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Of course, we can go into a very deep study of nuances lost in understanding things from the old to the new but without the deepest nuances, the simplicity is this.... You must be baptised... it is your saying yes when Adam said no....
However, the deeper question becomes about salvation... some say it is by faith alone, the bible NOWHERE says faith alone, in fact, baptism is a requirement too. So is your act of repentance, so is love working thru faith, so is grace, can you be saved wihout grace? is grace faith? of course not.. But the protestant position of sola fede is not biblical.. A whole number of things come together but it starts with God's grace entering a dark soul which considers wehre it's at, (like the prodigal son... irresistable tulips of calvinism is heresy), and seeing this light and knowing your require God and accept his plan of salvation. Chrsit said if you love ye, you would take up your cross and follow me. WHERE? to death.. the cross you bear is taken up AFTER they arrest you, they spit on you, they scourge you, this cross we must take up each day occurs after they tear our your beard, humiliated.. AFTER all this, Chrsit did what? ONLY then, he willfully took up his cross and walked toward the mount of God and offered Himself as sacrifice... Only then is the path unto the mount of god opened to you. You must follow in Christ's path, as he commands us to.. NArrow is the way, few find it...
Our baptisn is the entering into this life... it is the beginning of fredom from the world and all that is against God... Therein, the real work of sancrtification begins whereby we are recreated, moldided into the image of His very Son....
it is discipleship and what does a disciple do? HE does, mimicks his master.... HE becomes a carbon copy of his master....
J. Baker, on Sep 23 2006, 03:09 AM, said:
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Joh 3:5 "I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
Can some one explain what it means by water? Some say you need baptized and some don't.
I gave the basic response to this....
However, there is another , more mystical understanding of this too... It has to do with the upper and lower waters, it has to do with your two births.. You are born of water when water gushes forth from your mothers womb and you are born. In like manner, you must also be born of the spirit, in the kingdom of God which resides in the upper waters (again, the mystical understanding of genesis 1). All tha is bablyon, is found in the lower waters, this seperation, this firmament that seperates them mystically is the great gulf seen in the parable of lasarus and the rich man....
But i wantt o keep it simple here for now. However, the verse you gave is specific to being bornof WATER of baptism and the descent of the holy spirit upon you, as we see this same pattern established with Chrsit at his baptism in the Jordan....
the other mystical concepts are related to the two births, physical and spiritual but wanted to offer this up also
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WE find that all are required.. yes, one comes after another. WE are given teh grace, grace brings faith which brings works by repenting and getting baptised, by taking up our cross. All these things are counted for us as righteousness. EVen the idea of justification is taught wrong in protestant circles, as if it is a one time event.. WE find the bible gives examples that are tot he contrary, 9and totally contrary to CAlvinism).... Justification is not a one time event but rather, it is a continual stream of events, WE find tons of passages that point to the abraham's justification at various times in his life, as much as 30 or more years apart. If the protestant understanding of justification is true, then Abraham would not have to be re-justified at a later time.... 
