Is there a prerequisite to regeneration or does the Holy Spirit enter at His own will?
If possible, please keep your answer simple. Thanks.
1. The Holy Spirit gives His Call and His Grace freely to those who do not deserve it. If God did not turn us to Him, we would not turn to Him ourselves. But, neither before justification, nor after it, is it true that our free will does nothing at all.
2. God's Deliverance is like pulling us out a pit, a pit out of which we did not even want to be pulled. First, God enlightens our mind to desire deliverance or salvation, being pulled out of the pit. Then, He stretches down His hand to pull us out. If we freely respond, by believing in Him as Lord and Savior, and repenting of our sins, we are washed, and the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
3. God's Election is not about we were before we came to Him:
"7“The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)
God chooses even the weak, to confound the strong:
"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth." (1 Cor 1:26)
There is no predestination to hell in the Bible. There is only predestination to Heaven. If you disagree, please show me a verse that says there is such a thing as predestination to hell, as if God were the Author or Cause of Damnation or Evil.
God Bless.