““The third and best view takes into account that Jesus chided Nicodemus for his ignorance (John 3:10). So He must be referring to things taught in the Old Testament. It turns out that Jesus' description of the new birth as being by "water and the Spirit" corresponds to God's promise of the new birth in Ezekiel 36:25-27: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.””
![“[Jesus] was born and baptized that by his suffering he…” quote by Ignatius of Antioch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/265/ignatius-of-antioch-9526_baptism_jesus-was-born-and-baptized-that-by-his_2322472.jpg)
