The will "fixed at death?"

[montanaman]

I’ve read that phrase elsewhere on the board and just accepted it. Now, I wonder why that is. I’m reading Theology and Sanity, so maybe that’ll clear it up, but why is death necessarily the fixer of the will? Is it because after death we see the truth (one way or another) and the level of our will in relation to it can only either accept it or reject it?

Just an idle question. Or maybe not. It could be extremely important to me right now.

Thanks,
MM

 

[Dr.Colossus]

I don’t like the phrase “fixed at death”, because it sounds like an active restriction. God does not freeze our wills, it is simply a consequence of our transition from the temporal to the eternal.

When we die, our capacity to grow in holiness is left behind. Whatever capacity we had for Grace on earth at the moment of death is what we will have for eternity. When we leave the temporal world, our blindness will be stripped away and we will see God in all His glory. But the extent to which we will be able to experience that glory is directly related to how close we were to Him while on earth. If we die in a state of mortal sin, we will be incapable of experiencing any of God’s grace, and therefore are damned. Our will cannot change, because we cannot receive the Grace necessary to change it. If we are not in a state of mortal sin, we will be saved. Our will cannot change the other way, because we can no longer lose the Grace that has saved us.

 

[montanaman]

Thanks, doc. That’s perfectly clear and concise. I actually didn’t know if I’d get an answer, and here it is–first try. Cool.

Now, whether I can deal with the implications of that is a totally different question…