In John 3, we have the famous conversation between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus. I love Nicodemus dearly. He was a good Pharisee. He struggled mightily to understand what was going on with Christ and to even grasp the spiritual truths the Lord was teaching. He’d ultimately become a believer and a secret disciple of Jesus. He was also instrumental in helping the Lord be given a proper burial after His crucifixion.

The Lord here famously speaks first of a spiritual rebirth.

Joh 3:3 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. Joh 3:4 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? Joh 3:5 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. Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Joh 3:8 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. Joh 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Joh 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Joh 3:16 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. Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Joh 3:18 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. Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The Lord is telling Nicodemus that everything has now changed for the Jews with the arrival of their Messiah. There is now a necessity for a spiritual rebirth, both individually and nationally, and that rebirth will only take place if they, each one, place their faith in who Christ is as their Messiah, as the only begotten Son of God.

He says in vs. 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. The name ‘Jesus’ means Savior.

In God’s eyes, true Jews now will only be those who place their faith in Christ Himself. All the other unbelieving Jews are already condemned along with all the other heathen. Salvation during the gospel period was faith alone in Christ alone just as the Lord had explained here to Nicodemus. The gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom meant that the kingdom is here because the Messiah is here, and to enter His kingdom, they must have faith in Christ as their Messiah. There was no other way for a Jew to enter His kingdom.

What about vs. 5? The Lord said, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God? I’d suggest He means the living water. Physical water can do nothing to produce a spiritual rebirth – only belief in the living water, the very words Christ was speaking to Nicodemus, only faith in the living water can produce a spiritual rebirth. The Lord would later say that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have the everlasting life. John would also write in Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

But after faith, it was a matter of sanctification through obedience to His Word, which meant that they as Israeli Jews had a responsibility to do the first works, to repent and be baptized, to give up all their possessions and follow Christ, and every other commandment the Lord gave during His ministry.

Then the question people would ask is, “How do you explain water baptism?” Some would point out verses like, Mar 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And they would point out, rightly so, that remission of sins meant to have their sins removed. But again, even during the gospels, one needs to make a distinction between position and practice, between justification and sanctification.

Repent and be baptized was a matter of sanctification, not justification. They were justified by faith alone in Christ alone. Their position before God, because of their faith, was as perfect and as righteous as Abraham himself. But they were still in a covenant relationship with God under the if/then principle. In order to avoid chastisement through judgment, in order to avoid bearing the iniquity for their sins, they needed to repent and be baptized.

So when would they be chastised? When would they face judgment for their sins? During the tribulation. Water baptism in Scripture was always connected more to judgment during the tribulation than anything else. Look at John says in Mat 3:11 He says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Do you see the connection here between water baptism and judgment? John is literally saying that the Messiah is coming, along in the time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Tribulation, and the Lord will baptize them with fire. He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This means that they had better come to Christ by faith, and they had better get their sins dealt with because judgment is coming. Christ will throughly purge his floor. They don’t want to be unsaved when the judgment comes because they will likely die, which means they’ll die in their sins and face damnation because they had no faith in Christ. If they believed in Christ but didn’t get baptized, they’ll still face judgment and even death, but for them, it’ll be a loss of reward, not a loss of eternal life.

Some may point out Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Again, one needs to make a distinction for the Jews between position and practice, between justification [salvation] and sanctification. Their justification in this verse is faith alone. The Lord said, he that believeth not shall be damned. That is a positional truth. They had to have faith alone in Christ alone to avoid damnation. But there is also a practical application in the first half of this verse. He said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

The question we have to ask ourselves is “saved from what?” They’d be saved from the very thing John the Baptist talked about in Matt. 3:12. They’d be saved from judgment during the tribulation. They would avoid the imputation of their sins during the Tribulation because those sins were not removed through the process of water baptism, which was their first works after faith.

If they believed in Christ but didn’t get baptized, they’ll still face potential judgment and even death, but for them, it’ll be a loss of reward, not a loss of eternal life. The Lord said, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have the everlasting life.