"..according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,.." Titus 3:5 NASB

One of the best comparisons to regeneration by the Holy Spirit that I have ever heard was that of a dead car battery brought back to life by charging it, which went something like this:

When a car battery is fully discharged, all the washing and cleaning of the outside case of the battery that you may care to do will not make one bit of difference. The battery is still dead.

When one wants to recharge a dead battery, you have to charge it with an outside source of energy, very much like we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit to become more like our Lord Jesus. It is just the way it is. Many may try to make themselves holy by their own will, but they are just as spiritually dead as when they started thinking that way.

Our Father gave a bit of a spark to each of us who came into this world spiritually dead and His Holy Spirit ignites that spark into a new creation, somewhat like a battery charger does what the battery cannot do for itself: become regenerated and placed in service.

I always liked that example and I hope that another person out there will too.

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.