J. Alec Motyer:
John
3:5 is well understood as a reference to baptism. Our Lord says: ‘unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ Some urge
that this is a reference to natural birth followed by spiritual birth, and no
more; and that our Lord was here teaching the need for the ‘second birth’
through the agency of the Holy Spirit. True as this is in itself, there does
not seem to be any warrant in Scripture for making ‘water’ a symbol of natural
birth. In context, the passage proceeds to refer to John’s baptism, and the
controversy about purification. This would suggest that our Lord is here
offering an anticipatory word about the full ordinance of Christian baptism. John
baptized with water, and, at the same time, prophesied of one ‘who will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit’. Jesus links the two ideas together (as they were
linked in his own baptism) by saying, ‘unless one is born of water and the
Spirit . . . ‘ (J. Alec Motyer, “Baptism in the Book of Common Prayer,” in The
Anglican Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism, ed. John Stott and J. Alec
Motyer [London: The Latimer Trust, 2008], 35)
William Hendriksen:
5. Jesus answered, I
most solemnly assure you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. The key to the interpretation of these words is found in 1:33. (See
also 1:26, 31; cf. Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16) where water and Spirit are also
found side by side, in connection with baptism. (William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel
According to John, 2 vols. [New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Baker Book House, 1953], 1:134)