Not so.
You’re reading your doctrinal framework back into the text rather than letting the text itself govern the meaning, and that’s precisely where the eisegesis is occurring.
In Gospel of John 3, Jesus is not describing a two-tier class of Christians or a select group who become “anointed rulers,” but a universal condition for entering the kingdom, stated without restriction in 3:3 and 3:5, where the necessity of being “born from above” applies to anyone who would “see” or “enter” the kingdom of God.
Your interpretation inserts categories that are absent from the immediate context, because the text itself defines the new birth in terms of origin and agency, not ecclesiastical status or future role, as seen in the parallelism between “born of water and Spirit” and the explanatory statement in 3:6, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” which emphasizes transformation by divine causation, not appointment to a governing class.
The phrase “born of water and Spirit” is not a technical formula for water baptism plus a later anointing into heavenly rulership, but a unified expression pointing to cleansing and renewal by the Spirit, consistent with prophetic background such as ~Ezekiel 36:25–27, where water and Spirit are joined in a single act of inner regeneration performed by God.
Further, nothing in the discourse introduces the idea that only some believers experience this new birth while others do not, because Jesus rebukes Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, for not understanding something that should have been foundational and universally known, which makes no sense if He were introducing a limited, elite category.
So the issue is not whether you affirm spiritual rebirth in some sense, but that you are redefining Jesus’ words to fit a pre-existing system, rather than allowing the grammar, syntax, and immediate context to speak on their own terms, and when read carefully, the passage teaches a present, Spirit-wrought regeneration necessary for all, not a selective anointing into heavenly kingship.
Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Joh 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Mike Winger beautifully explained this.
J.