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NASB | John 3:11 "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:11 "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, we speak only of what we [absolutely] know and testify about what we have [actually] seen [as eyewitnesses]; and [still] you [reject our evidence and] do not accept our testimony. |
Subject: When were disciples born again? |
Bible Note: Hi CSM, I'm trusting my comments will be the final word on this topic? :-) You ask a good question, though in all seriousness. 1. We need to consider the context in which 6:2 was written; 2. We need to understand the usage of the word, "baptism" in this pasage and in scripture as a whole. I'll answer in brief by pulling several references from the late, Dr. Kenneth Wuest who was a noted Greek scholar from Moody Bible Institute and a translator for the NASB! This is not to say he is giving (or has) the definitive explanation of this passage as much had been written about it and there are certainly many views. I think he is both thorough and honest. First, he writes "Baptize, Baptism. These two words are not native to the English language. Therefore. they do not have any intrinsic meaning of their own. The only rightful meaning they can have is the one that is derived from the Greek word of which they are the spelling." I think this an important point to note. Not every use of the word refers to immersion as "In the LXX we have in Leviticus 4:6 the words, “And the priest shall dip (bapto) his finger in the blood, and sprinkle (prosraino) of the blood seven times before the Lord." He further notes that "In the N.T., we have the rich man asking that Lazarus dip (bapto) his finger in water and cool his tongue (Luke 16:24). In Heb. 9:10 baptisma is translated “washings” and refers to the ceremonial ablutions of Judaism." "The word baptizô is used of the ablutions of the Jews which were extra-Biblical, and which were called the traditions of the elders (Mt. 15:2), in Mk. 7:4, Lk. 11:38. The noun baptismos is used in connection with the same practices in Mt. 7:4; Mk. 7:8. It is used of the Levitical ablutions in Heb. 6:2, 9:10." His comment on 6:2 is thus: "The doctrine of baptisms” (same Greek word translated “washings” in 9:10) refers to the ceremonial ablutions or washings of Judaism, and is typical of the New Testament cleansing of the conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5)." I trust for the sake of brevity, this will be helpful. Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |