John 3:5

John 3:5. 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.

The entrance into that kingdom is by a new birth in which water and the Spirit of God are both needful. There is a cleansing, and there is a new creation. There is the cleansing water of the merit of Christ, and there is the divine operation of the Spirit of God. Or, if the Saviour only means entrance into his visible kingdom, then it is through baptism that the man outwardly makes his profession of faith in Christ. It is through the Spirit of God alone, however, that he really enters into the kingdom of God. Note the distinction between seeing the kingdom and entering into it; no man can even see the kingdom of God, much less enter it, except by that new birth which is wrought only by the Holy Spirit.