I truly hope you are not referring here to what Ron or I have written previously on this topic. And if not, who are these people that see the visible and invisible church as the same?
No Jason, even though you know I don't agree with you and Ron about presumtive election, I was thinking primarily of presumptive regeneration when I said that.
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This text deals with a man making the transition from Old to New Covenant, not from death to life.
Could you explain what you mean by that? The reason I don't think Cornelius was saved already was that he didn't have the Holy Spirit indwelling him and Paul says that without the Holy Spirit, we are not God's children. We may be elect, but until we are actually converted and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are not Christians. Since Cornelius was a gentile, I don't understand how his case is about making a transition between the Old and New Covenant.
I believe that God did answer my prayers while I was reading the Bible through the first time as an unbeliever. I believe His Spirit gave me the desire to read His Word and continued to show me truths, even though I was really dead in my sins at the time and didn't understand the Gospel until much later. I believe that God will use the catechizing of children and Bible Stories in laying a foundation for a future faith in His elect.
