Born again is getting a new beating heart
I understand. I was merely commenting on the fact that in Post 951 you said "There are two steps in salvation..the first is repentance....."
Which appears inconsistent with "Calvinists do not take born again to mean saved..you are born again BEFORE you can repent and be saved."
Are you saying that there are three steps?
1. You are born again.
2. You repent.
3. You are saved.
Do Calvinists believe being "born again" is entirely separate (preceeding) the salvation experience?
All those who are "born from above", or "born again", will be saved. Even if they are infants who die in infancy, or are incapable of making an outward confession of that new birth, they still receive salvation. Those who are born from above and are capable of making a confession will do so. They will repent of their sins, and will acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus.
This is due to the fact that it is God who is giving the "new birth", replacing the "heart of stone" with a "heart of flesh". The natural outcome of being "born again" is doing "born again" things, such as repentance and confession of Christ. They exhibit the new nature that they have obtained.
All who are "born again" receive the righteousness of Christ imputed to their account, all of them receive forgiveness of their sins, all of them will be sanctified by His Spirit, and all of them will be saved completely and brought into a state of glorification. Those who are capable of exhibiting the outward signs of this regeneration do so. Those who are incapable of exhibiting the outward signs of this regeneration, well, they are incapable of doing so, but this does not cause them to forfeit the new life that they have received as a result of the work of God upon their lives.
Does this help? (Sorry, but I won't be able to stick around to elaborate.)