Annjho, What makes up a person. The flesh is just a vessel. The soul is in the blood, and the spirit gives both the soul and the body life. The personality of the person is in the spirit. The person is three parts but only the spirit is the LIFE of that person.
When Elijah, or Elias was born he recieved a spirit to be a LIVING SOUL. And he became a prohet. God says that all His prophets were holy men of God, and He says they were MOVED by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:21. Since it is the Holy Ghost, and ONLY the Holy Ghost that can make a person holy, Elias/Elijah was filled with the Holy Ghost as a prophet. So when God said that He would send the prohet Elijah to prepare the way for Jesus, God will send Elijah, the HOLY GHOST FILLED SPIRIT OF ELIJAH. That spirit that MOVED Elijah will be the same Spirit that would move John, FROM HIS MOTHER'S WOMB....
Look what Spirit John recieved when he took his first breath....
Luk_1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
When God makes a person HOLY, like He did with all His prohets, God makes their Spirits ONE WITH HIM. He makes their SPIRITS ONE WITH THE HOLY GHOST. Though they were individuals, they were of ONE SPIRIT! Eph 4. And look how God made 5000 men of one heart, one soul and one spirit... (Holy Spirit)
Act_4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: ...
Is this re-incarnate? Maybe it is! It is defenately God using the same spirit of Elijah in two bodies. John was never a new person, like all other babies, that recieves a NEW spirit. John was Elijah in a second body. That is why John was HOLY from his birth. Because Elijah was STILL HOLY, and Elijah is STILL Elijah the Holy prophet, today. John the baptist does not exist today. Only Elijah is with Jesus. That is why Elijah returned to the mountain. The flesh of John was only a vessel for a purpose.... To prepare the way for Jesus, and to be the greatest born from a woman. That holy prophet spirit was what made him the greatest.