He may be greatly gifted and accomplished many good, religious works. He may have been baptized, commissioned, and ordained. This is the question which we must put to people. Whatever words we may use, this is the question. Anyone who has ever refinished an old, tattered piece of furniture which has been painted a dozen times knows that the first step involves stripping off the old paint, sanding out the dings and scratches, and trying to do all you can to overcome the past.
Regeneration does the same thing.
The Spirit of God comes into a person's life and overthrows the powers of sin that have kept him enslaved for all of his life. The ultimate perfection of this will be experienced when the believer is ushered into heaven, but the process is begun on earth. In this way regeneration negates the past. But it also reconstitutes for the future. In regeneration, the Spirit of God recreates in righteousness.