To be born again is for you to be born of water and spirit. Unless anyone is, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Joh 3:5).
To be born of water is to be baptized with water. The symbolic immersion in water is a ritual that actually proclaims REPENTANCE, not from sins, but from your DISOBEDIENCE of God, the real cause of all your sins. Just as you wash your body clean of dirt when you bathe in water, you repent to wash yourself clean of the SINS OF DISOBEDIENCE.
To be born of the spirit is to be baptized with the spirit (Mat 3:11). The symbolic dying, as you are submerged in water, and living to a new life as you come out of it, is a ritual that actually proclaims the COVENANT you must enter into, where you exchange vows with God, that you shall obey Him (Ps 119:106; Ex 19:5-8: Heb 8:8-10), and that God, in turn, shall adopt you as His child (2Cor 6:17-18), if you shall obey (1Ki 3:14, 15:5; Ps 15:1-2; Is 33:15). You “die” from obeying yourself, so you may live anew, to a life obeying God.
Therefore, baptism is neither a ritual of immersion in water nor is it the washing off of bodily dirt, but a PROMISE you make to God to OBEY His will (Heb 10:7,9; 1Pe 3:21). The promise is the expected outcome, if you have truly repented from DISOBEDIENCE. As regards rituals, the water is of no value just like circumcision of the flesh is of no value (Ga 5:6), because even the hypocrites do these rituals. What counts with God are the sincerity of your repentance from disobedience, and the faithfulness of your promise to obey.
It is not baptism at all without the promise to obey. It is just like accepting Jesus Christ without the PROMISE to obey his rulership, which is what pretenders do. But do not be misled, for God is not one to be mocked (Ga 6:7). Not everyone who enters into a covenant with God receive the holy spirit (Mt 22:14). Only when God sees your true desire to obey, will God be able to separate you from the hypocrites, and give you the free gift, which is the holy spirit (Ac 2:38; Ac 10:45). Then shall you be born of water and of spirit.
Blessed are those who are given wisdom to discern truth from lie.