God’s Gift of Perseverance

God’s Gift of Perseverance

God’s Gift of Perseverance

We complete our study of predestination by looking at God’s gift of final perseverance.¹ When we speak of final perseverance, we are referring to dying in the state of sanctifying grace. We recall that God first infuses the soul with sanctifying grace at baptism, where man’s sin is washed away by the merits of Jesus Christ and he becomes an adopted son of God. As St. John teaches, man in this state of grace “hath eternal life abiding in himself ” (1 John 3:15). If God efficaciously wills the person to persevere in the state of grace to the end of his life, that person will go to heaven. If God permits the person to fall out of grace through serious sin, that person will be condemned unless God restores him to grace (which God does regularly for those who repent of their sins). Because even the elect sin throughout their lives, the grace of perseverance must include the grace of repentance for their sins.

Just as God needs to preserve man in a state of grace during his life, He must give man the special grace of perseverance at his death for salvation. St.Thomas teaches that this gift is necessary for man to reach his final end: “[A] man cannot be directed to his ultimate end except by the help of divine grace, without which also no one can have those things that are necessary for tending to the ultimate end, such as faith, hope, love and perseverance.”² This is why St. Paul says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he, he who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). St.Peter also says, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). David also says, “Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved” (Ps. 16:5).

Thus, there is a distinction between the gift of habitual grace (which causes a person to live a life of virtue) and the gift of final perseverance (which causes a person to die in a state of grace). St.Thomas is clear that “perseverance enduring until death … needs not only habitual grace, but also the gratuitous help of God sustaining man in good until the end of his life.”³ This is because habitual grace does not take away from the free will the power to resist sufficient grace and fall away from God. St. Thomas says that “since the free-will is changeable by its very nature, which changeableness is not taken away from it by the habitual grace bestowed in the present life, it is not in the power of the free-will, albeit repaired by grace, to abide unchangeably in the good, though it is in its power to choose this.”⁴ St. Thomas further explains: “The virtue of perseverance, so far as it is concerned, inclines one to persevere: yet since it is a habit, and a habit is a thing one uses at will, it does not follow that a person who has the habit of virtue uses it unchangeably until death.”⁵ This is why the Church says “we hope for the grace of final perseverance and the recompense of God their Father for the good works accomplished with his grace in communion with Jesus.”⁶

In light of these truths, the Council of Trent declared: “If anyone shall say that he who is justified can either persevere in the justice received without the special assistance of God, or that with that [assistance] he cannot: let him be anathema.”⁷ St. Thomas also explains that “man, even when possessed of grace, needs perseverance to be given to him by God … And hence after anyone has been justified by grace, he still needs to beseech God for the aforesaid gift of perseverance, that he may be kept from evil till the end of his life. For to man grace is given to whom perseverance is not given.”⁸ Hence, we understand why the Council of Trent called dying in a state of grace “the great gift of perseverance”⁹ and the “special assistance” of God.¹⁰

GRACE VERSUS GLORY

Because many who receive grace do not persevere, there is a distinction between being predestined to grace and being predestined to glory (which also shows the distinction between sufficient and efficacious grace). By being predestined to grace, one receives the grace of baptism and becomes a child of God. By being predestined to glory, one dies in a state of grace and goes to heaven. Although, absolutely speaking, the term predestination refers to the process by which God leads a soul to heaven, Scripture distinguishes between predestination to grace and predestination to glory. For example, in Ephesians 1:5, St. Paul says that God “hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will.” Because becoming “the adoption of children through Jesus Christ” commences at baptism, when we become “heirs” with Christ, St. Paul in this passage is referring to predestination to grace.¹¹ However, in Romans 8:30, St. Paul says, “And whom he predestinated, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified.” In this verse, St. Paul is referring to predestination to glory, when we become “glorified” in heaven.

We see the same distinction in those verses that reveal how God chooses His people. For example, St. Paul tells the Thessalonians “that God hath chosen you firstfruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit, and faith of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:12). Because St. Paul is writing to the entire Church at Thessalonica (which fell away from the faith), he is speaking of their predestination to grace. Similarly, St. Peter says, “But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people: that you may declare his virtues, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Because St. Peter is writing to all of the churches in Asia Minor (which fell away from the faith), he is speaking about their predestination to grace. Jesus also tells His apostles, “Have not I chosen you twelve; and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:71). Jesus was referring to Judas Iscariot, who was predestined to grace but not to glory. Jesus also says, “And unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect which he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days” (Mark 13:20). In this case, Jesus is referring to the elect’s predestination to glory.

What distinguishes those who are predestined to glory from those who are not? As we have learned from Scripture, the Church, and St. Thomas, the difference is simply God’s sovereign predilection for His elect. God’s will is the cause of all goodness in things, and no one thing would be better than another unless God loved it more. The elect receive the grace of perseverance because God loves them more and thus gives them more assistance, even though He loves all and gives grace to all. As we learned in Romans 9, God makes this determination before we are “not yet born, nor had done any good or evil (that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand” (Rom. 9:11). The elect are better than the reprobate, not because of anything they did, but because of what God willed to give them from all eternity. The elect have nothing to boast about because they are saved by the gratuitous gift of grace, “Not of works, that no man may glory” (Eph. 2:9).

Nevertheless, as we have also learned, God gives all men sufficient grace to be saved. That means that God gives all men sufficient grace to persevere to the end. While God wills to infallibly save His elect and wills to permit the reprobate to be damned, St. Paul is clear that there is no injustice in God (see Rom. 9:14). The reprobate fail to persevere because they set up an impediment to God’s grace, not because God wills their damnation. As. St.Thomas teaches, “but they only are deprived of grace who set up an impediment to grace in themselves; just as, when the sun illumines the world, he is charged with a fault who closes his eyes, if any evil comes of it, although he cannot see unless he first has the light of the sun.”¹²

We have pointed out that reprobation may be the most mysterious aspect of the study of predestination. God could have efficaciously willed the reprobate’s salvation, but instead permits them to fall away for the greater good of the universe. The justice God shows to the reprobate also “works together unto good” for the elect (see Rom. 8:28). However, God does not abandon the reprobate unless they consistently reject His sufficient graces. Even though God’s grace is gratuitous, “He deprives nobody of his due.”¹³ Even though God decrees to permit the reprobate to fall away before foreseen demerits, He withholds the grace of perseverance only because of their habitual sins. The fact that all men sin (both the reprobate and elect) also emphasizes the pure gratuity of God’s mercy toward those He predestines to glory. In His inscrutable judgments, God restores the sinning elect to grace in His mercy, and condemns the sinning reprobate in His justice. Indeed, the grace of perseverance is “a great gift” and a “special assistance” that God gives to His elect.

We can better understand God’s justice in punishing the reprobate (and, thus, withholding from them of the grace of perseverance) when we understand the profound effects of sin. Scripture teaches that “pride is the beginning of all sin” (Ecclus.10:15). St.Thomas explains that “pride regards sin as turning away from God, to Whose commandment man refuses to be subject.”¹⁴ By turning away from God and inordinately toward temporal things, we diminish our very nature and make it more difficult to practice virtue. St. Thomas says, “Now from the very fact that a thing becomes inclined to one of two contraries, its inclination to the other contrary must needs be diminished. Wherefore as sin is opposed to virtue, from the very fact that a man sins, there results a diminution of that good of nature, which is the inclination to virtue.”¹⁵

St. Thomas further explains that “since the inclination to the good of virtue is diminished in each individual on account of actual sin … the reason is obscured, especially in practical matters, the will hardened to evil, good actions become more difficult, and concupiscence more impetuous.”¹⁶ St.Thomas properly describes these effects as “a stain on the soul.”¹⁷ Thus, St. Thomas says that “the soul, through sinning once, is more easily inclined to sin again.”¹⁸ This means that the more man sins, the easier it is for him to resist sufficient graces. After man commits sin, St. Thomas explains that “man does not at once return to the state in which he was before, and it is necessary that his will should have a movement contrary to the previous movement.”¹⁹ St. Thomas further says that “the stain of sin cannot be removed from man, unless his will accept the order of Divine justice.”²⁰ This is because “man is united to God by his will.”²¹

However, God must move man’s will to accept His justice, for “man’s will can only be subject to God when God draws man’s will to Himself.”²² As Jesus says, “No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him” (John 6:44). This means that God must draw man with the grace of repentance or he will remain in his sins. St. Thomas says, “Man by himself can no wise rise from sin without the help of grace.”²³ St. Thomas is also clear that “no one can merit for himself restoration after a fall,”²⁴ even if he had lived a virtuous life before his fall. The Council of Trent also said that God must move man to repentance: “Those who through sin have forfeited the received grace of justification, can again be justified when, moved by God, they exert themselves to obtain through the sacrament of penance the recovery, by the merits of Christ, of the grace lost.”²⁵ That God has no obligation to move us to repentance should make us horrified of sinning in the first place. We do not merit forgiveness, for God says, “I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake” (Isa.43:25). We should not take for granted that we will always have the grace to repent. God would not offend justice by letting us die in our sins.

Even before God grants man the gratuitous grace of repentance, He upholds him by His grace and restrains him for a time from committing further sin. St.Thomas says that a man without grace needs “God’s help to uphold him in good, since if this had been withdrawn, even his nature would have fallen back into nothingness.”²⁶ Because of man’s sinful condition, St. Thomas also says, “So, too, before man’s reason, wherein is mortal sin, is restored by justifying grace, he can avoid each mortal sin, and for a time, since it is not necessary that he should be always actually sinning. But it cannot be that he remains for a long time without mortal sin.”²⁷ St. Thomas similarly says, “But if a man, by a previous inordination, has declined to evil, it will not be entirely in his power to place no impediment to grace … if he is left to himself for a long time, he will fall into sin, through which an impediment to grace is placed.”²⁸ Thus, St. Thomas is clear that man is completely dependent upon God’s grace, not only for good actions but also for the omission of evil actions.

God draws the reprobate with the grace of repentance (because all men sin and God gives all men the graces of salvation), but He eventually permits them to resist His grace. With this divine permission, a reprobated person continues to sin. His reason becomes more obscured and his good actions become more difficult. Finally, as a punishment for his sins, God withholds His grace and blinds him to the truth. As with His permission to allow the reprobate to sin, God’s decision to desert the reprobate must be ascribed to His plan of predestination (this makes sense, for God eternally decreed both the permission to sin and the punishment for sin, but not the sin itself). St. Thomas agrees when he says that “blindness, of its very nature, is directed to the damnation of those who are blinded; for which reason it is accounted an effect of reprobation. But through God’s mercy, temporary blindness is directed medicinally to the spiritual welfare of those who are blinded. This mercy, however, is not vouchsafed to all those who are blinded, but only to the predestinated.”²⁹ If we are tempted to ask why God deserts the reprobate, we recall St.Thomas’s answer: “[W]hy He chooses some for glory, and reprobates others, has no reason, except the divine will.”³⁰

As we have learned, God could restore a hardened, blinded sinner through efficacious grace. As the Church, Sacred Scripture, and St. Thomas teach, if God simply wills for a man to attain His grace, man will infallibly receive it. St. Thomas says that even when a man “should not receive grace: nevertheless … God can work beyond the order that is built into things, as He does when He gives sight to a blind man or raises a dead man.”³¹ Moreover, because man cannot merit the grace of perseverance, God would not violate any justice in converting an evil man on his deathbed. St.Thomas is clear about this when he says, “Now many have meritorious works, who do not obtain perseverance; nor can it be urged that this takes place because of the impediment of sin, since sin itself is opposed to perseverance; and thus if anyone were to merit perseverance, God would not permit him to fall into sin. Hence perseverance does not come under merit.”³² In other words, the grace of final perseverance, as with all grace, is a completely gratuitous gift from God.

St.Thomas also says, “Now God freely bestows the good of perseverance, on whomsoever He bestows it.”³³ This reminds us of St. Paul’s words: “Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will; and whom he will, he hardeneth” (Rom. 9:17-18). This is how the Lord could reward the laborers at the eleventh hour with the same penny (symbolic for eternal life) as He rewarded those who worked the entire day (see Matt. 20:1-16).³⁴ As St. Thomas says, “In things which are given gratuitously a person can give more or less, just as he pleases (provided he deprives nobody of his due).”³⁵ Nevertheless, as St.Thomas indicates, a conversion of a hardened sinner would be “beyond the order that is built into things,” and so death-bed conversions are rare.³⁶ In the normal order, those who live a life of virtue are saved, and those who live a life of sin are damned.

UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNS

Because we cannot merit perseverance, some may be tempted to say, “What difference does it make? If God has determined everything in advance, then why don’t I live the way I want to? If I am in the elect, then I will be saved no matter what I do. If I am a reprobate, I am damned no matter what I do.” This is an erroneous understanding of predestination, for a number of reasons.

First, it is erroneous because God “will render to every man according to his works” (Rom. 2:6). Because God created man as a rational creature with free will after His own image and likeness, God judges man’s works because man freely chooses them and is thus responsible for them. God gives man sufficient grace to obey His commandments and do good works, and they are reprobated only “who obey not the truth, but give credit to iniquity” (Rom. 2:8).

Secondly, God will not allow His elect to persist in sin. Instead, God predestines the elect “to be made conformable to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). This means the predestinated will not live a life of sin. Rather, God will conform them to the image of Christ. Hence, when God moves us to imitate the virtues of Christ in our lives, it is a sign of predestination. At the same time, however, we must strive by God’s grace to continue in virtue. If we knew the future, we would no longer have hope, and St. Paul says “we are saved by hope” (Rom.8:24). This means the way we live does matter—to God and to our eternal souls. This is why St. Peter tells us to strive to do good works to “make sure your calling and election” (2 Pet. 1:10).

These truths should give us great comfort in God’s mercy. They should also make us resign ourselves to God’s providence and be sensitive to the movements of His grace. The more God moves our wills by grace, the more docile and malleable they become to His will. As God continues to conform us to the image of His Son, He creates in us the habit of doing good and avoiding sin—more great signs of predestination. St.Thomas explains that “if the acts be multiplied a certain quality is formed in the power which is passive and moved, which quality is called a habit.”³⁷ In fact, in times of temptation, this habitual inclination to avoid sin will help us better recognize the graces God is currently providing us to prevail over that sin. And we will also recognize that we would have to intentionally labor against the grace to commit the sin.

Thus, in describing the man of grace, St.Thomas says that “there is in him an habitual inclination to avoid sin. And so when anything presents itself to him in the form of mortal sin, out of habitual inclination he refuses it, unless he strives in the opposite direction.”³⁸ Even in the face of sudden temptations, St. Thomas says, “[W]hen surprised, a man acts according to his preconceived end and his pre-existing habits … although with premeditation of his reason a man may do something outside the order of his preconceived end and the inclination of his habit.”³⁹ This means that living a life of virtue—which God has empowered all men to do—will give us great confidence that we are on the right track, lest we intentionally strive to go against the grace (God permitting). Because there is no injustice with God, He will not pull the proverbial rug out from under us. If we fall, we will know it is our own fault.

We also recall St. Thomas’s teaching that “there is no distinction between what flows from free will, and what is of predestination; as there is no distinction between what flows from a secondary cause and from a first cause … because whatsoever is in man disposing him towards salvation, is all included under the effect of predestination.”⁴⁰ This means that our prayers and good works are effects of predestination, and not its causes. As Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange says, “before ever we ourselves decided to have recourse to prayer, it was willed by God. From all eternity God willed it to be one of the most fruitful factors in our spiritual life, a means of obtaining the graces necessary to reach the goal of our life’s journey.”⁴¹ Because these secondary causes (caused by God who is the First Cause) are effects of predestination, predestination is furthered by them. Thus, our salutary acts are both causes and signs from God that we are being predestined to glory. As Jesus says, “For by the fruit the tree is known” (Matt.12:33). St. Thomas further explains:

[P]redestination is said to be helped by the prayers of the saints, and by other good works; because providence, of which predestination is a part, does not do away with secondary causes but so provides effects, that the order of secondary causes falls also under providence. So, as natural effects are provided by God in such a way that natural causes are directed to bring about those natural effects, without which those effects would not happen; so the salvation of a person is predestined by God in such a way, that whatever helps that person towards salvation falls under the order of predestination; whether it be one’s own prayers, or those of another; or other good works, and suchlike, without which one would not attain to salvation. Whence, the predestined must strive after good works and prayer; because through these means predestination is most certainly fulfilled. For this reason it is said: “Labor the more that by good works you may make sure your calling and election” (2 Pet. 1:10).⁴²

HOW MANY PERSEVERE TO THE END?

Because predestination is a revealed truth of God, the number of the elect is fixed and certain. The number cannot be increased or decreased. It is certain not only because God knows all things but also because He has determined the number of the elect by His own free choice. Scripture says, “[T]he Lord knoweth who are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). Jesus says, “I know whom I have chosen” (John 13:18). Jesus also says, “My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27) and, “I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me” (John 10:14). St. Thomas further explains: “Therefore we must say that to God the number of the predestined is certain, not only formally, but also materially. It must, however, be observed that the number of the predestined is said to be certain to God, not only by reason of His knowledge, because, that is to say, He knows how many will be saved (for in this way the number of drops of rain and the sands of the sea are certain to God) but by reason of His deliberate choice and determination.”⁴³

So how many are predestined? On the one hand, Scripture suggests that the number of the elect is great. In the Apocalypse, St. John describes those in heaven: “After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (Apoc. 7:9). On the other hand, Jesus reveals that more are damned than saved when He says, “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!” (Matt. 7:13-14). Jesus also says, “For many are called, but few chosen” (Matt.20:16). Thus, although there is a great number of elect, Scripture reveals that there are more reprobates.⁴⁴

St. Thomas believed that more men are damned than saved because more men follow their senses than their reason. He says, “In man alone does evil appear as in the greater number; because the good of man as regards the senses is not the good of man as man—that is, in regard to reason; and more men seek good in regard to the senses than good according to reason.”⁴⁵ He further explains that “evil comes to pass from seeking after sensible pleasures, which are known to most men, and from forsaking the good dictated by reason, which good is known to the few.”⁴⁶ And again, he says, “But in man good appears in the smaller number … because of the corruption of man due to original sin, and the very nature of human conditions … in which the secondary perfections that direct human actions are not innate, but either acquired or infused.”⁴⁷ Consequently, St. Thomas concludes that “those who are saved are in the minority.”⁴⁸

Once again, Fr.Most disagrees with St.Thomas. Because Fr.Most contends that “mercy is the greatest virtue in God,”⁴⁹ he argues that “the greatest perfection should have the greatest manifestation: therefore, according to the order of the universe, the majority should be saved. But, St.Thomas thinks the majority are lost.”⁵⁰ Fr. Most also refers to St. Thomas’s teaching that “[t]he order of the universe seems to require that that which is more noble in things, should exceed the less noble in quantity or number … Therefore it is proper that the more noble … be multiplied as much as possible.”⁵¹ In an apparent effort to use St. Thomas’s teaching against him, Fr. Most concludes: “It is plain then, that the very order of the universe requires that the elect be more numerous than the reprobates ‘as much as possible.’”⁵²

Fr. Most mistakenly excludes the elect angels from his analysis. St. Thomas teaches that more angels were saved than damned. He says, “[E]vil is found as in the smaller number in the angels, because many more remained faithful than fell, and perhaps even more than all the devils and men to be condemned.”⁵³ He also says, “More angels stood firm than sinned.”⁵⁴ Scripture also symbolically reveals that only a minority of angels fell: “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth” (Apoc. 12:4).⁵⁵ Moreover, it seems evident that God created more angels than humans. Scripture reveals that God created a near countless number of angels when it says, “[T]housands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him” (Dan 7:10).

St. Thomas also says, “[S]ince it is the perfection of the universe that God chiefly intends in the creation of things, the more perfect some things are, in so much greater an excess are they created by God.”⁵⁶ St. Thomas concludes that “the angels, even inasmuch as they are immaterial substances, exist in exceeding great number, far beyond all material multitude.”⁵⁷ Therefore, if the number of the created beings in heaven includes the “elect angels” (1 Tim. 5:21), then it appears that more creatures are elected than reprobated. If true, the “more noble” does exceed the “less noble” in God’s creation, and Fr. Most has no reason to disagree with St. Thomas. As Scripture says, “[F]or there are more with us than with them” (4 Kg. 6:16).

ETERNAL SECURITY AND “ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED”

We complete our study by examining the Protestant doctrine of “eternal security,” an idea that has a much different meaning within Catholicism. In the Catholic faith, it is true to say that the elect are eternally secure. They are guaranteed to go to heaven because God will cause them to persevere in grace to the end of their lives. God has decreed to give them the grace of final perseverance and they can never fall away. As we will see, the difference between the Catholic and Protestant view is twofold. First, in Catholicism, only God knows who are His elect. The elect do not know who they are. No one can claim that he is in the elect unless God has specially revealed it to him. Secondly, the elect are guaranteed to die in a state of sanctifying grace. The elect live a life of habitual virtue, and God preserves their election to the end.

In Protestantism, the doctrine of eternal security usually means that a person knows he is going to heaven (this happens once he “accepts Jesus as personal Lord and Savior”).⁵⁸ If the person fails to persevere by falling into a life of sin, it means he was never saved in the first place. In other circles of Protestantism, primarily Baptist, eternal security means that the person knows he is infallibly saved after accepting Christ, even if he later falls into mortal sin or rejects the faith.⁵⁹ In this scenario, the person declares that he is “once saved, always saved.” No matter which version you choose, the Protestant doctrine of eternal security, which is a relatively recent error in the history of Christianity, is one of the biggest heresies Satan has ever devised. It has given many Christians during the last 450 years a false assurance in their salvation, notwithstanding their sinful lifestyles and rebellion against God’s Holy Church.

Most Protestants are unaware of the fact that not a single early Church Father or medieval theologian ever taught their notion of eternal security. The heresy is also refuted by Scripture, which declares, “Man knoweth not his own end” (Eccles. 9:12). In fact, Protestants are surprised to learn that John Calvin was the first to promote this heresy. Not even Martin Luther, the lead heresiarch of the Protestant revolt, dared to teach such a thing. Instead Luther said, “Through baptism these people threw out unbelief, had their unclean way of life washed away, and entered into a pure life of faith and love. Now they fall away into unbelief and … soil themselves again in filth.”⁶⁰ Because of the dangers of the Calvinist heresy, which lulls people into a life of indifferentism, the Council of Trent was quick to condemn it in several of its infallible canons:

Canon 15: “If anyone shall say that a man who is born again and justified is bound by faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestined:let him be anathema.”⁶¹

Canon 16: “If anyone shall say that he will for certain with an absolute and infallible certainty have that great gift of perseverance up to the end, unless he shall have learned this by a special revelation: let him be anathema.”⁶²

Canon 23: “If anyone shall say that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he who falls and sins was never truly justified; or, on the contrary, that throughout his whole life he can avoid all sins even venial sins, except by a special privilege of God, as the Church holds in regard to the Blessed Virgin: let him be anathema.”⁶³

In chapter 12 on Rash Presumption of Predestination to Be Avoided, the Council says, “No one, moreover, so long as he lives this mortal life, ought in regard to the sacred mystery of divine predestination, so far presume as to state with absolute certainty that he is among the number of the predestined, as if it were true that the one justified either cannot sin any more, or, if he does sin, that he ought to promise himself an assured repentance. For except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God has chosen to Himself.”⁶⁴ In chapter 13 on The Gift of Perseverance, the Council also teaches: “So also as regards the gift of perseverance … let no one promise himself anything as certain with absolute certitude, although all ought to place and repose a very firm hope in God’s help.⁶⁵

It should be obvious to any Christian that creatures can fall from grace. After all, the angels, who were created in the empyrean heaven, fell from grace and received God’s just punishment. St. Jude says, “And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). The angels forsook their habitation by turning against God and rejecting their original grace-filled dignity. Lucifer, the most intelligent one of them all, led the way. Scripture says, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations?” (Isa. 14:12). St. John reveals, “And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world;and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Apoc. 9:12). Jesus also says, “I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven” (Luke 10:18). St. Paul refers to those angels who did not fall away as the “elect angels” (1 Tim. 5:21).

We all know that Adam and Eve—whom God created in a state of grace—also fell from grace: “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Here is the blow to the Protestant position: St. Paul reveals that we too can fall from grace just like Adam and Eve. He says, “For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted, and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ” (1 Cor. 11:2-3). In fact, St. Thomas says it was more difficult for Adam and Eve to fall from grace than it would be for us. He says, “[I]t was easier for man to persevere, with the gift of grace in the state of innocence in which the flesh was not rebellious against the spirit, than it is now. For the restoration by Christ’s grace, although it is already begun in the mind, is not yet completed in the flesh, as it will be in heaven, where man will not merely be able to persevere but will be unable to sin.”⁶⁶

Before we look at the scriptures that refute eternal security, let’s look at a few of the most common verses Protestants use to support their doctrine. For example, Protestants often point to Jesus’ statement in John’s gospel: “My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand” (10:27-28). Of course, Jesus could be speaking about His elect. In fact, a Thomist would say this is the best interpretation of the verse. However, the verse does not say that the sheep infallibly know they are in the elect. The verse is about God’s knowledge, not the sheep’s knowledge. In fact, the verse does not have to be about the elect. We have shown in other contexts (e.g., John 6) that not all who are given to Jesus stay with Jesus to the end, but only those who are given the grace of perseverance. The words for “hear” (akouo)and “follow” (akoloutheo) are present-tense active verbs indicating continuous and ongoing actions with no guarantee that such actions will remain. We also point out that Jesus is speaking of external forces that could pluck His sheep out of His hand. Jesus in this verse does not speak to the internal forces within man that can move him to abandon Christ (which happens when man rejects sufficient grace).

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul says, “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:38-39). This is another verse that can certainly apply to the elect. Because God “hatest all the workers of iniquity” (Ps.5:7), sin does separate the reprobate from the love of God (which means that God hates the reprobates in the end). But, again, the verse does not speak to the beloved’s knowledge of their eternal destiny. In fact, because St. Paul is not speaking of salvation in the passage, it cannot support any notion of “eternal security.” Moreover, Scripture says “man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love, or hatred” (Eccles.9:1). St.Thomas interprets this verse to mean that man cannot know with certainty whether he is in a state of grace (although he can have a moral certitude of it if he is not conscious of grave sin).⁶⁷ If man cannot infallibly know his status with God in this life, he certainly cannot infallibly proclaim his destiny in the next life.

After St. Paul explains that God cut off most of the Jews from salvation because of their unbelief (see Rom. 11:17-25), he writes, “For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance” (v. 29).⁶⁸ Many Protestants also see “eternal security” in this verse. But the verse speaks only about God’s gifts and calling, not about man’s knowledge of who gets the gifts and calling. Further, when read in context, St. Paul is simply revealing that God’s offer of salvation to the Jews is unchangeable. This means that God cannot revoke His antecedent will to save the Jews, even though most of them rejected His offer. If they repent (that is, if God moves them to repentance), then they will be saved. This is why St. Paul says, “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again” (v. 23). Although most of the Jews were hardened and blinded because God had deserted them for their sins (vv. 7-10), St. Paul reveals that God is still able to save them (although it would be “beyond the order that is built into things”). Thus, the verse has nothing to do with the certainty or knowledge of salvation but is about what God can do.

St. Paul also says, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own lord he standeth or falleth. And he shall stand: for God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4). Of course, by efficacious grace, God is able to make man stand. God is able to cause man to persevere in grace to the end of his life. This verse says nothing about man’s knowledge of his eternal fate (in fact, the verse says nothing about salvation at all). In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul says, “Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men:Knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance” (3:23-24). We know God will give us the reward of inheritance if we persevere in His grace, but we also know that He can disinherit us if we sin. This is why St.Paul warns the Colossians not to be seduced by evil men (see 2:18). Even though the Colossians “have received Jesus Christ the Lord” (2:6), St. Paul warns them to avoid the evils of the world, “Which all are unto destruction by the very use” (2:22). If the Colossians were “eternally secure,” then such warnings would serve no purpose, for nothing could lead them to “destruction.”

In his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul also says, “The Lord hath delivered me from every evil work: and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever” (4:18). As with Romans 14:4, St. Paul is revealing what God has the power to do. St. Paul affirms that God delivers us from evil and preserves us in His grace. Salvation is the work of God, not man. The verse says nothing about how man knows he will be delivered or preserved. To the Philippians, St. Paul says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6). St. Paul is simply revealing that God’s grace both begins (operating effect) and perfects (cooperating effect) all our good works. St. Paul repeats the same in the popular verse: “For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to his good will” (2:13). Neither of these verses speaks to man’s knowledge of his salvation. As in his other letters, St. Paul warns the Philippians about “evil workers” (3:2) who can threaten their salvation. If the Philippians knew they were “eternally secure,” evil workers would have no effect on them.

Protestants also see “eternal security” in St. Paul’s statement to Timothy: “[T]here is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day, and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming” (2 Tim. 4:8). The verse does not say what Protestants claim it says. St. Paul throughout his ministry taught that man can fall from grace. In fact, St. Paul expressed uncertainty regarding his own salvation. To the Philippians, St. Paul says, “If by any means I may attain to the resurrection which is from the dead. Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend” (3:11-12). In his first letter to the Corinthians, he says, “For I am not conscious to myself of any thing, yet am I not hereby justified” (4:4). St. Paul even believed he could lose his salvation when he says, “But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway” (9:27). The Greek word for “castaway” (adokimos) literally means “reprobate.” Paul uses the word five other times in the New Testament, and every time it refers to the condemned.

For example, St. Paul uses adokimos to describe idolaters and sodomites,⁶⁹ evildoers,⁷⁰ rebels against God-given authority,⁷¹ corrupted unbelievers,⁷² and the accursed who are consigned to hell.⁷³ In each case, St. Paul is describing people whom God has permitted to eternally perish. Because St. Paul during his ministry thought that he also could become a reprobate, he certainly didn’t believe in eternal security the way Protestants do. St. Paul never teaches that man knows whether he is saved. It is only at the end of his ministry, after a lifetime of “chastising his body and bringing it into subjection,” that St. Paul expresses to Timothy a moral certitude of his salvation.⁷⁴ The verse reveals more of St. Paul’s confidence in God as “judge,” who will render to man according to his works, than of his confidence in himself. Of course, if God has given us the grace to live a life of virtue and sacrifice like St. Paul, then we too, at the end of our lives, can have assurance of God’s heavenly reward.

To the churches in Asia Minor, St. Peter describes their heavenly inheritance as “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that can not fade, reserved in heaven for you, Who, by the power of God, are kept by faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:4-5). Again, it is true that the elect “are kept by faith unto salvation” by God’s efficacious grace. However, note that St. Peter says that the elect’s status is revealed in the last time (v. 5). St. Peter does not say that the elect know they are eternally secure before they die. Again, the verse reveals what God does, and not what the elect knows.

It would be redundant to examine more verses. Scripture never teaches that man knows he is saved. It teaches only that God saves man according to His will. With that background, let’s look at some of the many verses in Scripture demonstrating that man, like the Prodigal Son, can fall from grace (and lose his salvation). Although such a notion is anathema to Calvinist theology, there is not a clearer teaching in Sacred Scripture.

JESUS TEACHES THAT WE MUST PERSEVERE OR WE WILL LOSE OUR SALVATION

Jesus certainly did not teach that the elect know they will persevere to the end. Rather, He tells them to persevere. He says, “And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22); “And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt.24:12-13); “And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. But he that shall endure unto the end, he shall be saved” (Mark 13:13). Jesus conditions salvation upon perseverance (but says nothing about man’s knowledge of his salvation). Moreover, because Jesus exhorts all men to persevere, God gives all men sufficient grace to do so (Jesus would not command the impossible). Nevertheless, because Jesus also teaches that no man comes to Him unless He is drawn by the Father (John 6:44), no man can persevere in Christ unless it is given to him by God. As Jesus says, “[F]or without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

We have referred to Jesus’ parable about the good and bad soil symbolizing those who receive God’s Word. Jesus says, “Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away” (Luke 8:13). The word for “receive” is dechomai, a present tense verb in the middle voice that connotes an actual possession of something by an act of the will. The fact that they had “joy” from receiving the Word demonstrates the involvement of the will (we experience the highest joy when God moves our will to possess the supernatural good beheld by our intellect). We saw St. Paul use dechomai in 1 Corinthians 6:1 when he exhorted the Corinthians not to receive God’s grace in vain. St. Luke uses the word thirteen other times in his gospel and it always refers to the actual possession of something.⁷⁵

For example, St. Luke describes Jesus as “receiving” the people whom He cured when he says, “Which when the people knew, they followed him; and he received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them who had need of healing” (9:11). Jesus also uses the verb both in regard to receiving Him as Savior and receiving children in His name when He says, “Whosoever shall receive this child in my name, receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth him that sent me. For he that is the lesser among you all, he is the greater” (9:48). Jesus also says, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child, shall not enter into it” (18:17). At the Last Supper, when Jesus passed around the chalice of His blood, He said, “Take [receive], and divide it among you” (22:17). In these and other instances, the word “receive” (dechomai)always refers to something actually possessed. Thus, in the parable of the good and bad soil, those who “receive” the Word in joy truly possess the grace of God (by God willing it), and then lose God’s grace (by God permitting it). In Calvinism, those who possess God’s grace can never lose it.⁷⁶

In the parable of the lazy servant, Jesus says, “Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing. Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesseth. But if that servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk: The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not, and shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers” (Luke 12:43-46). In this parable, Jesus reveals that a servant is capable of both doing his master’s will and his own will. In other words, he can serve the master (through efficacious grace), and then fall away (by resisting sufficient grace). In Calvinism, one who serves the master can never fall away.

In the parable of the wicked servant, we learn that the servant owed his king ten thousand talents (Matt. 18:24). Because the servant couldn’t immediately pay the debt, the king was about to sell off the servant, his family, and all his possessions to satisfy the obligation (v. 25). As a result, the servant fell down before the king and begged him to have patience and he would pay the debt in full (v. 26). Moved with pity, the king forgave the servant’s debt (v. 27). However, that same servant would not forgive his fellow servant of a much smaller debt, even though the debtor likewise begged him for patience (vv. 28-30). On learning of this, the king reinstituted the wicked servant’s debt and delivered him to the torturers until it was paid (vv. 32-34). Thus, in this parable, the servant was forgiven by his master, then did evil, and then was un-forgiven by his master. In other words, the servant received his master’s mercy and grace, and then fell from his master’s grace through his evil conduct. In Calvinism, once man is forgiven, he can never be un-forgiven and fall from grace.⁷⁷

Jesus also says, “I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and be burneth” (John 15:5-6). In this well-known teaching, Jesus indicates that we can abide in Him in grace, and then fall away from Him by sin. As with the verb “believes” in John 3:16, the verb for “abide” (meno) is a present, active, nominative singular verb that requires ongoing action on the part of the subject. Man must continue to “abide” in Christ by doing His will, or he will be cast into the “fire” of hell. Further, Jesus reveals in the middle of the teaching that He is the only reason why man can abide (“without me you can do nothing”). In Calvinism, once man abides in the grace of Christ, he can never fall away.

Jesus also says, “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:21-24). In this passage, we learn that many people are given special graces such as prophesying, casting out devils, and working miracles. However, Jesus reveals that “many” of these privileged people fall from grace and “work iniquity” (vv.22-23). In Calvinism, those who do good works in God’s name are eternally secure in their salvation and cannot fall away.

Calvinists and other Protestants often point to St. John’s first epistle, where he writes, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest, that they are not all of us” (1 John 2:18-19). Because the Protestant argues that true Christians cannot lose their salvation, they use this passage to prove there is a distinction between true Christians who are saved and false Christians who were never saved. But the passage does not help the Protestant position. First, although those who “went out from us” may never have been saved, the passage simply does not require such an interpretation. In fact, St. John says that “they would no doubt have remained with us,” which suggests that they were true Christians at some point. In other words, going “out from us” does not mean that they were “never with us.”

Even if those who “went out from us” were false Christians, this doesn’t mean that only false Christians leave Christ. As we have shown and will continue to demonstrate, one can be a true Christian (that is, baptized and in a state of grace) and still fall away. Further, note that St. John is writing about “Antichrists” and not average believers. An Antichrist is someone who denies the Incarnation. Thus, Protestants cannot form a general conclusion about which Christians fall away when the passage is only about Antichrists. Finally, St. John concludes by saying that “they are not all of us” (v. 19).⁷⁸ In other words, St. John says that not all of them who “went out” are “of us.” That means that some of them who “went out”are “of us.” That is, some of them were true Christians and still fell away. Note also that St. John says those who “went out” did not “remain” (meno). This is the same word (“remain”) that Jesus uses (“abide”) in John 15:5. This further underscores that a true commitment to Christ is an ongoing commitment.

Throughout the Apocalypse, Jesus reveals that man can fall from grace. For example, to the church at Ephesus, Jesus says, “But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works. Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance” (Apoc.2:4-5). In this passage, Jesus reveals that the Ephesians had charity and had done good works. We know that they could have charity and good works only by virtue of God’s efficacious grace. But Jesus also says that they have “fallen” and must do “penance.” In fact, Jesus threatens that if they do not do penance, He will remove their “candlestick,” which is symbolic for their eternal life. In other words, the Ephesians fell from grace. In Calvinism, it is impossible to fall from grace.

To the church at Sardis, Jesus says that there were a “few names … which have not defiled their garments: and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” (Apoc. 3:4-5). In this passage, Jesus reveals that the believers at Sardis received the white garment that is symbolic for their baptism. However, some of them “defiled their garments,” which is symbolic for grave sin. For doing so, Jesus threatens to “blot out his name out of the book of life.”⁷⁹ Thus, some of the believers at Sardis fell from the state of grace. In Calvinism, once a person receives his white garment of “regeneration” he cannot fall from grace or be “blotted out of the book of life.”

As in the gospels, Jesus also repeatedly warns Christians to persevere to the end to be saved. For example, Jesus says, “Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life” (2:10). The “crown of life” is, of course, the gift of everlasting salvation in heaven.⁸⁰ However, Jesus also says, “Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (3:11). That is, if one who is in a state of grace fails to persevere, he will lose eternal life. Such a man will not blame God for not giving him efficacious grace; rather, he will blame himself and feel shameful, for he failed to keep pure his garment of grace. Jesus says, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (16:15). Jesus also says, “Have in mind therefore in what manner thou hast received and heard: and observe, and do penance. If then thou shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come to thee” (3:3).

Jesus also continually exhorts us to “overcome” to be saved. For example, He says, “To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it” (2:17); “And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, I will give him power over the nations” (2:26); “He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God” (3:12); “To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me in my throne: as I also have overcome, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (3:21). The word for “overcome” (nikao) is used seven times in the New Testament outside of the Apocalypse and it always refers to conquering evil.⁸¹ Man must conquer temptation and sin to inherit everlasting life. Notice that Jesus never says man knows whether he will overcome or persevere to the end. He simply commands Christians to do so, and warns them of the consequences if they do not.

THE APOSTLES TEACH THAT WE MUST PERSEVERE OR WE WILL LOSE OUR SALVATION

Like their Master, the apostles also clearly teach that man can fall from grace. Scripture is replete with such warnings. Let’s start with St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. St. Paul describes the Romans as “brethren”⁸² and “beloved”⁸³ and “the called of Jesus Christ” (1:6). They have been baptized (6:4), justified (5:9), sanctified (6:22), and made partakers of grace (5:2; 6:14). Thus, they have received the spirit of adoption (8:15), have the first fruits of the Spirit (8:23), and have been reconciled to God (5:11). The Romans are “dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:11). As the Calvinists would say, the Romans are “saved.”

Nevertheless, St. Paul urges them not to allow sin to reign in their bodies or to give in to their lust (6:12). St. Paul tells them, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live” (8:12-13). Thus, even though the Romans are partakers of grace, St. Paul warns them that they can fall from grace by living according to the flesh. These warnings cannot be for the “unbelieving elect,” as Calvinists maintain, because the warnings are given to sanctified brethren who are already adopted sons of God. Neither can the warnings be for the reprobate to justly condemn them for their sins, for the same reasons.

St. Paul also warns the Romans that God can desert them for their sins, just as He deserted most of the Jews. He says, “Well: because of unbelief they were broken off. But thou standest by faith: be not highminded, but fear. For if God hath not spared the natural branches, fear lest perhaps he also spare not thee. See then the goodness and the severity of God: towards them indeed that are fallen, the severity; but towards thee, the goodness of God, if thou abide in goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (11:20-22).⁸⁴ Of course, God will not “cut off ” His elect. But Scripture never says the elect know who they are. Rather, Scripture reveals that man must “abide in goodness” or risk damnation. In the same letter, St. Paul says, “Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died” (14:15). St. Paul teaches that scandalous practices can actually destroy the faith of a believer. Note also that St. Paul says Christ died for such a person.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul also describes the faithful as “brethren”⁸⁵ and “beloved”⁸⁶ who are already “sanctified” (1:2). St.Paul says that they “have received … the Spirit that is of God” (2:12) and have the Holy Ghost (6:19). Thus, the Corinthians are not lacking any grace (1:7). Nevertheless, St. Paul notes that some of them are still fornicating (5:1) and defrauding each other (6:8). St. Paul warns them: “Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, [n]or the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God” (6:9-10). Although the Calvinist might wish to say St. Paul is addressing a different group of Corinthians, St. Paul eliminates that possibility in the next verse. About these same people, he says, “[Y]ou are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God” (v. 11). In other words, some of the sanctified Corinthians were committing damnable sins and risked losing the kingdom of God.

St. Paul continues to warn the Corinthians that they can lose their salvation through idolatry, fornication, and other grave sins. In referring to the condemnation of the Jews of the Old Testament, St. Paul says:

Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things as they also coveted. Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. Neither do you murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them in figure: and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor. 10:6-13).

Even though the Corinthians have received the grace of God, St. Paul urges them to avoid mortal sin. St. Paul would also tell the Calvinist who holds a false presumption of his salvation to “take heed lest he fall.” There is nothing about knowledge or assurance of salvation even for those who have been “regenerated” by the Holy Ghost. St. Paul also says, “Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain” (15:1-2). Once again, the Corinthians’ salvation is conditioned upon “holding fast” to the gospel, otherwise they have received God’s grace in vain.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul continues to describe them as “brethren”⁸⁷ and “beloved”⁸⁸ who have the “spirit of faith” (4:13) and “have obtained mercy” from God (4:1). St. Paul says “for in faith you stand” (2:23) and approves “the good disposition of your charity” (8:8). St. Paul even says that “Christ Jesus is in you” (13:5). Nevertheless, St. Paul prays that the Corinthians “may do no evil” (13:7). In fact, even though they have received God’s grace, the Corinthians were doing evil, for St. Paul mourns “many of them that sinned before, and have not done penance for the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness, that they have committed” (12:21). This is why St.Paul exhorts them to “be reconciled to God” (5:20). St. Paul also warns them not to bear “the yoke with unbelievers” (6:14), lest their faith in Christ be jeopardized. As we have also seen, St. Paul exhorts them not to receive God’s grace in vain (6:1) and fears that they can fall from grace just as Adam and Eve fell from grace (11:3). Again, there is nothing about knowing with certainty one’s salvation, only warnings about losing salvation.

St. Paul also describes the Galatians as “brethren”⁸⁹ whom “Christ hath redeemed” (3:13) and who “have been baptized in Christ” and “have put on Christ” (3:27). Thus, St. Paul says, “because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts” (4:6). Yet St. Paul asks them, “[H]ow turn you again to the weak and needy elements, which you desire to serve again?” (4:9). Because the “saved” Galatians continued to fall, St.Paul says, “I am afraid of you, lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you” (4:11). St. Paul also says, “Stand fast, and be not held again under the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to the whole law. You are made void of Christ, you who are justified in the law: you are fallen from grace” (5:1-4). While St. Paul tells the Galatians they have “fallen from grace,” Calvinists believe it is impossible to fall from grace. St. Paul also says “though we, or an angel from heaven” preach a false gospel, “let him be anathema” (1:8). By saying “we,” St. Paul believed even the apostles were capable of preaching a perverted gospel and falling away.

St. Paul also warns the Galatians of committing grave sins: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury,[i]dolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, [e]nvies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God” (5:19-21). St. Paul also says, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting” (6:7-8). Even though the Galatians have been baptized into Christ and are sons of God, St. Paul tells them that they can lose their salvation through sin. It’s as if St.Paul had the Protestant heresy of eternal security in mind when he says, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked.” Man is deceived, and he mocks God when he presumes his salvation and lives a life of sin.

St. Paul describes the “brethren”⁹⁰ at Ephesus as “saints” (1:1) who have been “predestinated” to grace (1:5) and “called by lot” (1:11). The Ephesians have been “signed with the holy Spirit” (1:13) and are saved by grace (2:5, 8). They are “fellow citizens with the saints” (2:19) and “members of his body” (5:30). Nevertheless, St. Paul warns them not to give “place to the devil” (4:27) and commit blasphemy (4:31) and other sins (vv. 28-31). He also tells them to “grieve not the holy Spirit of God” (4:30), which they will do if they resist grace and sin. As in his other letters, St. Paul issues a dire warning: “For know you this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols), hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief” (5:5-6). Thus, even though the Galatians were saved, St. Paul reveals that they could fall away from the faith and be damned.

St. Paul also describes the Colossians as “saints and faithful brethren” (1:2) who have been baptized into Christ (2:12). St. Paul says that God “hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love” (1:12-13). Clearly, the Colossians have received the grace of God. Yet St. Paul exhorts the Colossians to “continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel” to secure their state of grace (1:23). Moreover, St. Paul warns the Colossians, “Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the traditions of men” (2:8). St. Paul also says, “Let no man seduce you” (2:18) and asks why some of them “decree as though living in the world?” (2:20). St. Paul also tells them to “[m]ortify therefore your members which are on earth” and exhorts them to avoid the sins of “fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols” (3:5). Again, these warnings are for saved Christians, who St. Paul says can fall from grace.

St. Paul describes the “brethren”⁹¹ at Thessalonica as the “beloved of God” (1:4) who know their “election” (1:4) and have received the Word of God (1:6;2:13) and the precepts of Jesus Christ (4:2). They are “followers of the churches of God” (2:14) and “children of the light” (5:5). Notwithstanding their favored position with God, St. Paul warns them to “abstain from fornication” (4:3) and the “passion of lust” (4:5) because “the Lord is the avenger of all these things” (4:6). In his second letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul also says, “Let no man deceive you by any means” (2:3) and charges them to “withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly” (3:6) so that their faith is not endangered (this verse shows that a “brother” can walk disorderly by sinning). Even though these Thessalonians have the “faith” (1:3), are “beloved of God” and those whom God has chosen the “firstfruits unto salvation” (2:12), St. Paul warns them to avoid sin, and never says they are eternally secure.

In his first letter to Timothy, St. Paul reveals through the Holy Ghost that “in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils” (4:1). St. Paul gave the same warning to the clergy at Ephesus when he says, “For I have not spared to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. I know that, after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And of your own selves shall arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:27-30). Because of evil shepherds, St. Paul says, “For some are already turned aside after Satan” (5:15). These people had “a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith” before “going astray” and “turned aside into vain babbling” (1:5-6).

St.Paul commends Timothy to have “faith and good conscience, which some rejecting have made shipwreck concerning the faith. Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander” (1:19-20).⁹² St. Paul also says that greed and selfishness lead a man away from the faith: “For the desire of money is the root of all evils: which some coveting have erred from the faith” (6:10); “But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (5:8). Those who depart from the faith do not receive “damnation” because they never had the faith, but “because they have made void their first faith” (5:12). At the end of the letter, St. Paul says: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called. Which some promising, have erred concerning the faith” (1 Tim. 6:20-21).

In his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul gives more examples when he says, “And their speech spreadeth like a canker: of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus: Who have erred from the truth, saying, that the resurrection is past already, and have subverted the faith of some” (2:17-18). St. Paul is clear that those who lost the faith actually had it. There is never any mention of “true” versus “false” faith (of course, if a faith were “false” it couldn’t be “subverted”).⁹³ St. Paul also mentions “all they who are in Asia, are turned away from me: of whom are Phigellus and Hermogenes” (2 Tim.1:15). St.Paul further says, “For Demas hath left me, loving this world, and is gone to Thessalonica” (2 Tim.4:9). That St. Paul specifically mentions individuals suggests that such people were never expected to fall away, since they were known to be good men. St.Paul urges Timothy to admonish such people so “they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his will” (2:26). To “recover” from the snares of the devil means that they were freed from him before getting caught again.

St. Paul devotes much of his letter to the Hebrews to warnings about falling away from the faith. As in his other letters, St. Paul refers to the Hebrews as “brethren”⁹⁴ and “beloved” (6:9). St. Paul says the Hebrews are “sons of God (12:7) and “children … of faith to the saving of the soul” (10:39). St. Paul also says that they have been baptized into Christ (10:22) and are “partakers of the heavenly vocation” (3:1). The Hebrews “have believed” (4:3), belong to the house of God (3:6), and have been “sanctified” by the sacrifice of Christ (10:10, 14, 29). St. Paul also says that Jesus is their High Priest and Mediator.⁹⁵ In a word, the Hebrews are “saved” (or, as Calvinists would say, “regenerated”). Yet St. Paul constantly warns them about holding firm in their faith lest they fall into condemnation. To avoid redundant exegesis, we simply provide the more germane passages here. Note also that St. Paul often says “we” in these verses, which means he includes himself in the warnings:

•  Therefore ought we more diligently to observe the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we should let them slip” (2:1). In Calvinism, the faithful cannot slip and fall away.

•  For if the word, spoken by angels, became steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” (2:2-3). In Calvinism, the faithful cannot neglect salvation.

•  But Christ as the Son in his own house: which house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and glory of hope unto the end” (3:6). In Calvinism, salvation is not conditioned upon holding fast to one’s confidence.

•  Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God. But exhort one another every day, whilst it is called today, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ: yet so, if we hold the beginning of his substance firm unto the end” (3:12-14). In Calvinism, the faithful cannot depart from God, become hardened by sin, or need to hold firm unto the end to be partakers of Christ.

•  Let us fear therefore lest the promise being left of entering into his rest, any of you should be thought to be wanting” (4:1). In Calvinism, the faithful have no need to fear being wanting of the promise.

•  Let us hasten therefore to enter into that rest; lest any man fall into the same example of unbelief ” (4:11). In Calvinism, the faithful cannot fall into unbelief.

•  Let us hold fast our confession” (4:14). In Calvinism, salvation is not conditioned upon holding fast to one’s confession.

•  For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, have moreover tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and are fallen away: to be renewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and making him a mockery” (6:4-6)⁹⁶ In Calvinism, it is impossible for a partaker of the Holy Ghost to fall away and re-crucify the Son of God.

•  And we desire that every one of you show forth the same carefulness to the accomplishing of hope unto the end: That you become not slothful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience shall inherit the promises” (6:11-12). In Calvinism, the faithful do not need to be careful in holding hope to the end or worry about becoming slothful.

•  Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (for he is faithful that hath promised)” (10:22-23). In Calvinism, salvation is not conditioned upon holding fast to one’s confession.

•  For if we sin wilfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins, [b]ut a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries” (10:26-27). In Calvinism, it is impossible for one who has received the knowledge of the truth to sin willfully and lose his salvation.

•  How much more, do you think he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and hath offered an affront to the Spirit of grace?” (10:29). In Calvinism, it is impossible for one who has been sanctified to reject the Son of God and deserve worse punishments than before his sanctification.

•  Do not therefore lose your confidence, which hath a great reward. For patience is necessary for you; that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little and a very little while, and he that is to come, will come, and will not delay. But my just man liveth by faith; but if he withdraw himself, he shall not please my soul” (10:35-38). In Calvinism, it is impossible for the faithful to lose their confidence or withdraw themselves from God and lose the promise of salvation.

•  And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us” (12:1). In Calvinism, salvation is not conditioned upon running by patience to the fight and laying aside sin.

•  Looking diligently, lest any man be wanting to the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up do hinder, and by it many be defiled” (12:15). In Calvinism, it is impossible for the faithful to be wanting to the grace of God and to become hindered and defiled.

•  See that you refuse him not that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke upon the earth, much more shall not we, that turn away from him that speaketh to us from heaven” (12:25). In Calvinism, it is impossible for the faithful to refuse Christ.

The Apostle James also warns his readers about falling away from the faith. Like St. Paul, St. James repeatedly refers to his audience as “brethren”⁹⁷ who have the true “faith” (1:3). Yet St. James explains to them how erring from the faith through sin can lead to death: “But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured. Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death. Do not err, therefore, my dearest brethren” (1:14-16). In fact, St. James reveals that some of the brethren have actually committed such grave sins. He says, “From whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not hence, from your concupiscences, which war in your members? You covet, and have not:you kill, and envy, and can not obtain. You contend and war, and you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not; because you ask amiss: that you may consume it on your concupiscences” (4:1-3).

St. James also tells them to cast away “all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness” (1:22). He exhorts them to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (1:22), otherwise their “religion is in vain” (1:26). Thus, he tells them that they must add works to their faith or their faith is dead (2:14, 20, 26). He also tells them to refrain from evil speech (3:5-10), judging their brothers (4:11) and rash swearing (5:12). St. James also says, “if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: He must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins” (5:19-20). Thus, St. James clearly acknowledges that one of the “saved” in his audience can “err from the truth” and be converted back again. St. James also urges his faithful to confess their sins and pray for one another, “that you may be saved” (5:16).⁹⁸

In his first epistle, St. Peter writes to faithful Christians who are “beloved” (2:11; 4:12), whom God has “called” (1:15; 2:21), who have been “regenerated” by Christ (1:3), and who have been “redeemed” (1:18) and have the “faith” (1:7, 9, 21). St. Peter further says they have been saved in “baptism” (3:21) and “are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people” (2:9). Nevertheless, St. Peter tells them “to refrain from carnal desires which war against the soul” (2:11). He also warns them never to become “a murderer, or a thief, or a railer, or a coveter of other men’s things” (4:15). St. Peter further warns them: “Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world” (5:8-9). Because of these dangers to their salvation, St. Peter reveals, “And if the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (4:18).⁹⁹

Similarly, in his second epistle, St.Peter once again addresses the “brethren”¹⁰⁰ and the “beloved.”¹⁰¹ In fact, St. Peter says that they “have obtained equal faith with us” (1:1) and have been “purged” from their “old sins” (1:9). Yet St. Peter warns them to be “diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace” (3:14). Like St. Paul, St. Peter also warns that “there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them:bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet.2:1).¹⁰² In addition to false teachers who destroyed the faith of some, others abandoned the faith and followed their passions. After mentioning lust, gluttony, adultery, and covetousness, St.Peter says, “Leaving the right way they have gone astray” (2:15). As if he were warning us of the future Protestant heresy, St. Peter declares:

For if, flying from the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they be again entangled in them and overcome: their latter state is become unto them worse than the former. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than after they have known it, to turn back from that holy commandment which was delivered to them. For, that of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog is returned to his vomit: and, [t]he sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire (2:20-22).

Finally, St. John in his epistles also addresses the “brethren”¹⁰³ and the “beloved”¹⁰⁴ whose “sins are forgiven” (1 John 2:12). They have been “called” by God and are “sons of God” (1 John 3:1). St. John even says that they have “passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14) and have “overcome” the devil” (1 John 4:4). Yet, like Jesus, St. John makes their salvation conditioned upon continuing to abide in God’s word: “As for you, let that which you have heard from the beginning, abide in you. If that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning, you also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father” (1 John 2:24).¹⁰⁵ St. John also tells them not to love the world or the things in it (2:15). St. John specifically mentions “the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life,” which are the major temptations of the world that lead souls to ruin (2:16).

St.John also says, “These things have I written to you, concerning them that seduce you. And as for you, let the unction, which you have received from him, abide in you” (1 John 2:26-27). The obvious implication is that if the faithful turn from Christ to false teachers and worldly pleasures, they will be seduced and fall away from the faith. In addition to exhorting them to keep the commandments and love one another,¹⁰⁶ St. John also warns them to “let no man deceive you” (3:7) and to “try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Again, St. John is warning them that they can be deceived and fall away through the errors of false teachers. Like St. James, St. John also urges the faithful to “confess our sins” to be forgiven of them (1:9). They are not automatically forgiven by “accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.”

St. John also believed the faithful were capable of walking in darkness (1 John 1:6) and hating their brothers (1 John 2:11; 4:20). In fact, St. John reveals that a true Christian can lose his salvation through grave sin. He says, “He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin which is not to death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him, who sinneth not to death.¹⁰⁷ There is a sin unto death: for that I say not that any man ask. All iniquity is sin. And there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16-17).¹⁰⁸ Thus, St. John urges his faithful, “Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things which you have wrought” (2 John 1:8). Acknowledging that they could fall from the faith, St. John also says, “Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (2 John 1:9). Such people were living the doctrine of Christ, but did not continue living it. St. John also tells his beloved, “[F]ollow not that which is evil, but that which is good” (3 John 1:11). Even though they were saved, St. John reveals that they could follow evil. As with St. Paul, even though the faithful were in God’s grace, St. John says nothing about the knowledge of their “eternal security.” Like St. Paul, he instead questions their security.

CLOSING COMMENTS

In this final chapter, we have seen once again that man depends upon God for everything, including the “great gift” and “special assistance” of final perseverance. God must give man not only the gift of living in grace but also the gift of dying in grace. God owes man nothing, and man owes God everything. God is the cause of our being and action, and “no one thing would be better than another, if God did not will greater good for one than for another.”¹⁰⁹ As St. James says, “Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration” (1:17). Because eternal salvation is the “best and perfect gift” of God, man can never know whether he will receive it until God actually gives it to him.

Nevertheless, God gives us signs of our predestination to glory through His generous and overflowing graces. Whenever we do any good whatsoever, we know that God is working in us both to will and accomplish the good (see Phil.2:13). As God moves us by His efficacious grace, He conforms us to the image of Christ. Through His grace, God creates in us the virtues of doing good and avoiding sin. These habits make us more aware of our dependence upon God and our confidence in God. They also make us more responsive to God’s grace and better alert us to the dangers of the devil and sin. As we work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12), we know that all of our salutary acts are gifts from God and signs of our predestination to heaven. With this assurance, “[W]e may have confidence in the day of judgment” (1 John 4:17).

While we should put our trust and confidence in God, we should never have confidence in ourselves. We should never trust ourselves or our own abilities. God alone is able to make us stand (see Rom. 14:4). God alone is able to give the increase (see 1 Cor. 3:6). God alone is able to provide the power (see 1 Cor.4:7). God alone is able to provide the sufficiency (see 1 Cor. 9:8). As St. John the Baptist declared: “A man cannot receive any thing, unless it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27). By abandoning ourselves to God’s providence and laboring under the influence of His grace, we will “make sure” our “calling and election” (2 Pet. 1:10). As St. Thomas says, “[T]he predestinated must strive after good works and prayer; because through these means predestination is most certainly fulfilled.”¹¹⁰ While our earthly lives give us only the certainty of death, we keep always in front of us the words of St. Paul:

[F]or if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we believe not, he continueth faithful, he can not deny himself. Of these things put them in mind, charging them before the Lord (2 Tim. 2:11-14).

¹. This is the last of the Five Points of Calvinism, which is called “Perseverance of the Saints.” To maintain the T-U-L-I-P acrostic from a Thomist perspective, we would replace “Perseverance of the Saints” with “Preservation of the Elect,” thereby emphasizing God’s sovereign primacy in preserving His elect from damnation.

². CG, 3.159 (emphasis added). See also ST, Pt I, Q 24, Art 3, where St. Thomas explains that “one is directed from two sources; namely, from predestination, which direction never fails, and from grace; for whoever has grace, by this very fact becomes fitted for eternal life. This direction fails sometimes; because some are directed, by possessing grace, to obtain eternal life, yet they fail to obtain it through mortal sin.”

³. ST, Pt II-II, Q 137, Art 4.

⁴. Ibid.

⁵. Ibid.

⁶. CCC 2016 (emphasis in original).

⁷. Denz., 832.

⁸. ST, Pt I-II, Q 109, Art 10. Of course, “beseeching” God is itself a grace from God.

⁹. Denz., 826. See also Denz., 806.

¹⁰. Denz., 832.

¹¹. See Titus 3:7; cf. Rom. 8:17; Gal. 3:29; Eph. 3:6; Jas 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:7.

¹². CG, 3.159.

¹³. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 5.

¹⁴. ST, Pt I-II, Q 84, Art 2.

¹⁵. ST, Pt I-II, Q 85, Art 1.

¹⁶. ST, Pt I-II, Q 85, Art 3.

¹⁷. ST, Pt I-II, Q 86, Art 1.

¹⁸. Ibid.

¹⁹. ST, Pt I-II, Q 86, Art 2.

²⁰. ST, Pt I-II, Q 87, Art 6.

²¹. Ibid.

²². ST, Pt I-II, Q 109, Art 7.

²³. Ibid.

²⁴. ST, Pt I-II, Q 114, Art 7.

²⁵. Denz., 807.

²⁶. ST, Pt I-II, Q 109, Art 8.

²⁷. Ibid.

²⁸. CG, 3.160.

²⁹. ST, Pt I-II, Q 79, Art 4.

³⁰. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 5.

³¹. CG, 3.161.

³². ST, Pt I-II, Q 114, Art 9.

³³. Ibid.

³⁴. Notice also that the laborers said they were unable to work until they were hired (v. 7). In other words, we can do nothing for God until He calls us, for Jesus says, “no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father” (John 6:66).

³⁵. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 5.

³⁶. St. Jerome believed that such conversions happen once in every 200,000 deaths.

³⁷. ST, Pt I-II, Q 51, Art 2.

³⁸. De veritate, 24.13 (emphasis added).

³⁹. ST, Pt I-II, Q 109, Art 8 (emphasis added).

⁴⁰. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 5.

⁴¹. Garrigou-Lagrange, Providence, p. 205.

⁴². ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 8. Based on his research of the Church Fathers, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange provides eight signs of predestination: (1) a good life; (2) a conscience free from serious sin and a willingness to die rather than offend God; (3) patience in adversities endured for love of God; (4) readiness to hear the word of God; (5) compassion for the poor; (6) love of one’s enemies; (7) humility; and, (8) a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Predestination, pp. 216-217).

⁴³. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 7.

⁴⁴. Most of the early Church Fathers believed the majority of men are not saved, for example, Basil, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, and Bernard.

⁴⁵. ST, Pt I, Q 49, Art 3.

⁴⁶. ST, Pt I, Q 63, Art 9.

⁴⁷. I Sent, d.39, Q 2, Art 2.

⁴⁸. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 7.

⁴⁹. GPS, p. 336, ft 52. There is no one virtue in God greater than another because they are all perfect. There is nothing “more” or “less” in God. However, it is correct to say that God manifests His omnipotence most greatly by showing mercy to His creatures.

⁵⁰. GPS, p. 63. cf. p. 336, ft 52.

⁵¹. CG, 2.92.

⁵². GPS, p. 64.

⁵³. I Sent, d.39, Q 2, Art 2.

⁵⁴. ST, Pt I, Q 63, Art 9.

⁵⁵. This verse is also interpreted to refer to the consecrated souls who will perish.

⁵⁶. ST, Pt I, Q 50, Art 3.

⁵⁷. Ibid.

⁵⁸. Ironically, even though Calvinists teach eternal security, most of them admit that they do not know with infallible certainty whether they are in the elect.

⁵⁹. Scripture clearly condemns such a view. For example, St. Paul teaches that fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, sodomites, thieves, drunkards, extortioners, murderers, and the like shall not inherit the kingdom of God (see 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21).

⁶⁰. Commentary on 2 Peter 2:2.

⁶¹. Denz., 825.

⁶². Denz., 826.

⁶³. Denz., 833.

⁶⁴. Denz., 805.

⁶⁵. Denz., 806.

⁶⁶. ST, Pt I-II, Q 109, Art 10.

⁶⁷. The Catechism also says, “Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith” (CCC 2005).

⁶⁸. The Greek for “without repentance” (ametameletos) literally means “unregretted.” It is used in only one other place in the New Testament (1 Cor. 7:10). Some Bibles incorrectly translate the word as “irrevocable.” This erroneous translation has given some people the impression that the Jews have an irrevocable covenant with God independently of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant (they do not; the Jews must convert to Jesus Christ to be saved).

⁶⁹. Rom. 1:28.

⁷⁰. 1 Cor. 13:5-7.

⁷¹. 2 Tim. 3:8.

⁷². Tit. 1:15-16.

⁷³. Heb. 6:8.

⁷⁴. As we mentioned, God may have specially revealed to St. Paul his predestination to glory when He took him into heaven (see 1 Cor. 12:1-6).

⁷⁵. Luke 2:28; 9:5, 11, 48, 53; 10:8, 10; 16:4, 6-7, 9; 18:17; 22:17.

⁷⁶. We refer to Calvinism because we have been examining its theology throughout the book. Note, however, that the error is not limited to Calvinism but is also found within other branches of Protestantism.

⁷⁷. Most Calvinists would argue that the man who allegedly falls from grace never actually had grace. However, in this parable, the wicked servant did actually have grace, because he was forgiven of his debt (symbolic for his sins).

⁷⁸. The Greek transliteration is ou eimi pas ek hemeis.

⁷⁹. St. Thomas explains that to be “blotted out of the book of life” refers to those predestined to grace, but not to glory, for the elect are eternally secure. He says, “Therefore those who are ordained to possess eternal life through divine predestination are written down in the book of life simply, because they are written therein to have eternal life in reality; such are never blotted out from the book of life. Those, however, who are ordained to eternal life, not through divine predestination, but through grace, are said to be written in the book of life not simply, but relatively, for they are written therein not to have eternal life in itself, but in its cause only” (ST, Pt I, Q 24, Art 3).

⁸⁰. See also 1 Cor. 9:25; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; and Apoc. 6:2 where “crown” refers to the gift of eternal life.

⁸¹. Luke 11:22; John 16:33; Rom. 3:4; 12:21; 1 John 2:13, 14; 4:4; 5:4-5.

⁸². Rom. 1:13; 7:1, 4; 8:12, 29; 9:3; 10:1; 11:25; 12:1; 15:14-15; 16:17.

⁸³. Rom. 1:7; 12:19.

⁸⁴. Some Protestants argue that Rom. 11:20-22 is about the corporate election and potential rejection of the Gentiles as a group (as if such an interpretation denies the ability to fall from grace). However, Rom. 11:17 says that only “some of the branches” (in reference to the Jews) are broken off. Likewise, only some of the Gentiles would be cut off as well. The passage is about individual election and rejection, just like Romans 9 is about individual predestination and reprobation.

⁸⁵. 1 Cor. 1:10-11, 26; 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 8:12; 10:1; 11:2, 33; 14:6, 20, 26; 14:39; 15:1, 31, 50, 58; 16:15.

⁸⁶. 1 Cor. 10:14; 15:58.

⁸⁷. 1 Cor. 8:1; 13:11.

⁸⁸. 1 Cor. 7:1; 12:19.

⁸⁹. Gal. 1:11; 3:15; 4:12, 28; 5:11, 13; 6:1, 18.

⁹⁰. Eph. 5:15; 6:10, 23.

⁹¹. 1 Thess. 1:4; 2:1, 9, 14, 17; 3:7; 4:1, 10, 12; 5:1, 4, 12, 14, 25. See also 2 Thess. 1:3; 2:1, 12, 14; 3:1, 6, 13.

⁹². Alexander may be the coppersmith St. Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 4:14 who did him “much evil.”

⁹³. St. Paul uses the term “heretic” to describe one who had the faith and lost it (see Titus 3:10). One cannot be a heretic against the faith unless one had the faith.

⁹⁴. Heb. 3:1, 12; 10:19; 13:22.

⁹⁵. Heb. 4:15-16; 7:25-26; 8:1-2, 6; 9:14, 24.

⁹⁶. St. Paul uses the same word for “taste” (gneuomai) in Heb. 2:9 when he says Christ “might taste death for all.” The word connotes an actual participation with its referent. Thus, just as Christ actually tasted death, the Hebrews actually tasted the heavenly gifts and the Word of God through grace before falling away.

⁹⁷. Jas. 1:2, 16, 19; 2:1, 5, 14; 3:1, 10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9-10, 12, 19.

⁹⁸. St. James first urges the faithful to call upon the priests of the Church to administer the sacrament of Extreme Unction to the sick (5:14). The conjunction “therefore” (Greek, oun)connects verse 16 with verses 14-15, meaning that just as the faithful are to call upon the priests for the sacrament of the sick (vv. 14-15), they are to confess their sins to these same priests in the sacrament of penance (v. 16).

⁹⁹. The adverb for “scarcely” (molis) literally means “hardly.” Thus, like Jesus, St. Peter reveals that most just men are not saved (they are predestined to grace but not to glory).

¹⁰⁰. 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:17.

¹⁰¹. 2 Pet. 3:1, 8, 14.

¹⁰². St. Peter also says that many of the unlearned and unstable Christians twist the meaning of Scripture to their own destruction (see 2 Pet. 3:16). This statement, coupled with St. Peter’s warning about privately interpreting Scripture in 2 Peter 1:20, should give pause to anyone who believes in sola Scriptura. For a thorough refutation of sola Scriptura, see my book The Biblical Basis for Tradition—Why Catholics Don’t Rely on Scripture Alone (Our Sunday Visitor).

¹⁰³. 1 John 3:13-14, 16; 3 John 1:3, 5, 10.

¹⁰⁴. 1 John 2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7; 3 John 1:1-2, 5, 11.

¹⁰⁵. St. John uses the same verb and tense for “abide” (meno) that Jesus uses in John 15:5. See also 1 John 2:6, 24, 27-28; 3:6, 17, 24; 4:13, 16; 2 John 9.

¹⁰⁶. 1 John 2:3, 10; 3:11, 18, 22-24; 4:7, 11-12, 21; 5:2; 2 John 1:5.

¹⁰⁷. The Church generally calls “sin unto death”mortal sin, and “sin which is not to death”venial sin. Mortal sin expels sanctifying grace from the soul. Anyone who dies in mortal sin goes to hell. Venial sin does not expel sanctifying grace from the soul, although it weakens man’s will and increases his propensity to sin. If a man dies with venial sin only (or with punishment still due for sin), God purifies his soul in the fires of purgatory before admitting him into heaven. For a thorough treatment of this topic, see my book The Biblical Basis for Purgatory (Saint Benedict Press).

¹⁰⁸. Although many Catholic apologists use 1 John 5:16-17 to support the distinction between mortal and venial sin, the passage actually seems to be distinguishing between two kinds of mortal sin: sins against the faith (apostasy, heresy, or schism) vis-à-vis other mortal sins. This is because the one who sins “not to death … life shall be given to him,” if man “asks” through prayer. Since man does not need to be restored to grace for venial sin, this sin “not to death” must be mortal. St. John distinguishes this sin from the “sin unto death” where no man should “ask.” St. John seems to be saying that the man who commits a mortal sin against the faith (a “sin unto death”) is rarely restored to grace through prayer, whereas a man who commits other mortal sins (“not to death”) is often restored to grace through prayer. This is the distinction between a member who is “cut off ” from the Body of Christ, the Church (by mortal sin against the faith) and a “dead member” of the Body (by mortal sin not against the faith).

¹⁰⁹. ST, Pt I, Q 20, Art 3.

¹¹⁰. ST, Pt I, Q 23, Art 8 (emphasis added).

↑ Back to top