Is this soteriology in agreement with church teaching?

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DeusExMachina

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Hey y’all,
Its been a while since Ive been on here, and I should say I am still wrestling with soteriology, particularly the Reformed stream (Calvinist, Thomist, Amyraldist, Augustinian); on the one hand, scripture says quite clearly (Romans 9:11, Ephesians 1:4-5, John 7:65) that God chooses who will achieve salvation. But scripture also says that God wishes for all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Obviously not everyone is saved, otherwise hell would not exist, and every Christian would be in heaven, which according (I cant remember the number but it goes something like "Not all who say “Lord, lord” to me will be saved) is not true. To remedy this apparent problem, I have thought up the following soteriology: We are all dead in sin until God showers us with the gift of his grace , which at first he gives to all who have faith and do good works, because as James 2:26 tells us, faith without works is dead. Then we either accept that grace through repentence, or reject it by not repenting; if our repentance is true, we thereby gain the gift of perseverance by which we cannot lose our salvation. If we remain unrepentant, we lose the Grace of God, hence bearing the punishment for our sins after death in hell.

Is what I have just outlined in any way against Church teaching?

Thanks and God Bless,
DeusExMachina
 
Wesrock said:
We can truly repent now and then reject God’s graces later. It’s not a one time thing. God gives us many opportunities for grace throughout our lives, and we can choose to cooperate or not each time (there’s room for nuance here). I can be on the right path now and stray later. It’s not once saved, always saved. Furthermore, grace comes before both faith and works. Our response can open us up to it, but we do not merit any initial sending of grace. God is always the first actor in that relationship.

Granted, there is room for debate in Catholic soteriology. You might be interested in this: ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/TULIP.htm
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Yeah, irresistible grace is a protestant teaching. The only case i can think of in which that applies is the blessed Virgin Mary.

There has been a ton of discussion and opinions on this throughout the ages:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregatio_de_Auxiliis

Seems like reading into it one way or the other is the cause of many unnecessary headaches. Follow Proverbs 3:5-6 , let the Church do her job and we will see the beatific vision.
 
DeusExMachina said:
if our repentance is true, we thereby gain the gift of perseverance by which we cannot lose our salvation. If we remain unrepentant, we lose the Grace of God, hence bearing the punishment for our sins after death in hell.

I think you are close. Our repentance is not a single event however…but a life long turning away from sin by cooperating with God’s grace. We must have the possibility of losing salvation after our initial conversion and act of faith, otherwise St. Paul would have never warned Christians against "walking in the flesh and not in the spirit (See Galatians chapter 5). St Paul warns the Christians in his letter to the Romans chapter 8 vs 13 that if you live according to the flesh you shall die. Living according to the flesh is when we commit serious (mortal) sin which removes sanctifying grace in our soul. However we can receive absolution through sacramental Confession and once again “walk by the spirit” (Gal 5:16) and not by the works of the flesh (Gal 5:19,20).

Thanks and God Bless,
DeusExMachina
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DeusExMachina said:
Hey y’all,
Its been a while since Ive been on here, and I should say I am still wrestling with soteriology, particularly the Reformed stream (Calvinist, Thomist, Amyraldist, Augustinian); on the one hand, scripture says quite clearly (Romans 9:11, Ephesians 1:4-5, John 7:65) that God chooses who will achieve salvation. But scripture also says that God wishes for all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Obviously not everyone is saved, otherwise hell would not exist, and every Christian would be in heaven, which according (I cant remember the number but it goes something like "Not all who say “Lord, lord” to me will be saved) is not true. To remedy this apparent problem, I have thought up the following soteriology: We are all dead in sin until God showers us with the gift of his grace , which at first he gives to all who have faith and do good works, because as James 2:26 tells us, faith without works is dead. Then we either accept that grace through repentence, or reject it by not repenting; if our repentance is true, we thereby gain the gift of perseverance by which we cannot lose our salvation. If we remain unrepentant, we lose the Grace of God, hence bearing the punishment for our sins after death in hell.

Is what I have just outlined in any way against Church teaching?

Thanks and God Bless,
DeusExMachina
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Our salvation is worked out, over time, as we respond to and cooperate with grace, with God. We can walk away from any of God’s gifts at any point along tge way. The Parable of the Talents describes the way this all plays out quite nicely IMO.
 
DeusExMachina said:
We are all dead in sin until God showers us with the gift of his grace , which at first he gives to all who have faith and do good works, because as James 2:26 tells us, faith without works is dead. Then we either accept that grace through repentence, or reject it by not repenting; if our repentance is true, we thereby gain the gift of perseverance by which we cannot lose our salvation. If we remain unrepentant, we lose the Grace of God, hence bearing the punishment for our sins after death in hell.

Is what I have just outlined in any way against Church teaching?
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Yes.

We are conceived in a state of original sin, lacking the state of grace. So you can say we are dead in sin for that reason. And then, yes, we need God to give us the state of grace, which is a free gift (merited for us by Christ). So far, so good.

“which at first he gives to all who have faith and do good works” – heresy.

As the Council of Trent teaches, we need God’s prevenient grace (first grace, which precedes any good act on our part). God’s grace is BEFORE, during, and after every good act. So we don’t have faith and we don’t do good works prior to receiving grace. Instead, we receive prevenient grace first, without any possible cooperation by free will. Then subsequently, we may cooperate with grace.

“Then we either accept that grace through repentance, or reject it by not repenting” – false.

We can enter the state of grace by baptism, as when infants are baptized. And they do not repent in order to receive grace. However, for adults, a valid baptism includes repentance from past sins.

“if our repentance is true, we thereby gain the gift of perseverance by which we cannot lose our salvation” – heresy

The Council of Trent condemned the idea that persons who are once justified (have entered the state of grace) can never fall away by mortal sin. So a person can lose their salvation after receiving the state of grace.

If a person commits an actual mortal sin, and remains unrepentant through the last moment of life, then they are sent to Hell.
 
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