Objection 23

From Sovereign Grace and the Scope of Election: A Comparative Examination of Attainment Theology and Grace Theology, with Particular Attention to the Question of Whether God's Elect Are Found Among All Nations and Religions

John 3:5, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

If "water" is baptism, then Jesus rebuked Nicodemus for not already knowing Christian baptism ("Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" 3:10), an ordinance not yet instituted. Nicodemus, a master of Israel, was expected to know Ezekiel 36:25-27: "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you... A new heart also will I give you... and I will put my spirit within you", water and Spirit as the twin figures of the one cleansing, renewing birth from above. The next verse confirms the subject is nature, not ritual: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (3:6), two births contrasted, neither of them administered by a minister. And 3:8 immediately removes the whole affair from human hands: the wind blows where it pleases.