Thursday, October 20, 2022

J. Alex Motyer and William Hendriksen (critics of baptismal regeneration): "Water" in John 3:5 is a Reference to Baptism

  

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)

 

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