A New Birth

By: Aladin Mariano, M.D.

John 3:5 — “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”

INTRODUCTION: YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

This one statement is the heart of spiritual transformation. It reveals how the new birth happens and what God does inside a person when he repents and comes to Christ.

Nicodemus was not just any religious leader — he was a teacher of Israel and a member of the Sanhedrin John 3:1, 10. He knew the Old Testament by memory. When Jesus said “born of water and the Spirit,” He expected Nicodemus to recognize the language immediately.

The phrase “water and Spirit” does not come from nowhere. It comes directly from God’s promise in the prophets — a promise Nicodemus should have been teaching every Sabbath.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 — “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.”

Jesus was saying: Nicodemus, God promised it, now I AM bringing it. This is the New Birth.

I. BORN OF WATER: CLEANSING FROM THE OLD LIFE

Ezekiel 36:25 — “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.”

What does “Born of Water” mean? It is not water baptism only. Baptism is the symbol. The reality is cleansing.

Water symbolizes:

Cleansing — the removal of the old life, the washing away of sin, guilt, and spiritual impurity. It is Internal, not external — not ceremonial washing like the Pharisees Mark 7:3-4, but “cleanse you from all your filthiness.”

Spiritual, not ceremonial — “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration” Titus 3:5. God-initiated, not human-achieved — “I will sprinkle… I will cleanse.” God does it.

This is repentance. This is confession 1 John 1:9. This is the blood of Christ that “cleanses us from all sin.”

Question: Has God sprinkled clean water on you? Has your old life been washed?

II. BORN OF THE SPIRIT: RECEIVING A NEW LIFE

Ezekiel 36:26-27 — “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you... I will put My Spirit within you.” If water represents cleansing, Spirit represents New Creation. Water takes away what we were. Spirit gives us what we were never.

The Spirit does what no human effort can do:

He gives a new heart — not a repaired heart, a new heart. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” 2 Corinthians 5:17. He awakens new desires — where you once loved sin, now you hate it. Where you once ignored God, now you hunger for Him.

He creates new affections — “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” Romans 5:5. He empowers new obedience — “I will... cause you to walk in My statutes” Ezekiel 36:27. Not “you will try” — “I will cause you.” That is grace with power.

The new birth is not self-reform — it is Spirit-rebirth. Self-reform says, “I will try harder.” New birth says, “God has made me different.” Reform whitewashes the tomb. Rebirth raises a dead man John 5:25. Nicodemus needed not a better theology — he needed a resurrection inside his chest.This is why your body becomes “the temple of the Holy Spirit” 1 Corinthians 6:19. The Spirit does not visit — He takes up residence. He moves in.

III. WHY BOTH WATER AND SPIRIT ARE NECESSARY

Why did Jesus say both are necessary? Why not just one?

Because we have two great needs.

We need cleansing from what we were. We are guilty. We have filthiness and idols Ezekiel 36:25. Without washing, we cannot stand before a holy God.[Water] We need new life for what God calls us to be. We are dead. “You were dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1. A washed corpse is still a corpse. We need life breathed into us Genesis 2:7.[Spirit]

Here is the full Gospel in one sentence:

God doesn’t merely forgive the sinner — He recreates the sinner.
God doesn’t merely wash the heart — He renews the heart.
God doesn’t merely remove the old — He gives the new.

Forgiveness without new birth would leave us forgiven but powerless — still slaves to sin. New life without cleansing would leave us alive but still guilty. God in His mercy gives bot

God bless us all.