A great teaching about baptism was given one evening when Jesus, perhaps resting on a rooftop, and Nicodemus, one of the rulers of the Jews, came to him. He had sneaked up there in secret, since he was not ready yet to let his peers know that he was listening to Jesus of Nazareth. But there he was, and he was not there to find fault, but to learn the truths from the Master.

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. (John 3:1-2)

Nicodemus wanted to set the stage for the discussion by letting Jesus know that he truly believed Jesus to be sent from God. At the first glance the answer of Jesus seems strange, but after some thought it becomes quite clear;

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. (John 3:3)

A mighty change. It appears that Jesus saw that Nicodemus had had a mighty change in his heart, and that therefore he knew that Jesus was sent from God. Seeing this, Jesus told Nicodemus that if he wanted to see the Kingdom of God, it wasn’t good enough to know,he had to be born again.

The colleagues of Nicodemus, on the other hand, they did not confess that Jesus was sent from God. That did not necessarily mean that they did not know that he was. Nicodemus said “We know that thou art a teacher come from God”. But not all that knew it testified to it. After all, Nicodemus came alone to Jesus...

Born Again! Even though Nicodemus had had that mighty change in his heart, he was still new to the language of the Saviour, so he did not understand what he meant by being ‘born again’.

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? (John 3:4)

Nicodemus could not understand what being born again alluded to. Let us look at this for a minute.

Before we were born into this world we, just like Jesus, lived in the presence of God as spirit beings. The Beginning.

We had our free agency, and even as spirits, the only one who was perfect was Jesus (but we knew him as Jehovah).

There was a war in heaven, and those who took Jesus’ side in that conflict will be born to live on this earth. When we were born, all our sins from our pre-mortal lives were blotted out. All babies are therefore born innocent.

By this we can know that birth was a baptism, of sorts, that cleansed us from sin. So when Jesus said “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”, he meant that we must go through the same process again that we went through at birth; a process that takes away sin.

But how could Nicodemus understand this? He was a ruler of a religion in apostasy. John the Baptist was the last prophet with authority in that, the Hebrew, church. The high council of the Jews would not recognise a true principle if it bit them in the neck. Jesus had to explain some more, an explanation that led to the consequent baptism of Nicodemus.

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.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:5-7)

Water and Spirit at Birth. As soon as Jesus, in Nicodemus, saw a receptive soul, he immediately began to teach him about baptism, or about ‘being born of water and of the Spirit’. When we were born we came out of the water of our mothers belly, and as our eternal spirit entered into our body, the Spirit of Christ gave light and life to our soul.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9)

Water and Spirit at Baptism. The saving ordinance of Baptism, the one Jesus was teaching Nicodemus about, is, just like the baptism of birth, consisting of water and Spirit. The first part of the ordinance is the baptism of water, or in water. Being totally submerged in water, the person being baptized is taken into his grave, or rather, his old sinful self, and as he is raised from the grave he is given a new life by Christ. Therefore it is important that the Baptizer has the authority from Christ. If not, it is nothing but a fancy bath!

3 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.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (Romans 6:3-8)

In short, one might say that the baptism in water is a baptism unto repentance. It was the baptism that John the Baptist offered (well, perhaps not offered… rather, he commanded!). But there was a baptism that John did not have the authority to give.

This brings us to the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.