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Beloved57 gets underexposed, stating,

You still don`t get the picture One believing the correct doctrine only makes manifest his or her salvation.
How much correct doctrine did Paul know at his conversion (Acts 9) and how much was he taught afterwards (Gal. 1:11-24)? How much correct doctrine did Peter know at conversion and what was he taught afterwards (Gal. 2:11-20)? Balaam’s Ass knew some correct doctrine, did this make manifest his salvation as it does yours?

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Prepare to bow, B57 meets a B52 and says,

I admit, after rereading your testimony there was the possibility of you being regenerated.
When did the God of the universe die and leave you to judge the quick and the dead? You who perverts and twists the very Scripture you think to know. Who are you to question another man’s salvation? You don’t even know Pilgrim, how can you make such a judgment? His fruit is manifest, it is yours that is questionable (Matt 3:7; 5:20; 23:13-33 )!!! You don’t need to be concerned about limited atonement but limited brains and no heart. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/igiveup.gif" alt="" />

It is possible to repent of such an attitude. I was once very much like you. Praise God for His mercy.

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Beloved57, fiction,

fine you can reject it but I believe the bible teaches it or at least implies it. In acts 10 with cornilus, the bible says that he feared God. No man in nature can fear God rom 3 teaches that, so it is very feasible that he was regenerated by God so he can be ready to believe the Gospel that peter would shortly preach to him. …… Lydia in acts 16:14 ….. so IMO she had been regenerated inorder to be receptive to the Gospel that paul was to preach to her.
First, your opinion is not Scripture. Second, just stating something does not make it a fact—you have yet to prove anything. Does the Bible imply this or are you implying this? Third, let us look at your examples:

Cornelius—Honestly I am very surprised you selected this passage. Here is Cornelius, a Gentile, who is acquainted with Judaism in that era (Lydia’s case is similar. She had become a believer in Israel’s God and, as a Gentile, was classified as a God-fearer as well (Acts 10:2; 13:16, 26, 50)). He knows a lot about Israel and how to worship Jehovah. The Holy Spirit did not need to “work” on Cornelius for many years so then he would be willing to be regenerated. Regeneration is the act of God alone (John 3)! It is akin to God breathing into us the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). Your view is synergistic not monergistic.

In the NT you find that people were saved all at once without any process (compare in the OT where people were called from the womb), without any period of mourning, or preparation etc. Zacchaeus, up a tree, trusted Jesus and received Him joyfully (Luke 19:6-9). When Peter told Cornelius and his assembled household that they could be saved by believing, what happened? "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message," (Acts 10:44-48—the text says WHEN they HEARD the MESSAGE (i.e. death, burial, resurrection—36-41), not because they were programmed and prepared through many years by the Holy Spirit). The thief on the cross, who a few minutes before had been railing at Jesus, was saved immediately when he inquired of Jesus (Luke 23:42-43). In the first chapter of John, verses 35-49, we see where Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael were all converted, one by one, immediately by faith in Christ.

Regeneration is instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit alone.


Reformed and Always Reforming,