What is the difference between being born again and being baptized?

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

²The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”

³Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

⁵Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God!

⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’

⁸The windblows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?

¹¹Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.

¹²If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

¹³No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

¹⁴As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

¹⁵that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁷For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

¹⁸He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

¹⁹This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.

²⁰For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.

²¹But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

³⁷Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³⁹For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”

⁴⁰With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

⁴¹Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.

⁴Therefore those who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.

⁶The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.

⁷For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸There was great joy in that city.

⁹But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,

¹⁰to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”

¹¹They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.

¹²But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;

¹⁶for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.

⁴⁵They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.

⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,

⁴⁷“Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us.”

⁴⁸He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.

¹What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

²May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?

³Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

⁴We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;

⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.

⁷For he who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;

⁹knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him!

¹⁰For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.