The “New Birth” from the Catholic Perspective

Let us return to the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, but this time, without the lens of Protestantism.

In the introduction to this work, it was noted that Jesus, as He often did, began by using a metaphor that cannot be taken literally, thus piquing Nicodemus’s interest:

“Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Nicodemus responds in a way that Jesus likely anticipated: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” This is a natural question, as Nicodemus seeks clarification on what Jesus meant. Jesus then replies:

“Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

Everything seems to indicate that whatever Jesus meant by “being born again” must be understood in the context of “being born of water and the Spirit.” It would not have made sense for Jesus to clarify one enigma with another or to explain a symbolic phrase with another equally symbolic one.

Throughout the Gospel, it is common to see Jesus using the same pedagogical method to explain a hidden teaching, often clarifying it to His disciples if they did not understand (see, for example, John 4:32-34 or Matthew 16:6-12). Therefore, it should not have been difficult, at least for His disciples, to understand what He meant by “being born of water and the Spirit” after His explanation.

Another element present in the context of this discourse, which sheds much light on its meaning, is the sequence recorded by the evangelist of how events unfolded. Jesus begins His discourse by speaking of the need to be “born of water and the Spirit,” and immediately afterward, He is shown baptizing with His disciples:

“When Jesus therefore understood that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus maketh more disciples and baptizeth more than John, (Though Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples)” (John 4:1-2)

This sequence would make perfect sense if the mention of the need to be born of water and the Spirit was a reference to Christian baptism, where water is the material element, and the regeneration and reception of the Holy Spirit is the spiritual element. After all, if baptism was necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it would be the first thing that Jesus would logically do and command His disciples to do for new believers.

This has been the Catholic understanding of this discourse throughout the centuries, confirmed by other passages in Sacred Scripture where it is evident that the apostles themselves interpreted Jesus’s words in this way.

An example can be found in the first great apostolic preaching, where more than 3,000 people converted. When the new converts ask what they must do to be saved, the Apostle Peter responds:

“But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

A similar instance occurs with the Apostle Paul, who, at the moment of his conversion, is urged by Ananias to wash away his sins through baptism:

“And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name.” (Acts 22:16)

And in the future, it would be the same apostle who would explicitly explain that it is through baptism that a Christian is born to a new life:

“Know you not that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by baptism into death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4)

“For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

“For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

“Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)

“He saved us, not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5)

The final solemn instructions of Jesus Christ to His apostles before ascending to heaven included the command to baptize believers:

“Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19)

“He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

If Jesus was referring to baptism as a requirement for being “born of water and the Spirit,” it is understandable why, in every conversion recorded in the Bible, the first thing new converts did was seek baptism. Among the examples found in the New Testament are the Philippian jailer, Crispus, the synagogue leader, Lydia, a seller of purple, and the Ethiopian eunuch:

“But they said: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he, taking them the same hour of the night, washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his house immediately.” (Acts 16:31-33)

“And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, with all his house: and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8)

“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, did hear: whose heart the Lord opened to attend to those things which were said by Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.” (Acts 16:14-15)

“Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch said: See, here is water, what doth hinder me from being baptized? And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:35-38)

In the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, what is found is a preparatory teaching for understanding the sacrament as a visible sign instituted by Him to impart His grace. Baptism is not a magical rite that, by merely immersing someone in water, produces new birth. In all cases, baptism is always linked to faith and the Word of God, whether in the case of an adult convert or children who are baptized by virtue of the faith of their parents.

However, from the Catholic perspective, when numerous biblical texts refer to the necessity of faith for salvation, they do not teach that faith alone suffices, or that the new birth occurs merely at the moment of belief. Rather, they imply that faith, as a free gift from God, is the first salutary act of man necessary for his salvation.

The Catechism teaches on this point:

“Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth” (Catechism 153).

It also explains:

“‘No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12:3). ‘God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”’ (Galatians 4:6). This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit. To be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us” (Catechism 683).

“In faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace: ‘Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace’” (St. Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. II-II, 2, 9; cf. Vatican Council I: DS 3010; Catechism 155).

It must be added that faith does not exclude but presupposes the use of the means God Himself has instituted for our salvation (the sacraments), the first of which is baptism, the gateway to the spiritual life.

“Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. For those who bear God’s Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the Son presents them to the Father, and the Father confers incorruptibility on them. And it is impossible to see God’s Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the Father without the Son, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of the Son of God is obtained through the Holy Spirit”.

“Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.”.

Catholic doctrine also teaches that Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the opportunity to request this sacrament. It also acknowledges the existence of Baptism of blood and Baptism of desire:

“Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament.

For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

“Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.” Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.”