mmoutreach

Peter, You wrote: It is begging the question when you read your conclusion into the conversions of people like Lydia and Cornelius. It goes without saying that some people came to a belief in Jesus – after first having a belief in the Father. But that in no way is conclusive proof that they were given to Jesus by the Father. You are claiming something for me that is inaccurate. Let me phrase it this way, if those who fear God, who have a belief in the Father, come to believe right away in Jesus, what do YOU define your “conclusive proof” that any Jew in the time of Jesus was given to the Father? Let me see if I understand your position. Your “conclusive proof” appears to be that those who believe in the Father already believe that JESUS is the Messiah. You wrote: The difference between Paul and the ones that were given to Jesus, is that they believed in God in a specific Jesus-is-the- Messiah way – whereas Paul did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. That is a definition of circular reasoning. If these people already believed in Jesus as the Messiah they didn’t need to be given to Him because they were already His. I will answer the issue of Paul and the Roman solider at the cross in my next comment.