<p>3:5 <i>Jesus answered: Truly, truly, I say to you: Except one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God</i>- Tit. 3:5 clearly alludes here: &quot;He saved us by the washing laver of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit&quot;. The gift of the Spirit associated with baptism is vitally necessary; water alone will not save. At baptism we are born of (or by) water-and-spirit (the Greek implies one act, combining water and spirit). See on 1 Cor. 12:13. As the prologue states, birth is not of ourselves; we were born not of the will of the flesh but of God (1:13). It is Christ, not the actual baptizer, who brings a person to new birth and actually does the moral washing of a person from their sins when they are baptized. Consider these simple parallels within John&rsquo;s Gospel:&nbsp;</p>
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            <p><b>&nbsp;   John 3:5</b></p>
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            <p><b>John   13:8</b></p>
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            <p>Unless</p>
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            <p>If</p>
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            <p>One is   born of water and Spirit</p>
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            <p>I do   not wash you</p>
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            <p>He   cannot enter into the Kingdom</p>
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            <p>You   have no part in me</p>
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<p>Not only does this reflect the crucial importance of baptism; it indicates that it is the Lord Jesus who does the moral washing of a person when they are baptized. Once we accept that, then <i>who</i> performs baptisms becomes irrelevant. And all the way through, we see His grace; our spiritual life and existence has its source in His activity and not our own.</p>