[P-Marlowe]

He is not suggesting empty belief is sufficient to confirm predestination. Just the opposite. See the above part I emphasized for that.

But he did emphasize that you must do something. He didn't say, just wait and see if your priorities magically change overnight. Some day you will simply go to bed a wicked reprobate and then wake up one morning and find that you are a new creation in Christ.

No, you must kill the other thought, you must receive Christ. You must believe. You.... Must.....

[Frumanchu]

Who will do so and who will not, and why?

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Well I never said you shouldn't believe. I agree that is what you must do. But you can't eliminate the part I highlighted by focusing only on the part you highlighted. They are not contradictory. Lots of people claim to believe things. But what they really believe is demonstrated in their actions. We are capable of deceiving ourselves. Besides, since salvation is the work of God, not man -- those He justifies He also sancifies -- then the real thing cannot fail to produce evidence. So we go back to Luther. How do we know that we have been saved -- that we were predestined for salvation? God has revealed a way to know. You will know them by their friuts.

Some people "believe" in the Lord Jesus in about the same way a parent "believes" in Santa. He wants to be known for belief in front of certain audiences. But his actions easily reveal no real belief. Maybe he used to believe. But even then (as a child) he believed only when he wanted something.