[xzins]

who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Simply says that God does the "reborning," not any man, as in one's birth from one's mother. The same thing is addressed in Chapter 3 betweem Jesus and Nicodemus. Doesn't change the order of salvation of the verse at all. 1. Receive/believe, (2) Born again (by God)

[AnalogReigns]

In the classic pattern of Hebrew parallism, John is clearly emphasizing and clarifying his previous statement in John 1:12 when he says in v. 13, " who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. " in a parenthetical statement.

The clear meaning of the statement about our spiritual birth is: Its not by inheritance (as the Jews were fond of thinking), its not due to our own efforts (as everyone is fond of thinking), nor is it even due to our own will (as everyone is ESPECIALLY fond of thinking...) its due to God.

Jesus saves.

Any modification of that foundational thought is a compromise of the Gospel itself.