Notwithstanding
their belief that the Bible is perspicuous (an important “building block” of
many formulations of Sola
Scriptura), many Protestants are often blind to the meaning of many clear
texts, such as John 3:3-5 which teaches baptismal regeneration (see Baptism, Salvation, and the New Testament: John 3:1-7).
Interestingly, Jewish scholars can see things so-called Christians cannot see
(i.e., Jesus is teaching that water baptism is the instrumental means of
regeneration) in this pericope:
3: Very truly, see 1.51n. Kingdom of God, used by John only in 3.3,5, but prominent
in the other Gospels, referring to the divine domain that will arise at some
future point in this world (Mk 9.1) or in some other place in which the
righteous will dwell (Lk 13.29), or an altered state of existence in the here
and now (Lk 17.21). The Hebrew term, “malkut shamayim” (Dan 4.3; 1 Chr
29.10–12) implies the divine reign in this world. Born from above, “born anew”; the origin of the term
“born-again Christian.” 4: Puns
and double entendres are a frequent literary device in John, as they are also
in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Dan 5.25–28 ), classical Greek literature (e.g.,
Ovid, Metam.); and rabbinic literature (e.g., Lam. Rab. 1.1) 5: Water and spirit, suggesting that baptism is the act of
rebirth that allows one to enter or see (v. 3) the kingdom. The combination may
suggest both the baptismal act and the gift of the Spirit (Acts 1.5). (Amy-Jill
Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The
Jewish Annotated New Testament [New York: Oxford University Press, 2011],
163)
For more
articles on baptismal regeneration from even clearer texts (e.g., Acts 2:38)
and responses to the various “responses” thereto, see, for e.g.:
Refuting Douglas Wilson on Water Baptism and Salvation
