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134 make it coincide with the first appearance of spiritual life: only, since our says, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of ," it was assumed that those infants who, being elected, died in infancy, were regenerated, although, apparently, not through, or at Baptism. And so the term "regeneration" came to be used for the visible change, or almost for "sanctification ," and its original sense, as denoting a privilege of the Christian Church, was wholly lost. Hence, also, it could not but follow that persons were (in this sense) regenerated, some before, some after Baptism; for since regeneration was taken to mean, partly, the first actual commencement of conscious spiritual life, partly that life in its subsequent development; then, since faith and repentance are the commencements of spiritual life, it was held that any one to whom had given these, was also regenerate; and so also any pious Jew was regenerated, and if baptized, then regenerated before Baptism. But this is not the scriptural usage of the term, and