Hey Pin, the ELECT in Matt 24:31, do you believe they are the same group as the SEALED in Eph 4:30 ?
Hmmm, I haven't been following yours and SI's conversation, but I'm sure it's been torturous... I'm sorry you've had to endure that; it always is that way when... "conversing" <
chuckles> ...with SI, just because he is who he is... <
smile> I mean there's just no grace there, which makes you wonder about some things...
Anyway, yeah, I guess the way I'd answer this is, everyone Paul is speaking to ~ which of course is, immediately, the Christians at Ephesus but also includes us by extension ~ is presumably elect and sealed by the Spirit, but this is only a portion of the elect Jesus is speaking of in Matthew 24. The number of the elect has been a certain number of people since God counted them among His elect even before the foundation of the world. But at any given time, either in Paul's day up to today, the number of the sealed is
not yet equal to the number of the elect. One day ~ at the end of this age ~the number of the sealed will equal the number of the elect. Understand? The number of God's elect is what it is... it always has been and always will be. But as of today, people are still being sealed, one by one, and one day, all God's elect will have been sealed. You see?
Grace and peace to you, Peter.