Ryrie addresses the means of regeneration:

“The Scriptures clearly teach that regeneration is the act of God. Direct statements show this (John 1:13) as well as statements that link regeneration to spiritual resurrection - an act which God alone can accomplish (John 5:21-24; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17). . . . it is the work of the Holy Spirit of God (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). . . . the means of regeneration is the Spirit’s effecting the new birth in those who believe in Christ.”

As I have shared in my books and blogs the sin sacrifice of Jesus Christ provided for the restoration of a permanent indwelling of the human spirit by the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent upon His resurrection. Recipients of this blessing are repentant believers. I have addressed the dualist interaction that characterizes this two-way communion through God’s created synaptic networks in our time. In this connection the Bible and neuroscience, properly interpreted, are in concordance. Ryrie states further, “. . . the actual event of being born again happens instantaneously. . . . people do not birth themselves, but that they are birthed by Someone Else, the Holy Spirit.”

Ryrie defines regeneration, referred to in Titus 3:5:

“[Regeneration] is connected with the accomplishing of our salvation by the ‘washing of regeneration’ that brings new life to the one who believes. . . . the term literally means to be born again. . . . Theologically, regeneration of individuals precisely means that act of God which imparts eternal life to them. . . . Regeneration is that which begins the new life; it is the new birth.”

The Holy Spirit indwells the repentant believer whose human spirit and soul (mind, will, emotion) are guided by the Spirit into a life of righteousness patterned after the person and life of Jesus Christ.

Ryrie offers comments about conviction by the Holy Spirit leading to a life of righteousness patterned after the person and life of Jesus Christ:

“. . . the Spirit is able to convince men that Jesus is the righteous Savior who will justify those who put their trust in Him. . . . The Holy Spirit persuades men that the same judgment that overtook Satan will come upon them if they persist in rejecting Christ. . . . How does the Spirit convict? Several means may be involved. The Spirit may speak directly to people’s consciences [the main focus of my research into dualist interaction between the Mind of God and the mind of Man through the created neural synaptic networks of the human brain]. He may use the Bible, or someones’s testimony, or the Word preached. But even though people and things may be involved in conviction, it is ultimately the Holy Spirit who convicts. . . . If sin has affected people so that they are slaves to sin and unable to do that which is pleasing to God for eternal salvation (Romans 6:20-23), then salvation requires the intervention of the work of the Spirit in the effectual calling of sinners. People cannot respond to the point of being saved without it.”

Ryrie cites Romans 8:11:

“Romans 8:11 reads: ‘But if the Spirit of Him [God] who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.’ . . . The Holy Spirit’s indwelling of the believer is a guarantee of the believer’s future resurrection.”

Ryrie shares some important points about how Jesus Christ depended on the power of the Spirit:

'‘The fact that Christ depended on the power of the Spirit emphasizes the depth of His condescension. That the God-man should have to be dependent on the ministry of the Spirit to Him shows something of the limitations of humanity. All this is a vivid reminder of the believer’s need of depending on the Holy Spirit in his life. If the Lord of glory did not do without the ministry of the Spirit, how can sinners, though redeemed, live independently of His power? Although our Lord possessed a sinless humanity, He relied on the Holy Spirit. We are far from sinless. So how much more do we need to depend on the ministries of the Holy Spirit in our lives? He depended; so must we.”

By the grace and love of God the Father the risen Jesus Christ sent as He promised the Holy Spirit to indwell repentant believers so that we can strive to become righteous by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Ryrie commented on the birth of Jesus Christ. I quote:

“The result of the Virgin Birth was the Incarnation. A human nature was conceived, not a person, for the second person of the Trinity existed always. With the conception of the human nature the God-man came into existence, although His humanity was a perfect one. This means that although the components of humanity were present (except a sin nature), it was a sinless human nature, not merely a sanctified human nature. Our Lord in His humanity possessed a body (Luke 2:52), a soul (Matthew 26:38), and a spirit (Mark 2:8). But the incarnation also brought limitation - not any limitation of a moral nature but only those amoral limitations of humanity, such as the need to sleep and eat. In other words, nothing was missing from His humanity that is essential to perfect humanity and nothing was added that was nonhuman.”

Ryrie states:

“. . . although the Spirit did indwell men in Old Testament times, it was a selective ministry, both in regard to whom He indwelt and for how long. Can this relationship be summarized in any simple way? Yes, for the Lord summarized it by telling His disciples that up to that time the Spirit had been abiding with them, though on and after the day of Pentecost He would be in [Italics added] them (John 14:17).”

Lest it be confusing, the Holy Spirit did fill various people in the OT times, a transient interaction in contrast to the permanent indwelling of repentant believers when they are saved and experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Later blogs will elaborate on this point, acknowledging that the infilling continues to this day.

Ryrie comments on the activity of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament and in New Testament times:

“The ministries of the Spirit in relation to people in Old Testament times were not always the same as that which He does today for people. Pentecost marked the beginning of certain distinctive and significant differences, although we should not conclude that His ministries were rare or sparse in Old Testament times. When we speak of the Spirit ‘coming’ at Pentecost we do not mean that He was absent from the earth before then. We mean that He took up His residence in believers [Italics added] at Pentecost although He was present always before (obviously, since He is God).”

That the Holy Spirit indwells repentant believers in our time accounts for His dualist interaction with us, that the immaterial Holy Spirit interacts with the immaterial human spirit and soul through His created neural synaptic networks discussed in my books and blogs. Yes, we can pray to God/His Holy Spirit, but we are blessed to hear from God/Holy Spirit, a bidirectional interaction. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, within our minds giving counsel and help to our souls so that we become more Christlike, manifesting the fruits of His Spirit.

Ryrie makes compelling statements concerning the inspiration of the authors of Scripture by the Holy Spirit:

“Biblical inspiration may be defined as God’s superintending human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His message to man in the words of their original writings in the Bible. . . . Such an inspired record could only have been given in words and not merely thoughts, for there is not any genuine or accurate thought communication without its being conveyed in words [I have discussed in my books and blogs how specified information is transmitted via codes, specifically linguistic codes, within the spike trains of action potentials in neural synaptic networks] . . . . behind the human writers was the divine author of revelation, the Holy Spirit. Peter, referring to Old Testament prophecy, declared that ‘men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God; (2 Peter 1:21). The agents were men; the source was God; and the single author moving the human instruments was the Holy Spirit. The word moved indicates that the Spirit bore the human writers along as He directed their writings.’”

Ryrie states that the Holy Spirit has the attributes of personality:

“If personality may be simply described as possessing intellect, emotions (or sensibility), and will [attributes of the human soul, italics mine], then it is easily demonstrated that the Holy Spirit has personality because He has intelligence, emotions, and a will. . . . Actions are attributed to the Holy Spirit that cannot be attributed to a mere thing or influence or personification or power or emanation. Such actions, then, must be those of a person, thus proving personality of the Spirit.”