We apply this to Baptism. But the new birth is more than baptism. Baptism is the outward sign of a new inward experience. Baptism is the public confirmation that an inward change has already taken place. Baptism does not create the new birth.
Baptism is like a wedding ceremony.
The wedding ceremony does not create Love. Weddings do not initiate love between a man and a woman. A wedding is the public acknowledgment of what has already been developing over many weeks and months of interaction. Just so, Baptism is a public statement that you and Jesus have fallen in love with each other and you both wish to spend the rest of your lives together. Baptism does not create that love.