What you do and what is done to you

Being born again is referred to as a “mighty change of heart.” There are actually multiple changes that co-occur in this event, and while they are indeed mighty, it is important to understand them individually.

Much of the confusion about being born again is related to misunderstandings about what the individual does, what God does, and in what order.

In general, the individual is responsible for much more in the process than what most understand. This is, in general, why so few people have truly been born again. They are waiting for God to do what he has never said he would do, contrary to what he has said we must first do.

In order to be born again, you must first decide to totally trust in God. Trust in God is not something that God gives you. It is something you choose to believe based on the only honest response to what he has done for you and how he is.

Trust in God typically comes through your response to the testimony of those who have tested God’s trustworthiness through enduring significant affliction. As they encounter God’s compensatory justice at the conclusion of their trial, they are empowered to bear testimony of God’s trustworthiness commensurate with the difficulty they have endured. The scriptures are full of such testimonies. Here is one:

And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me. (Alma 36:27)

After first trusting him, those who are willing to experiment on the testimony of those who have tested God’s trustworthiness will obtain their own testimony through being born again:

[TODOOO:look_below]

5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; <u>for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things. (Alma 38)</u>

In order to be born again, you must forsake every sin of which you are aware. God will not magically transform you into a person who doesn’t sin anymore. You have to actually choose to obey him:

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (1 John 5:18; see also 1 John 3:1-10)

In order to be born again, you have to desire to do everything that God tells you to do.

Many people seek this mighty change of heart as a way to force them to stop desiring things they know to be against God’s will. It is no surprise that these people have not yet experienced this mighty change—nor will they ever. They must decide, through faith in Jesus Christ, to obey him in all things, at all times, and at all costs. If they do not do this, there will be no change within them. They will continue to sin whenever it is convenient to do so.

Desire is a choice. It is not something that happens to you. God does not compel anyone, ever. It is contrary to the laws of his power.

If God could transmit to you all that he is and has magically, he would surely do it. But he can’t. He can’t give his glory¹—it can only be obtained by being like he is, and you can only be like he is by learning about him and choosing to live according to what you learn.

If we are responsible for the preceding changes, what part does God have in it all? The answer is information. Information and agency are the only catalysts. God gives you the freedom to choose, and he provides all the information necessary for you to choose correctly. He can’t force you to use reason, but he gives you the gift to be able to should you choose to do so.

God’s role in this arrangement is neither small nor cheap. What he provides costs far more than what we must do to make use of it, and it is far more valuable than anything we sacrifice to receive it.

The information God provides comes from two sources: his servants and the Holy Ghost.

And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them— (Helaman 15:7)

The mighty change of heart is not a magical, externally-driven outcome. The mighty change of heart is brought about by believing information given you by God, through his servants and through the Holy Ghost.