⁵ “I’m telling you the solemn truth,” replied Jesus. “Unless someone is born from water and spirit, they can’t enter God’s kingdom. ⁶ Flesh is born from flesh, but spirit is born from spirit.

¹⁸ He became our father by the word of truth; that was his firm decision, and the result is that we are a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

²³ You have been born again, not from seed which decays but from seed which does not—through the living and abiding word of God.

Faith wins the victory

5 Everyone who believes that the Messiah is Jesus has been fathered by God. Everyone who loves the parent loves the child as well.