This way of thinking doesn't take the Holy Spirit into account - I don't think you quite understand. When you accept Jesus as leader of your life and repent from your sins, truly, you receive the Holy Spirit. When you truly become a Christian, the Holy Spirit is a part of this. From that moment on, by hopefully growing in a new relationship with the Lord, He also refines you and grows you - your Christian walk consists of becoming more like Christ, who lived a life pleasing to God and had the ultimate relationship with His Father. The Holy Spirit works within you and you lose the desire of things you did while living for yourself. Are we still going to mess up, be tempted, and stumble? Yes. We still sin and won't be perfect until we reach the Father and see Him face to face. Until then, we are ever growing and being refined by the Lord - shedding our old self and putting on the new.

If there is no change from how you were before Christ (i.e., still committing the horrible acts you were committing), it is unlikely that there was ever a change to begin with. True repentance says "I don't want to live like this anymore and I am actively going to give up these things with the help of the Lord"

This way of thinking doesn't take the Holy Spirit into account - I don't think you quite understand. When you accept Jesus as leader of your life and repent from your sins, truly, you receive the Holy Spirit. When you truly become a Christian, the Holy Spirit is a part of this. From that moment on, by hopefully growing in a new relationship with the Lord, He also refines you and grows you - your Christian walk consists of becoming more like Christ, who lived a life pleasing to God and had the ultimate relationship with His Father. The Holy Spirit works within you and you lose the desire of things you did while living for yourself. Are we still going to mess up, be tempted, and stumble? Yes. We still sin and won't be perfect until we reach the Father and see Him face to face. Until then, we are ever growing and being refined by the Lord - shedding our old self and putting on the new.