Does God violate our free will by making us die

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When the Church was so young, there were not holy priests all over the world to teach people, there was not a community of evangelists to spread the world, there was not a Catholic Answers Live nor CatholicTV nor The Newman Connection.

Remember Scripture that tells us not to look for God in the whirlwind or the earthquake, but, in a still small voice.
 
Yes that is true, I still feel abandoned, like every time I go to Confession I sin soon afterwards, my priest told me in confession that there is no point in me going to the sacrament if I don’t make enough of an effort to stop sin.
 
Now we get to the heart of the matter.

Your priest was harsh with you. Priests are human, sometimes they are harsh without reason, sometimes they are trying to shake us out of complacency.

St Paul’s words:

Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.

So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones


End of the passage from Ephesians 6

Time to gather your armor. And to pray, pray at every opportunity, so when you think you will just watch some youtube, first pray. When you are driving around, pray. In the shower getting ready for work? Pray.

Look at each of the parts of the armor. All of these are there for you.
 
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I am sure that if God did not personally show Saul the right way he would have gone on to Hell.
I am not sure of that at all. Saul was a pretty smart guy. Since he was actively persecuting Christians, he would have seen them at their best and he would have seen the best if them. Lots of people accepted the Gospel in those days, why not Saul? God actively intervened because he needed something more out if him.
 
But do you agree that God can if he chooses keep us alive?
God can do what He wills. The fact, however, that He wills something other than we might want, isn’t proof that He’s mean or unreasonable. Ordinarily, by our human nature, we die a physical death. That doesn’t mean that God chose us to die or failed to choose to “keep us alive”. It just means that our bodies do what physical bodies do.
That makes me think that perhaps God is not anxious about saving souls from Hell
No, what it means is the God isn’t going to break His own rules just to “force” someone into heaven whose actions betray that they aren’t anxious to be there…
If you think about it God could arrange the world to be one where everybody accepts God in the end,
He could. But, wouldn’t that mean He’s a cruel puppetmaster, putting us into a world that includes pain and suffering, with no motive other than yanking us out of it at some point? That’s even worse than what you’re suggesting!
[God] is basically passive when it comes to our lives
No. He’s quite active. He’s given us His son, and the Church through which we can receive the grace we need to return to Him in heaven.

What you’re trying to express is that He doesn’t force salvation on you. That’s not “passivity”, that’s “allowing humans to make free choices.”
 
There does not have to be any force involved, God gets what he wants, our wills do not override his will. He could have made the world to be one where everyone chooses good all the time, that is not what he desired, he wanted for reasons that we will only know in the afterlife a world where people fall, where not everyone succeeds but all the sins will somehow bring about a greater good. I am not asking God to force salvation on me, what I am asking God to do is for him to never allow me to die in a state of mortal sin, I would rather live forever in my current state of making good and bad choices than to be allowed to ever go to Hell.
 
There does not have to be any force involved, God gets what he wants, our wills do not override his will.
On the contrary. If we sin, then our will is to disobey God; if He takes us to heaven, then He contravenes our will with His. He ‘forces’ us to accept Him, although we have told Him – through our actions – that we do not accept Him and His forgiveness.
I am not asking God to force salvation on me, what I am asking God to do is for him to never allow me to die in a state of mortal sin
These two are the same thing. Can you see that?
 
Not really, I am not asking God to force me to go to Heaven while in a state of mortal sin, what I am asking God to do is to keep me alive, to not separate my soul from my body in a state of mortal sin, that would make life less stressful for me.
 
Not really, I am not asking God to force me to go to Heaven while in a state of mortal sin, what I am asking God to do is to keep me alive
In other words, “don’t force me to go to heaven while in mortal sin… just let me sin now without repentance but go to heaven later.” It really is the same thing. 😉
 
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Well maybe but anything to avoid having my soul separated in a state of mortal sin, please. I just don’t see the problem.
 
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Adam made us die (not God) since his disobeying God caused us to inherit defect of aging, along with inclination to sin and absence of sanctifying grace. We should write a complaint letter to Adam, not God.
 
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Well maybe but anything to avoid having my soul separated in a state of mortal sin, please. I just don’t see the problem.
The problem is that you seem to want a “get out of jail free card” over and above what God has provided – avoiding mortal sin in the first place, and when you don’t avoid it, repenting and going to confession ASAP. (That’s more than a fair deal that He offers, don’t you think? Why might we demand more than that?)
 
I am asking God to do is to keep me alive, to not separate my soul from my body in a state of mortal sin, that would make life less stressful for me.
I believe Oliver God already granted for you (and for all of us) His special grace of Final Perseverance, which is an INFALLIBLE protection of the salvation of every receivers. – Without it NO ONE can be saved, INFALLIBLE teachings of the Trent.
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Let’s go step by step from the beginning:

Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott,


Fallen man cannot redeem himself, (De fide).

It is God’s responsibility to save ALL OF US.

John 6:44; No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.

While St. Thomas says that man turns to God by his own free will, he explains that free-will can only be turn to God, when God turns it.

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This is the way God prepares our free wills to say YES to His gift of salvation.

CCC 298 Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them.
And since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him.
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CCCS 1990-1991; Justification is God’s free gift which detaches man from enslavement to sin and reconciles him to God.

Justification is also our acceptance of God’s righteousness. In this gift, faith, hope, charity, and OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WILL are given to us.
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CCCS 1996-1998; Justification comes from grace (God’s free and undeserved help) and is given to us to respond to his call.

This call to eternal life is supernatural, coming TOTALLY from God’s decision and surpassing ALL power of human intellect and will.
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There is a supernatural intervention of God in the faculties of the soul, which precedes the free act of the will, (De fide).

As we see God saves us with 100 % success rate.

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But for God that just only save us is NOT ENOUGH, He has to keep us saved.

Without the special help of God the justified cannot persevere to the end in justification, (De fide).

It is God’s responsibility TO KEEP US SAVED by His special grace His Gift of Final Perseverance, without it THERE IS NO SALVATION, INFALLIBLE teachings of the Trent.

CCC 2016 The children of our holy mother the Church rightly 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.
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It makes no difference how hard we would try to keep ourselves saved, without God’s special grace, His gift of Final Perseverance none of us could make it to heaven, of course God knows this.

So, as 2016 declares, we all rightly hope for the grace of final perseverance which is an INFALLIBLE protection of our salvation.

Everyone ends up in hell whom God fails to provide His gift of Final Perseverance and of course their blood is on God’s hands, there is no other way in Catholic Theology.
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God bless
 
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my priest told me in confession that there is no point in me going to the sacrament if I don’t make enough of an effort to stop sin.
If your priest actually told you that then they should be reprimanded by their bishop.

There is always a point in going to confession, as long as your will is such that you desire not to sin again. Now, if you’re going to confession without any intent to stop sinning, then that’s one thing, but that doesn’t sound like your situation. You, like many others, are trapped in a cycle of sin. You go to confession, and then are weak when temptation presents itself again.

ANY effort is enough effort to warrant continued confession.
 
Christ spoke about death a fair bit, he warned us a lot about how serious dying in a bad state can be which is why I often wonder if God is really with me after committing a mortal sin, could there be a day when God just abandons me and lets me wonder into Hell? There is a lot written about free will on here but not enough written about how God can ensure that a soul chooses Heaven by giving it irresistible grace.
God NEVER abandons us. It is only we who can abandon him which is what you do when you commit a mortal sin.
 
I believe Oliver God already granted for you (and for all of us) His special grace of Final Perseverance,
No. You can only speak of final perseverance of those who have, well, already persevered to the end! God may grant that grace to me, you, and/or Oliver; we just don’t know yet.
If your priest actually told you that then they should be reprimanded by their bishop.
I’m guessing it was more of a conversation that had been going on, over time, and the confessor was discussing the presence of a “firm resolve not to sin again”. Maybe his approach leaves you cold, but I’m betting it was an attempt to encourage the penitent to double down on his resolve.
 
I’m guessing it was more of a conversation that had been going on, over time, and the confessor was discussing the presence of a “firm resolve not to sin again”. Maybe his approach leaves you cold, but I’m betting it was an attempt to encourage the penitent to double down on his resolve.
That may well be, but regardless of intent I do not believe it benefits a penitent to tell them to stop going to confession until they try harder…
 
That may well be, but regardless of intent I do not believe it benefits a penitent to tell them to stop going to confession until they try harder…
That’s not what was reported. Take a look again. Instead, it was “there’s not much point to confession without a firm resolve of amendment.” That’s true, isn’t it? And therefore, the message isn’t “don’t go to confession”, but rather “work on your resolve”…
 
That’s not what was reported. Take a look again. Instead, it was “there’s not much point to confession without a firm resolve of amendment.” That’s true, isn’t it? And therefore, the message isn’t “don’t go to confession”, but rather “work on your resolve”…
If that was the intent that’s one thing, but it’s just not how it comes across to me. Sorry.
 
Simply repent each time you sin, and use God’s plan to resist sin.
 
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