritual realm that permeates our entire being and, as a fountain or river, gushes forth from the inside – “For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21). Such is the conjunction of water and the Spirit in the human person made new in the last Adam, Jesus Christ, “a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon and remained on Christ at His baptism in the Jordan River; “this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,” who “gives the Spirit without measure” (Jn. 1:33; 3:34).
