they are conceived, injustice as their own so, if they were not born again in Christ, they never would be justified; seeing that, in that new birth, there is be- stowed upon them, through the merit of his passion, the grace whereby they are made just. For this bene- fit the Apostle exhorts us evermore to give thanks to the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, and hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption and remission of sins. [Chap. 3.] By wliich words a description of the Justification of the impious is indicated as being a translation, from PREVENTING GRACE 85 that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace, and of the adoption among the sons of God through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, ur Saviour. And this translation, since the promul- gation of the Gospel, cannot be effected without the laver of regeneration, or the desire thereof, as it is written : Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [Chap. 4.] THE BEGINNING OF JUSTIFICATION The Synod furthermore declares, that in adults the beginning of the said Justification is to be derived from the preventing grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from his vocation, whereby, without