Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the Ordo salutis ('order of salvation'), is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer's life. Spiritually, it means that God brings Christians to new life from a previous state of separation from God and subjection to the decay of death (Ephesians 2:4). Thus, in Lutheran and Roman Catholic theology, it generally means that which takes place during the baptism.