A frequent misinterpretation views 'water' as literal baptism, implying water baptism is necessary for salvation and equating it with the new birth, which distorts the passage's emphasis on the Spirit's sovereign, supernatural action; contextually, water symbolizes cleansing by the Word or the Spirit's purifying influence, not a sacramental rite, and treating them as separate steps ignores the unified spiritual reality Jesus presents.
John 3:5
King James Version (1769)
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.
Jesus teaches Nicodemus that entering the kingdom of God demands a spiritual rebirth, described as being 'born of water and of the Spirit,' signifying the Holy Spirit's regenerative work that cleanses and renews the human heart, paralleling physical birth but transcending it through divine initiative rather than natural processes or human merit.