How to be born again

The normal Christian birth is a fourfold package, normally in this order:

1. Repentance towards God
2. Faith in Christ
3. Baptism into the Name of Jesus
4. Spirit filling

(Note that in the NT, the Gentiles often experienced 4 before 3, and 4 seemed to be intricately connected with 2, and often 1 also. I suggest that people experiencing 3 first will have 'complications' in their 'birth process'! )

Repentance essentially involves acknowledging that God is right; agreeing with God that your own ways have been corrupt and that you need Him and His power in your life (cf 2 Corinthians 7:9,10). This is the essence of confession, and is associated with a sense of conviction birthed by the Holy Spirit. That conviction has to find a place of solace & refuge; people need somewhere to go. And that somewhere is not in the Law, not in doing good works, not in being religious, but Jesus Christ Himself! We need to have faith in Him, that is, to believe what He said about Himself, that in His death and resurrection we have forgiveness of sins and now are totally acceptable to God, being 'washed clean'.

However, a person does not repent, that is, 'turn around and have a change of mind', without some prompting ordained by the Holy Spirit. It is always in response to the person 'hearing' the appropriate word from God for them (see "Helping others to be born again" later), either in a dream, vision, a still small inner voice, from a book, from the Bible, from creation itself (cf Romans 1:19-20), or from another person who has been sent by God to proclaim that word, all within the context of realizing that one's own life somehow is missing 'fullness of life'. As the apostle Paul outlined, Sending -> Preaching -> Hearing -> Believing -> Calling on the Name of the Lord -> Salvation (Rom 10:10-15).

Now in our lives there may be many sinful activities which we need to turn away from and over which God will continually convict us of by His Holy Spirit so that we can thereafter grow up into ever more freedom, but there comes a once off decision in life in which we repent with a capital R: in which we make a decision to truly renounce our old way of living and wish to say publicly that we desire to die to that old way of life and wish to be identified with Jesus and the lifestyle He espouses, the lifestyle of the kingdom of God which not only is the best lifestyle, but also gives God the glory. This decision is publicly expressed in the act of baptism, in which one identifies himself/herself with Jesus' own death on the cross and His own resurrection to new life.

In response to such a decision, God 'comes to the party' and imparts His own gift to you individually, namely the promised Holy Spirit (cf Acts 1:9; 2:38,39), who is given for a twofold purpose.

Firstly, as part of the process of the Holy Spirit coming to reside within you, the spirit aspect of yourself is (re-)[?]created (cf 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 12:9). An aspect of our being (which was either dead, or 'shriveled up', or for which there was always room) suddenly comes alive with the presence of the Holy Spirit, giving rise to the possibility of a new relationship with God as our heavenly Father. (Note that demon possession occurs most probably when a person opens themselves up to receiving an evil spirit in this realm of their being). Since Jesus said that His words were spirit and they were life (John 6:63), there is every reason to believe that what is actually happening is that when we exercise faith in God's word, we 'come alive' in our inner selves, because our heart takes into itself the life-giving word of God. When we act in unbelief, we are in fact having faith in 'the devil's words', and since he only comes to steal, kill, and destroy, it is no wonder we end up dying 'internally / spiritually'.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit resides within you so that you now have your own personal counselor, adviser, and helper, just as Jesus was when He was on earth with the disciples back then, and who also empowers you with abilities or 'gifts' to fulfill His purposes on earth.

Thus we can see that receiving the Holy Spirit is essential to living out a lifestyle in accordance with the values of God's Kingdom, and as we 'walk in the Spirit', that is, listen to and obey His promptings, our minds will be renewed and we will really live life to the full! (Right belief determines right behaviour). Sometimes the Holy Spirit is given in response to faith before baptism is underwent, and sometimes it is afterwards in response to another Holy Spirit filled person praying for you - it all depends on what God's plan is for you - and the evidence that we have received the Holy Spirit is that we are able to speak in tongues &/or are able to rejoice greatly in God and praise Him, both being accompanied with the ability to call God 'Father'.