Saved "Sola Gratia" by "Grace Alone" from the Reformation "Solas" Conference
PM - For grace to be grace it must be entirely unconditional and freely given by God to individuals by name who are elected from all eternity to receive that grace. By grace alone necessitates unconditional election. Without unconditional election, the new testament word for grace has no meaning . . .
Romans 11:5-6 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Without unconditional election, salvation is not solely by grace.
Election is always according to God’s purpose (Rom 8:28).
JM - Patrick's contention that the gospel of grace concludes to unconditional election is only a Calvinist conclusion that assumes the Calvinist understanding of irresistible grace and no free will as a consequence of original sin. But irresistible grace also assumes man cannot resist grace (as the human will is not free) and fall from grace through sin and thereby be damned.
Patrick's understanding of man's lack of free will is in error, because he thinks those who are dead in sin must always unfreely sin. And yet when a man is dead in sin, he does not love God with a supernatural love, above creatures. God then acts to regenerate the sinner to cause the regenerate man to love God above creatures. In both cases of the sinner and the regenerate man, the man is -
1) Unfree about loving the ultimate end the most and having all of his loves ordered towards his chosen ultimate end. For the ultimate end is the ultimate bond of the will of man, which subordinates all other actions to that ultimate end.
2) Free about elective means subordinate to the ultimate end. The man is free to choose what good he seeks as an intermediate end to that of the fixed ultimate end.
When a man is dead in sin, he loves himself above that of God, as the false ultimate end in an unlawful manner. The love of self is the false ultimate end from which the sinner cannot turn away from through any power within his own will. The false love of self above all things is a disorder in the will from which the sinner makes all judgements concerning acts of love.
And then when God acts to regenerate the sinner, the man loves God above himself in a lawful manner. The love of God is the true ultimate end from which the regenerate man tends to make all judgements concerning love of other goods. And yet the regenerate man has free will and can chose to sin and thereby fall away from the love of God as the ultimate end and then return to the state of an unregenerate sinner. For example, a regenerate man loves God above all things and then chooses to break the commandments, such as not keeping the Sabbath. That sin is a mortal sin which causes the regenerate man to become unregenerated.
In summary -
Man is unfree about his ultimate end when the ultimate end is a creature. Man cannot change his love from a creature to God for the love of the creature above that of God is a disorder in the will. Man is unfree about the act of regeneration of the will whereby God removes the disorder in the will and re-orders the will to love God above creatures. But man is free to return to the disorder of a sinful love of self above that of God once the man is regenerated. For man cannot cure himself of sin, but he can cause himself to die again through sin.
Because man is both unfree and free in different ways, there is biblical evidence for man being both unfree and free. And yet the biblical evidence that shows man can fall from grace and be lost is enough evidence to show the Calvinist doctrines concerning man's bondage of the will is at least in part, false.
There are several passages that teach Christians can fall from grace and be damned, such as -
Romans 11: 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
2 Peter 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
1 Cor 9:27 - But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Other passages teach the Christian must keep the law -
Matt 19:17 - “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
Romans 2:12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
So there are at least two conditions to election and final glorification 1) Do not fall back into sin, and 2) keep the commandments of God. Calvinism's doctrine of unconditional election is false, along with all of its other peculiar teachings on irresistible grace, double predestination, total depravity and perseverance of the saints.
PM - Objections to the doctrine of election
Objection – Election is unfair to those who are not elected.
Response – election is gracious to those elected and perfectly fair to those not elected. The unregenerate person has not desire to repent and do the will of God. It is fair if the entire race of men goes to hell.
JM - Patrick does not know if anyone is not elected. Patrick thinks the bible is Calvinistic and sees all doctrines through the Calvinist lense. The Calvinist doctrine of election is wrapped up in the other Calvinist doctrines of man's total depravity and lack of free will, due to original sin, irresistible grace, unconditional election and limited atonement. Every one of these Calvinist doctrines has been hotly contested and shown to be false by opponents of Calvinism.
For the Calvinist, election is an unconditional grace to bring the man to final glory. And yet because the Calvinist has at least the following problems as shown below, Calvinist election is false.
1) Man does have free will and does not always sin prior to regeneration. The Calvinist is unaware of the distinction between natural virtue and supernatural virtue. Human nature is not completely corrupted, but can act from nature to perform good natural acts such as natural justice and natural love. Such acts are not of themselves sinful but natural goods.
2) Limited atonement is a fiction invented by Calvin which the New Testament does not provide any evidence for.
3) Perseverance of the Saints - is a Calvinist doctrine that teaches those who are regenerated then persevere to glory. Yet is much evidence in the New Testament that Christians can fall away from grace and be lost.
4) Faith as an instrument of justification is an error in which the virtue of faith, which is in reality an act and a habit is taught by the Calvinists to be an instrument.
5) Justification by faith alone - is an invented, false doctrine based upon an eisegesis of a handful of texts in St Pauls letters.
The entire Calvinist system is a series of false doctrines mixed in with many truths.
PM Objection – election is God forcing people to believe against their will.
Response – At no point does God force anyone do to anything against their will. All men have their wills and act freely according to their nature . . . Gods act of regenerate is a resurrection.
JM - Patrick has previously denied any co-operation of the will with grace and yet his comments above imply 1) the human will is acted within by God's grace, and 2) men always are free. For 1) and 2) to be both true, God must act within the human will and the will remain free when regeneration occurs to bring men from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life. At every moment of regeneration, the human will must act with grace, otherwise the human will prior to regeneration is set upon the flesh is its ultimate love and cannot change the object of its love from a creature to God as the greatest love after the act of regeneration. The act of regeneration is an act of the grace of God, which is itself a grace of co-operation.
PM Objection - Election means pursuing holiness is meaningless.
Response - God elects men unto salvation, repentance and holiness.
JM - Even so, because men do not have free will, the pursuit of holiness is only an act of God's grace without any human co-operation. The Calvinist answer seems to be reasonable, but is in fact sophistic, for man can only pursue an end if the man has free will which co-operates with grace to seek for God. And yet Patrick denies free will and co-operation with grace.
A root problem with Calvinists is they cannot believe in free will and human co-operation, for if they did, their guarantee of salvation is removed. Calvinists buy into Calvinism in part because of the offer of eternal security, which is seeming lost if one agrees to free will and human co-operation with grace. For the Calvinist, faith is the instrument of justification and if that instrument is no longer an instrument, the guarantee of salvation is lost. For the Calvinist, the loss of one part of the Calvinist system is a loss of the guarantee of salvation.
And yet, because much of Calvinism is false, there is only ever a sophistic guarantee of salvation which can only ever be realised if the Calvinist drops the Calvinist doctrines and enters into the Roman Catholic sacramental economy. Only then does a believer have a moral certitude of salvation, for such a certitude is derived from the grace caused by the sacraments that act with men who have free will and can thereby merit or demerit in accordance with free choices made.
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