How is final perseverance a grace

[oliver109]

Final perseverance is described as being a grace that can only be given by God, I find that hard to understand, call me a Pelagian if you will but how I understand final perseverance is that take someone called Toby for example, Toby goes to mass, receives the sacraments, avoids sin, prays for a good death but ultimately lives life well and chooses right and so dies free of sin, Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices, it was his choice that made all the difference. How was his good death a grace?

 

[CRV]

First off, any good we do is due to God’s grace. Yes, we have free will to choose to do good, but it is God’s grace that enables us to do so.

The Sacraments esp Confession and Holy Communion strengthen the will against sin.

prays for a good death

is one in which “Toby” will receive the Sacraments prior to dying and so die in a state of grace. It is the hour of death in which Satan reserves his greatest temptations for the dying soul in hopes of snatching this soul from God and the souls eternal happiness. Preparing for the hour of death.

Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices, it was his choice that made all the difference

And thus speaketh the cardinal sin of PRIDE.

What is Final Perseverence?

LIFE EVERLASTING by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange:-
Scroll down to 8. THE GRACE OF A HAPPY DEATH - THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE

Final perseverance: You can’t get to heaven without it

 

[TK421]

Final perseverance is described as being a grace that can only be given by God, I find that hard to understand, call me a Pelagian if you will but how I understand final perseverance is that take someone called Toby for example, Toby goes to mass, receives the sacraments, avoids sin, prays for a good death but ultimately lives life well and chooses right and so dies free of sin, Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices, it was his choice that made all the difference. How was his good death a grace?

All of Toby’s good choices throughout life were impossible without the grace of God empowering him to be able to choose good. We do have free will but without God’s grace that will is powerless to do good.

 

[oliver109]

I don’t see how it can be pride for Toby to say with a strait face that he chose to avoid sin for the last 30 years of his life say, it would be prideful or rather presumptuous for Toby to lie on his deathbed and say he was certain of heaven but I don’t think it is prideful to say that avoiding bad choices is all thanks to your efforts.

 

[Vico]

…

It is not in a human nature to save oneself and so God takes the first action of salvation by giving actual grace. Since sufficient grace given by God is not irresistible, cooperation is needed for final perseverance, so one is a partial cause of one’s own salvation.

 

[fhansen]

Regarding salvation we never owe anything completely to ourselves-grace is always involved, initially, and throughout our lives. And although Scripture exhorts us to persevere, so that this is recognized as important, it might validly all seem a bit redundant as persevering does involve that same walk which we’ve set foot on beginning with Baptism. We’re just praying for a particular way of remaining in God’s grace.

 

[oliver109]

I am not saying that Toby is saving himself, though one could I suppose argue that he is saving himself by avoiding sin, all completely down to his own choice to avoid sin so in that respect he saves himself though God ultimately wills his salvation.

 

[Vico]

I am not saying that Toby is saving himself, though one could I suppose argue that he is saving himself by avoiding sin, all completely down to his own choice to avoid sin so in that respect he saves himself though God ultimately wills his salvation.

God desires the salvation of all yet wills that each have the free will to choose, which is a permissive will.

 

[CRV]

But it is pride. Because simply everything is God’s grace. We can’t even take a single breath without God’s grace.

Toby to say with a strait face that he chose to avoid sin

It is God’s grace that enabled him to choose to avoid committing sin.

 

[Emeraldlady]

Final perseverance is described as being a grace that can only be given by God, I find that hard to understand, call me a Pelagian if you will but how I understand final perseverance is that take someone called Toby for example, Toby goes to mass, receives the sacraments, avoids sin, prays for a good death but ultimately lives life well and chooses right and so dies free of sin, Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices, it was his choice that made all the difference. How was his good death a grace?

Cardinal Newman explained final perseverance in a way that shows Gods total involvement even in our co-operation with His grace.

“It consists in an ever watchful superintendence of us on the part of our All-Merciful Lord, removing temptations which He sees will be fatal to us, succouring us at those times when we are in particular peril, whether from our negligence or other cause, and ordering the course of our life so that we may die at a time when He sees that we are in the state of grace."

 

[oliver109]

I sort of get what Newman is trying to say but “ordering the course of our life so that we die at a time when he sees we are in a state of grace” seems to suggest that God is ordering our life but the choices are still ours otherwise no one would die in a state of mortal sin.

 

[po18guy]

Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices,

That is God’s grace, cooperated with by Toby.

 

[oliver109]

What is the grace part, that is what I do not understand, Toby chooses himself, are you saying that without grace Toby would somehow choose wrong?

 

[po18guy]

For a bit of understanding, read the definition of concupiscence. From CatholicCulture.com (note the bold):

" Insubordination of man’s desires to the dictates of reason, and the propensity of human nature to sin as a result of original sin. More commonly, it refers to the spontaneous movement of the sensitive appetites toward whatever the imagination portrays as pleasant and away from whatever it portrays as painful. However, concupiscence also includes the unruly desires of the will, such as pride, ambition, and envy. (Etym. Latin con- , thoroughly + cupere , to desire: concupiscentia , desire, greed, cupidity.)"

By our fallen nature, we incline toward wrong, toward evil. We can fight it, but from where does the strength, spiritual and corporal come from? We cannot save ourselves.

Grace.

 

[porthos11]

Final perseverance is described as being a grace that can only be given by God, I find that hard to understand, call me a Pelagian if you will but how I understand final perseverance is that take someone called Toby for example, Toby goes to mass, receives the sacraments, avoids sin, prays for a good death but ultimately lives life well and chooses right and so dies free of sin, Toby owes it to himself that he avoided making the wrong choices, it was his choice that made all the difference. How was his good death a grace?

Because he went to Mass, received the sacraments, avoided sin, prayed for a good death, lived life well, chose right and died free of sin.

How are all those not God’s grace?

He could not have done any of those without God’s grace. The Mass and the Sacraments are channels of grace. He did good because first of all he was moved by God’s grace, with which he cooperated. Without grace he could have done none of those things.

 

[CRV]

What is the grace part,

CCC Grace and Justification
" The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion , effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.“38 Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high.” (Toby chooses not to sin because Gods’ grace enables him to do so).
II GRACE starts at #1996 in the link

Catholic Encyclopedia - Actual Grace - scroll down to the section Graces regarding free will.

Catholic Answers - Grace: What It Is and What It Does.

 

[oliver109]

What could he have done without grace? would he constantly be sinning? I think what he does is fundamentally up to him, if he feels like making a good choice then wont he make it without grace?

 

[porthos11]

What could he have done without grace? would he constantly be sinning? I think what he does is fundamentally up to him, if he feels like making a good choice then wont he make it without grace?

Who gives him the choice to begin with?

Who put the idea for a good choice in his head?

Who gave him the initial grace of baptism?

Who led him to Confession if he fell into mortal sin?

Who forgives his sin when the priest says “I absolve you”?

Who is it he receives in Holy Communion?

Who gave him the strength to resist temptation when it came his way?

Yes, he has to cooperate with it, but the promptings, the helps, the sacraments, are all initiatives of God. Without grace, it is impossible to please God.

 

[oliver109]

1. God gives him the choice, he gives him life for a start
2. Toby did, he thought about making a good choice, others did not
3. He was baptised, God willed that
4. He went to confession he wanted to go, others did not want to go to confession
5. Christ
6. Christ
7. He resisted temptation, if he did not have the strength would that then mean that he was not responsible for sinning?

 

[porthos11]

1. God gives him the choice, he gives him life for a start
   That is grace.
2. Toby did, he thought about making a good choice, others did not
   And the good thought? God put that in his head. That is grace. His choice to follow was his free will cooperating with that grace. Without his choice, the thought remains an unused grace.
3. He was baptised, God willed that
   That is grace.
4. He went to confession he wanted to go, others did not want to go to confession
   The availability of the Sacrament itself is a grace. The desire to confess is a grace. He uses his free will respond to that grace.
5. Christ
   That is grace.
6. Christ
   That is grace.
7. He resisted temptation, if he did not have the strength would that then mean that he was not responsible for sinning?
   He resisted temptation but his strength? That came from God. That is grace.

Try as you will, but even the very initial grace, that of Baptism, cannot be merited at all. Neither can one’s revival from mortal sin. It doesn’t matter that he chose to go to confession, or have himself baptized. None of the good works he did outside of grace gave him any reward in heaven. He may have responded to God’s actual grace to confess and be absolved, but he did not even earn that. Only God’s grace, imparted by the absolution of the priest, can ever restore him to the state that can get him into heaven.

So the fact that he dies in the state of grace is, ultimately, due to God’s grace with his cooperation and free response, because only God could have put him in the state of grace to begin with.