Therefore, prepare your minds for action,{Literally, "gird up the loins of your mind"} be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ--

 (ii) Another way to put that is to say that this rebirth is the work of the Spirit ( John 3:1-15). It happens to a man, not by his own effort, but when he yields himself to be possessed and re-created by the Spirit within him. 