Is God Able To regenerate sinners before their faith in Christ?

[Winman]

You have made some assumptions in this post.

You assume "right mind" is not salvation. I suggest that you are right.

However, I would suggest that the "right mind" was reflective of the new nature given. Certainly wasn't his old sin filled demonic controlled nature.

The fact is UNTIL he was given a new nature (demons gone) he was incapable of belief. Your post would indicate this by saying, "It is probably very true this man did not believe on Jesus before he was healed, ...."

Certainly it is true that he wanted to follow Christ, which may be an indication of belief. Unfortunately, the Scriptures don't clarify how long he was in his right mind (new nature) before belief.

Apparently some time had passed between the pigs and the ship. Long enough for him to recognize his nakedness, and for folks to volunteer their garments. Perhaps they were stunned into silence and wonder for sometime until one or more realized what had taken place, and acquired empathy and resolve for the man's physical embarrassing condition.

Another period of time had to pass for the local gossip chain to carry the news into town to the town upper crust, and for them to consult together and in mass go not only to see what happened but to form a plan of what to say when they arrived.

Your assumption that he could express belief before given a new nature doesn't fit the narrative very well.

New Nature then belief.

It is not an assumption that he was not in his right mind, the scriptures imply that. It is not assumption that after he was healed that he had a great desire to be with Jesus.

It is assumption that after he was healed he realized Jesus had power to cast his devils out and believed on him, but I think that is a pretty safe assumption.

 

[agedman]

Well Agedman, Calvinist theology never ceases to amaze me. We have folks here that say they were regenerated, born of God, spiritually alive LONG BEFORE they heard the gospel and believed on Jesus. So this fellow was walking around spiritually alive, yet spirtually dead in his trespasses and sins for months, possibly years. I have posted quotes from a fellow named Voorhis with Sproul who said this very thing is possible.

Yet, the Bible ALWAYS says you have to believe to have life.

Certainly you have to believe to have "everlasting life" as Paul would say. But that doesn't mean regeneration hasn't already been given.

Now, I don't understand exactly what you Calvinists mean when you say regeneration, but it cannot mean life, because you must first believe to have life according to numerous scriptures.

The problem is that Calvinists are taught that unregenerate man cannot desire or will to be saved. This is easily proven false by the Philipian jailer, he wanted to be saved, and he was sincere. But he had not believed yet, so he was still dead in sin. This proves a person who is spiritually dead can not only desire to be saved, he also has the ability to believe.

I am one who does consider the jailor in Philippe had been given a new nature but not yet the knowledge that Paul shared with him and later the family. God isn't one to always provide instant gratification. Personally, I have witnessed some who fell under great conviction and struggled with the old versus new nature until they were brought to knowledge of Christ.

Calvinism errs from the letter "T".

This is an assumption.

Cornelius is another example, he was not saved, we know this because the angel told him that Peter would tell him words whereby he would be saved. Yet he worshipped God, prayed always, and gave alms. And God recognized his alms.

Ah, but remember the natural man receives NOTHING of the Spirit. Yet, in Acts we see God not only seeing, but hearing, and sending angels to Cornelius with the promise to send Peter.

Unless Cornelius was already given the new nature, he wouldn't even care.

Again, I refer to the post about the Holy Spirit I made on this thread.

Once you realize that Total Inability is false, the scriptures will suddenly make sense. Men are sinners, but they can respond to God when he calls, as Adam and Eve did after they sinned. And if a man comes when God calls, and trusts in Christ, then God will give him the power (regeneration) to become a son of God.

The assumption is that a person can hear in their ungodly condition when God calls. But you recognize this is impossible, for the Scriptures say that "NO man seeks God." The old nature cannot hear God.

For a proof text, see John 8:42 - 45

One thing for sure, that "T" of yours does not stand for truth.

Jesus said the DEAD shall hear his voice, and they (the DEAD) that hear shall live (Jn 5:25).

I agree the "T" doesn't stand for truth.

You refer to John 5:25, but you missed the meaning by not reading through verse 31.

Jesus is discussing how he will acquire the control of both death and hell.

He isn't speaking about hearing to salvation. He is speaking of those who are dead without Christ hearing, coming alive, and delivered into the lake of fire.

 

[Winman]

Faith precedes a change of heart. Suppose someone broke into your house and stole everything you owned. You are told by reliable sources that Joe Schmoe did it. Because you believe your source, you are naturally going to feel animosity and anger toward Joe.

Then you find out your neighbor had a video of your neighborhood. You see a film of a fellow named Charlie Barley pull up in a truck, get out and start emptying out your house.

Now you know and believe that Joe was innocent. Would this change your heart toward Joe? Of course, and you might even feel guilty for your previous anger and animosity toward him. You might even apologize to him.

This is how the heart is changed concerning God. When you realize and believe that God loved you so much he gave his Son Jesus to die for you, your heart is going to be changed. You no longer fear or hate God, but now you love him, because he first loved you.

You must first believe God loves you before your heart is changed and you can love him.

Faith precedes the changed nature.

 

[OldRegular]

Semi-pelagianism at Best and Pelagianism at Worst.

When you realize and believe that God loved you so much he gave his Son Jesus to die for you, your heart is going to be changed. You no longer fear or hate God, but now you love him, because he first loved you.

You must first believe God loves you before your heart is changed and you can love him.

Faith precedes the changed nature.

That sounds like semi-pelagianism at best and pelagianism at worst.

Semi-Pelagianism
by Matt Slick
http://carm.org/semi-pelagianism

Semi-Pelagianism is a weaker form of Pelagianism a heresy derived from from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in Rome. Semi-Pelagianism (advocated by Cassian at Marseilles, 5th Century) did not deny original sin and its effects upon the human soul and will. But, it taught that God and man cooperate to achieve man's salvation. This cooperation is not by human effort as in keeping the law, but rather in the ability of a person to make a free will choice. The semi-Pelagian teaches that man can make the first move toward God by seeking God out of his own free will and that man can cooperate with God's grace even to the keeping of his faith through human effort. This would mean that God responds to the initial effort of person and that God's grace is not absolutely necessary to maintain faith.

The problem is that this is no longer grace. Grace is the completely unmerited and freely given favor of God upon the sinner. But, if man is the one who first seeks God, then God is responding to the good effort of seeking him. This would mean that God is offering a proper response to the initial effort of man. This is not grace, but what is due the person who chooses to believe in God apart from God's initial effort.

Semi-Pelagianism says the sinner has the ability to initiate belief in God.
Semi-Pelagianism says God's grace is a response to man's initial effort.
Semi-Pelagianism denies predestination.
Semi-Pelagianism was condemned at the Council of Orange in 529.



Pelagianism
by Matt Slick
http://carm.org/pelagianism

Pelagianism derives its name from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius, whose family name was Morgan, taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God. In other words, a person's free will is totally capable of choosing God and/or to do good or bad without the aid of Divine intervention. Pelagianism teaches that man's nature is basically good. Thus it denies original sin, the doctrine that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. He said that Adam only hurt himself when he fell and all of his descendents were not affected by Adam's sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by God. He taught that people can choose God by the exercise of their free will and rational thought. God's grace, then, is merely an aid to help individuals come to Him.

Pelagianism fails to understand man's nature and weakness. We are by nature sinners (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5). We all have sinned because sin entered the world through Adam: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12, NIV). Furthermore, Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” Therefore, we are unable to do God's will (Rom. 6:16; 7:14). We were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught.

Condemned as a heresy

Pelagius has been condemned by many councils throughout church history including the following:

Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418)
Council of Ephesus (431)
The Council of Orange (529)
Council of Trent (1546) Roman Catholic
2nd Helvetic (1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed)
Augsburg Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran)
Gallican Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed)
Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed)
The Anglican Articles (1571), 9. (English)
Canons of Dort (1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed).1

 

[psalms109:31]

Acts 16:
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Romans 11:
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.

I am responsible for my sins, I am responsible to repent turn to Jesus. I am responsible to believe in Jesus, I am responsible to trust in Him, I am responsible not God.

There is nothing wrong in your testimony to tell the world what God told I to do through His word.

Me telling the Gospel to a regenerated person is like me going to Jesus and telling Him the Gospel and tell Him to believe in Himself. That is how ridiculous it is, talk about preaching to the choir.

 

[psalms109:31]

The system of truth is not one straight line, but two. No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once.

I am taught in one book to believe that what I sow I shall reap: I am taught in another place, that “it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”

I see in one place, God presiding over all in providence; and yet I see, and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions to his own will, in a great measure.

Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act, that there was no presidence of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to Atheism; and if, on the other hand, I declare that God so overrules all things, as that man is not free enough to be responsible, I am driven at once into Antinomianism or fatalism.

That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring.

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon from his sermon “Sovereign Grace and Man’s Responsibility,”

 

[agedman]

For some reason the quote feature is not working on this thread with me. So I have pasted what Winman says in Navy.

Winman says:
“Faith precedes a change of heart. Suppose someone broke into your house and stole everything you owned. … You might even apologize to him.”


Although a cute illustration, it doesn’t apply accept to the Holy Spirit’s work as related to the world.

ANY man might fall under the “I’m sorry” repentance. For that is what the work of the Holy Spirit as generalized to ALL humankind really is.

But, the work of Christ that makes a believer is considerably different.


Winman continues:
“This is how the heart is changed concerning God. When you realize and believe that God loved you so much he gave his Son Jesus to die for you, your heart is going to be changed. You no longer fear or hate God, but now you love him, because he first loved you.”

Winman, you are placing the “change of heart” as if that is interchangeable with a new nature. Please, capture the understanding that a change of heart is NOT the new nature. Any person may have a change of heart. It is that thinking that leads to the believer as being able to reject salvation or as the Pentecostals would say, "loose the salvation."

Reasons:
First, the Old Nature (heart) never changes. It stands at enmity before God and will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Second, the believers are New creatures - “His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:10) That is we are given a NEW nature. We cannot be "created" if he merely changes the old.


Winman finishes by declaring:
“You must first believe God loves you before your heart is changed and you can love him.

Faith precedes the changed nature.”

I disagree. Here is a short proof text about faith and building upon it.

2 Peter says,

"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ:"

First, it is “precious faith.”

If it were man generated, it wouldn’t be precious. Man generated righteousness is like a dirty diaper before the Lord. How much less does he consider the pitiful efforts of man’s faith?

Second, how is the “precious faith” obtained?

Through the righteousness of God and Christ. Not by how much He loved me and that I by my fallen natural man love Him back!

Peter continues:
“ 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Two questions:

1) WHAT has God given through Christ? “According to His divine power” He gave ALL things pertaining to life and Godliness.

2) HOW does one partake of the divine nature? By being GIVEN exceeding great precious promises!


Peter continues:
"5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

NOTE: the very last stair step attained is the agape love: The love of God for us that compelled Christ to die for us. This is NOT the love Peter could express to Jesus as they talked by the sea.




Winman, I think you are confusing the original nature of man to be changeable and made into God acceptable. But it isn't. It is fallen and will remain in that state.

I could use the opening of Ephesians for further substantiation of this post, but I will for time sake post it here for you to read and observe were man generated faith fits into salvation.



Eph 1:1 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."

 

[Winman]

Well Old Regular, if I was Roman Catholic, I might worry about being condemned and being called a heretic by them. But knowing that almost everything they teach is falsehood, being in opposition to them gives you a pretty good chance of being right.

The same with Calvinism. It teaches the exact opposite of scripture. The scriptures say you have to believe to have life, Calvinism says you have to have life to believe.

So, I am not the least bit concerned when a Calvinist falsely accuses me of being a heretic, to be in opposition to Calvinism is to be right with scripture.

You know you're winning when the opposition resorts to false accusations and slander.

 

[Winman]

Agedman, here is my response to your mini-novel.

1 Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

See how short and simple the truth is?

 

[JesusFan]

Agedman, here is my response to your mini-novel.

1 Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

See how short and simple the truth is?

indeed!

while we were YET sinners, God sent jesus to die on our behalf, and God has given unto us the gift of His Son, in that ALL who call upon His name shall be saved...

And whom shall be those able to call out to Him and be saved?

ALL of them who were chosen by God to be found in Christ, before foundation of the world...

saved NOT due to the will of man, but due to the Will of God!

 

[OldRegular]

Winman

When you ignore Scripture you cannot be correct!

 

[Winman]

Winman

When you ignore Scripture you cannot be correct!

What scripture? There is not a single verse of scripture that shows regeneration preceding faith.

It is you that ignores scripture, I have shown half a dozen verses showing faith preceding regeneration, and I could show more.

 

[OldRegular]

What scripture? There is not a single verse of scripture that shows regeneration preceding faith.

It is you that ignores scripture, I have shown half a dozen verses showing faith preceding regeneration, and I could show more.

Winman

Why do you continue to be disingenuous and deceitful? The Scripture showing the falsity of your statement has been posted many times by others as well as myself on this forum. You simply will not accept what the Scripture tells you.

No one on this forum, call them Calvinists if it makes you feel good, is denying the role of faith and belief in salvation. You simply refuse to accept the truth that salvation is the work of God. Faith will follow regeneration, that is the truth. Keep in mind the following Scripture:

Philippians 1:6, KJV
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

God begins that good work with regeneration, making alive that which was dead in sin!

 

[JesusFan]

What scripture? There is not a single verse of scripture that shows regeneration preceding faith.

It is you that ignores scripture, I have shown half a dozen verses showing faith preceding regeneration, and I could show more.

So ALL possess natural faith within themselves, and it is NOT a gift from God?

 

[Winman]

Winman

Why do you continue to be disingenuous and deceitful? The Scripture showing the falsity of your statement has been posted many times by others as well as myself on this forum. You simply will not accept what the Scripture tells you.

No one on this forum, call them Calvinists if it makes you feel good, is denying the role of faith and belief in salvation. You simply refuse to accept the truth that salvation is the work of God. Faith will follow regeneration, that is the truth. Keep in mind the following Scripture:

Philippians 1:6, KJV
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

God begins that good work with regeneration, making alive that which was dead in sin!

This verse doesn't even mention faith.

Show me a verse that says a person must be made alive or regenerated to believe. You can't do it, because no such scripture exists. Your whole doctrine is based on something not found in the Bible.

I on the other hand have shown you many verses that say a person must believe to have life.

 

[JesusFan]

This verse doesn't even mention faith.

Show me a verse that says a person must be made alive or regenerated to believe. You can't do it, because no such scripture exists. Your whole doctrine is based on something not found in the Bible.

I on the other hand have shown you many verses that say a person must believe to have life.

WE both agree that faith in jesus is required, its just we have yet to see you prove that a corpse can actually issue that required faith by itself!

 

[Winman]

WE both agree that faith in jesus is required, its just we have yet to see you prove that a corpse can actually issue that required faith by itself!

The spiritually dead are not like a corpse. Read about the rich man who died and went to hell in Luke 16. He was spiritually dead, but he could see, hear, and speak to Abraham who is spiritually alive.

Besides this, Jesus said the dead (spiritually dead) shall hear his voice, and they (the spiritually dead) that hear SHALL live. This shows they could hear before being spiritually alive.

Do you deny that Jesus, the Word of God can speak to the dead? If the dead are not able to hear Jesus, then he is not able to speak to them. But Jesus said the dead SHALL hear his voice.

As I said earlier, the "T" in Calvinism is false and unscriptural.

 

[Iconoclast]

That sounds like semi-pelagianism at best and pelagianism at worst.

Semi-Pelagianism
by Matt Slick
http://carm.org/semi-pelagianism

Semi-Pelagianism is a weaker form of Pelagianism a heresy derived from from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in Rome. Semi-Pelagianism (advocated by Cassian at Marseilles, 5th Century) did not deny original sin and its effects upon the human soul and will. But, it taught that God and man cooperate to achieve man's salvation. This cooperation is not by human effort as in keeping the law, but rather in the ability of a person to make a free will choice. The semi-Pelagian teaches that man can make the first move toward God by seeking God out of his own free will and that man can cooperate with God's grace even to the keeping of his faith through human effort. This would mean that God responds to the initial effort of person and that God's grace is not absolutely necessary to maintain faith.

The problem is that this is no longer grace. Grace is the completely unmerited and freely given favor of God upon the sinner. But, if man is the one who first seeks God, then God is responding to the good effort of seeking him. This would mean that God is offering a proper response to the initial effort of man. This is not grace, but what is due the person who chooses to believe in God apart from God's initial effort.

Semi-Pelagianism says the sinner has the ability to initiate belief in God.
Semi-Pelagianism says God's grace is a response to man's initial effort.
Semi-Pelagianism denies predestination.
Semi-Pelagianism was condemned at the Council of Orange in 529.



Pelagianism
by Matt Slick
http://carm.org/pelagianism

Pelagianism derives its name from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius, whose family name was Morgan, taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God. In other words, a person's free will is totally capable of choosing God and/or to do good or bad without the aid of Divine intervention. Pelagianism teaches that man's nature is basically good. Thus it denies original sin, the doctrine that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. He said that Adam only hurt himself when he fell and all of his descendents were not affected by Adam's sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by God. He taught that people can choose God by the exercise of their free will and rational thought. God's grace, then, is merely an aid to help individuals come to Him.

Pelagianism fails to understand man's nature and weakness. We are by nature sinners (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5). We all have sinned because sin entered the world through Adam: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12, NIV). Furthermore, Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” Therefore, we are unable to do God's will (Rom. 6:16; 7:14). We were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught.

Condemned as a heresy

Pelagius has been condemned by many councils throughout church history including the following:

Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418)
Council of Ephesus (431)
The Council of Orange (529)
Council of Trent (1546) Roman Catholic
2nd Helvetic (1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed)
Augsburg Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran)
Gallican Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed)
Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed)
The Anglican Articles (1571), 9. (English)
Canons of Dort (1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed).1

Yes...once again you have it exactly correct....and called it:thumbs::applause::applause::thumbs:

 

[percho]

The scriptures NEVER say the Holy Spirit makes one alive so they are able to believe, the scriptures say the exact opposite, that a person must believe to have life.

The scriptures do teach that the Holy Spirit reproves or convicts of sin, they say the Holy Spirit teaches or enlightens a man. But it is never said the Holy Spirit makes one spiritually alive so that they are able to believe. You cannot show a single verse of scripture to support that, that is a totally man-made doctrine.

You quoted above to a post of mine quoted:
Quote:
I say regeneration is what brought the faith, which you hearing of, brought you the Holy Spirit by which you will receive your regeneration. It is the means by which you shall be saved.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I will stand on my post for I believe regeneration to be something entirely different from you, however will try to shed some light on your post with BTW scripture.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

There is a man who does not have faith nor does he believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Anointed.

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Jesus called him.

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

Would you say at this time he even though called was still in spiritual darkness?

And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for [one] called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting [his] hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

Is Saul still in darkness?

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

The light has come on. My sheep hear my voice (receive the Spirit by the hearing of Faith. Faith is the resurrected/regenerated Jesus Christ) and follow (become believing ones) Now Saul was a believing one but he was very hungry so,

And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.

And then

And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

 

[Jerome]

. . .Semi-Pelagianism was condemned at the Council of Orange in 529. . .

Yes...once again you have it exactly correct....and called it:thumbs::applause::applause::thumbs:

Check out what else the Council of Orange condemned:

We not only do not believe that any are foreordained to evil by the power of God, but even state with utter abhorrence that if there are those who want to believe so evil a thing, they are anathema.