How did the Born Again teaching be associated with one first believing in Jesus Christ?

Many Protestant Christians believe that you become born again as soon as you believe on Jesus Christ. Many believe that this teaching is clear in the opening verses of John chapter 3. How did this teaching get developed? Who started it? I'm not asking whether any church believes that a person becomes born again by believing in Jesus Christ. I want to know how the idea developed that born again was something that happened at one's first faith in Jesus, and not, for instance, at a later time in the spiritual journey. I'm acutely aware that I've accepted this teaching without question, probably as a result of group-think and not from personal theological study. Jesus doesn't plainly say that born again happens when you first believe on Him, so where did that teaching come from? An acceptable answer would be to say who developed the interpretation that Jesus' usage of born again takes place at the time when one first received Christ. Another acceptable answer would be to trace the development of the idea.