For from the beginning the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Gen. i. 2., and anew the Scripture witnesseth that water has the power of purification Lev. xv. 10.. In the time of Noah God washed away the sin of the world by water Gen. vi. 17.. By water every impure person is purified Text, καθαίρεται. Variant in many Codices is ἐκάθαίρετο. On one margin is, ἠ ἐκεκάθαρτο., according to the law, even the very garments being washed with water. Elias shewed forth the grace of the Spirit mingled with the water when he burned the holocaust by pouring on water III. Reg. xviii. 32.. And almost everything is purified by water according to the law: for the things of sight are symbols of the things of thought. The regeneration, however, takes place in the spirit: for faith has the power of making us sons (of God πίστις γὰρ υἱοθετεῖν οἶδε.), creatures as we are, by the Spirit, and of leading us into our original blessedness.