The problem is the idea of regeneration being used by them is that it doesn't fit with Scripture. Being born again couldn't happen until after a believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and in Christ. That was not available to OT believers until Pentecost. How do you reconcile that discrepancy?
It is a discrepancy of speculative interpretation. If we take the whole counsel of God into consideration on how anyone understands or believes salvationally, we know it is only by an act of God; it is only by being placed in Christ through faith; it is only by the work of the Spirit; we know that it is by being changed from a natural condition in Adam, to a new condition of heart (a regeneration); we know that it is by grace and through faith. You simply cannot say that this did not happen with OT saints. You don't know that. You cannot say that it was not available to OT believers until Pentecost. Pentecost gave birth to the new Israel---the new people of God, Jew and Gentile alike. Encompassing the whole earth. Just because there was no Christ's church in the OT as we see in the NT does not mean that salvation comes in different ways between the old covenant and the new covenant. It is a New Covenant, not a new way of being saved. It has the indwelling of all those in Christ, instead of a legal written Law. Another expression of regeneration is born again---born from above. There is no need to distinguish between the two. It only causes a confusion that does not need to be there. Jesus said you cannot enter the kingdom as a natural man who has not been reborn in Christ. You must be born from above by the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit indwelling all of God's people now, is juxtaposed against the Holy Spirit not indwelling all of God's people (geo-political Israel).
OT believers had faith, but were not born again. OT believers were drawn by God, but not born again. That's Biblical proof that regeneration that is called 'being drawn by God' and the OT regeneration that was a result of that drawing is not synonymous with being born again. It's distinct and separate.
First you need to prove that OT believers were not born again. And that is something you cannot do. In order for it to appear as though you were able to do that, you would have to start with some unproven presuppositions and work backwards. Which, of course, would not be proving anything.
What do I call what happened in the OT? It's some kind of primitive form of regeneration because it's lacking what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives a believer in being born again today, but it's not born again. Beyond that I don't know what to to call it. It's regeneration if it's from God, but it's not being born again.
Well, I believe that you are restricting "born again" to what happened at Pentecost. And doing so is going far beyond what the Bible explicitly teaches. Pentecost, as I said was the inauguration of a New Covenant that was different from the Old Covenant. The Old had a legal written Law that must be obeyed; it applied to a small (relatively) group of people and in a small area of land, who were singularly known as God's covenant people. The New extends "God's people" to all regions of the earth and all types of people, and instead of a written legal code, has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for all. No legal code is needed for it is the work of the Spirit in them that conforms them to the image of Christ. Progressive obedience. "I will write my laws on your heart."
The NC shifts from external law to internal transformation by the Spirit.
I believe that being drawn by God is the same in the OT as it is in the NT. The Holy Spirit does this from outside the person. If the Holy Spirit draws a person from an indwelling, then that person is already born again. That's not possible. You must be indwelt with the Holy Spirit to be born again because that which makes us born again is only accessed "in Christ". It takes faith to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and be in Christ to access these things. Faith is the cause of born again. God's drawing is not born again.
John 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
It is the Father who draws. It is the Greek word
helko and it implies a powerful, effectual attraction (not a wooing or suggestion). It is the Father's sovereign work to bring a sinner to Christ. It is both external and internal but it is not yet the new birth.
Being born again is the immediate and sovereign act of the Holy Spirit where a spiritually dead person is brought to new life enabling them to respond in faith. Being born again is the moment when spiritual life is implanted (given).
You must be indwelt with the Holy Spirit to be born again because that which makes us born again is only accessed "in Christ". It takes faith to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and be in Christ to access these things. Faith is the cause of born again. God's drawing is not born again.
Being born again by the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are not the same thing but they are closely connected and always occur together.
Born Again (Regeneration): The innitial act of the Holy Spirit giving spiritual life to the dead sinner (Eph 2:1-5).
Instantaneous, sovereign, monergistic.
Purpose: to enable faith and a spiritual response. (John 3:5-8)
Indwelling of the Spirit: The ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life after regeneration.
Continuous, personal, covenantal presence.
Purpose: To sanctify, guide, empower, assure, and seal the believer
(Romans 8:9; 1 Cor 6:19).
Regeneration enables the indwelling. You can't have one without the other. The rebirth is the cause of faith and for the purpose of faith.