“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5
The Pharisees rejected God’s will when they rejected John the Baptist’s call to repent and be baptized in the name of the coming Messiah and Savior (cf. Luke 7:29-30). Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee, that one cannot enter the kingdom of God if he is not born again of water and the gracious working of the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls Baptism a “washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Tit. 3:5). It is “the washing of water by the word” through which God brings us into the new covenant established through the shedding of Jesus’ holy and precious blood on the cross. When we trust in Christ and are baptized into His name, God cleanses us from our sins and makes us His own dear children and heirs of eternal life (Eph. 5:26; cf. Gal. 3:26ff.).
Grant, O Lord, that I not neglect Your Word but take comfort in the Gospel promises of forgiveness and life, pledged to me by the Spirit through Your Word and the waters of Baptism in Jesus’ name. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]