Many have been misled by a mixture of works and do not understand what a work is. Anything physical is a work; faith is not a physical work. We are told we are not saved by a work, Eph.2:8-10) not by itself ( such as witnessing door to door) nor a work added to Jesus work of crucifixion. He died to save us from our sins.

We are cleansed, forgiven only by blood, the blood of Christ, we are saved by the death and resurrection, all His work. We trust in His work to have salvation, not by what we do. We are to have faith in his work, not in water, not in prayer, not in anything else religious we do.

The believer, the one who had faith to be saved was to be baptized, but the baptism doesn’t save them. If you trust in your baptism you are as lost as a non believer. Because you have added a work. You have participated in saving yourself, and changed the gospel. Water cannot cleanse sin that is in our soul, only the body can be cleansed by something physical like water.

Take Paul for an example who said numerous times it is by faith (over 240 times it tells us to believe - have faith). Faith is not just a belief held in the mind, assenting to what is a historical event such as Jesus died and raised from the dead. It means we trust that this work of His actually does what He says in the Scripture.

We are told to believe in the heart that leads to a verbal confession in life  in our witnessing for Jesus (Rom.10).

If the water meant in the Jn.3  meant a birth, then you would have two births (water and spirit are not the same, nor the same event, as John explains) . Notice that water is put before the Spirit; which would mean one is baptized before he receives the Spirit if we are to take this interpretation literally. But its clear from Scripture that  one is saved ALWAYS before he is required to be baptized (in Jesus' death Rom.6)

 The one that is important, the only one that counts is the Spirit’s birth, water is creation and fallen and cannot birth anything spiritually.

John's gospel contrasts John the baptizer water baptism with the Spirit baptism that Jesus gives to only a believer.
Acts 1:5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
(this being the promise from the Father).

Water only showed that you were acknowledging repentance. without the spirit regenerating your spirit (by spirit baptism) you only have a ceremony

It is the Spirit that gives life, a birth. Water is creation and fallen and cannot birth a thing spiritually. The bible teaches we are born of God , water is not God; therefore it does not convey anything spiritually, it only illustrates what took place before one becomes a candidate for water baptism. Baptism is a physical illustration of ones faith in the Death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why the word likeness is used. This is also why it was expected after one believed in the gospel.

The Spirit is the agent of regeneration and the Word of God is the instrument, we hear and have faith in a response.

One must already believe in the gospel to be water baptized. which means baptism is not the gospel but one does as a result of it.