I had to see about some work being done the other day, and asked the contractor how much it would cost.
"It won't cost very much," said he, "because we can use all the old material."
Now that is precisely what God could not do. There must be a new start altogether, with new material.
If there is to be anything for God in man, or any capacity to estimate things according to God, a man "must be born again." There must be an effectual operation of God by His Word and Spirit producing a new moral being in man, the effect of which is that he begins to think God's thoughts about himself.