4. The new birth brings new knowledge, new insights, and new directions to life. The Holy Ghost is a revelator, and he makes known the things of God to those who are ready to bear them. The Holy Ghost reveals matters which man cannot teach nor man’s wisdom convey (see 1 John 2:27; Moroni 10:5; D&C 43:15-16).
Brigham Young said that the Holy Spirit reveals heaven’s treasures to its disciples. “It shows them things past, present, and to come. It opens the vision of the mind, unlocks the treasures of wisdom, and they begin to understand the things of God.... They comprehend themselves and the great object of their existence.” (JD 1:241.)
“Change in Us or in Our Hearts”
In further discussing the new birth-and particularly the importance of seeing and entering the kingdom-the Prophet observed: “The birth here spoken of [John 3:3-5] was not the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was promised after baptism, but was a portion of the Spirit, which attended the preaching of the gospel by the elders of the Church.
The people wondered why they had not previously understood the plain declarations of scripture, as explained by the elder, as they had read them hundreds of times. When they read the Bible [now] it was a new book to them. This was being born again to see the kingdom of God. They were not in it, but could see it from the outside, which they could not do until the Spirit of the Lord took the veil from their eyes. It was a change of heart, but not of state; they were converted, but were yet in their sins. Although Cornelius [Acts 10] had seen and holy angel, and on the preaching of Peter the Holy Ghost was was poured out upon him and his household, they were only born again to see the kingdom of God. Had they not been baptized afterwards they would not have been saved.” (Reported by Dabiel Tyler in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, pp. 93-94; italics added.)