According to the scriptures, a person's conversion needs three steps.
- The Holy Spirit must work inside them to convince them of "sin and judgment" (Jn.16:8)
- When the realization of their sins and impending judgment have worked, somebody has to tell of the way out (Rom.10:13-14)
- When they believe, they must also confess what is in their heart (Rom.10:10-13)
The Holy Spirit convicts, and gives faith. The way out is told by a Christian. The person themself must believe and confess. If just ONE of these three are missing, there is no conversion (this time).
Blik's table-mate seems to me not to be convicted. Whether you told or not, I judge that you would not have made a difference. This does not excuse a Christian from preaching the gospel, but an obviously aggressive, dismissive and/or abusive person is unlikely to have been convicted, and less likely to confess.
You are making the natural man, as described in 1 Cor 2:14, able to believe in the things of the Spirit, which plainly states that he "cannot".
Romans 10 like most all of the scriptures is written to and about God's regenerated children instructing them on how he wants them to live their lives here in earth.
John 16:8, Jesus is telling regenerated children of God, that he will sent them the comforter, which John 14:26 says is a function of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Spirit functions as a quickening Spirit, and the Holy Ghost, which is the Holy Spirit, but functioning as a revelator.
The Holy Spirit as a quickening Spirit that indwells a person in the new spiritual birth, the same in the old testament as in the new testament, Isaiah 63:11, Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him.
Rom 10, The Israel in verse 1 is not the nation of Israel, because all Israel is not of Israel, Rom 9:6, but is the Israel that Jacob's name was changed to by god, and Jacob/Israel is representative of God's elect, Rom 9:11.
Verse 2-3, The fact that they had a zeal of God indicates that they are regenerate children of God, but needed to be saved=delivered from their ignorance of God's righteousness so that they would not go about trying to establish their own righteousness, by their good works, and submit themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Confessing and believing are products of already having been born with the indwelling of the quickening Holy Spirit.
When the unregenerate natural man has been quickened, God exchanges his heart from a heart of stone and gives him a fleshy heart whose conscience can be pricked to feel guilt. This is confirmed in Acts 2, when Peter is accusing some regenerated children God of being responsible for having crucified Christ, and when they heard this they were "pricked" in their heart. saying what shall we do. in contrast, the people that stoned Stephen to death for preaching the same sermon, were "cut" to their heart of stone. Notice the difference of the response of the two hearts.
Peter's reply to their question was to repent and be baptized "for" (because off) the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the "gift" (revelation) of the Holy Ghost (a function of the Holy Spirit).