⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.^(A)

¹¹ And that is what some of you were.^(A) But you were washed,^(B) you were sanctified,^(C) you were justified^(D) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you^(A) also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience^(B) toward God.^[a] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^(C)