[Cronos]

Your point seems opposite to what a Catholic would think -- very well illustrated by that old joke:

A man was on his roof during the St. Louis flood and a boat goes by. The boatman says "Come over, you can get saved by coming on this boat". The man on the roof says "No, God will save me."

Another boat goes by and the man on the roof is now waist deep in water but he again refuses to come saying "God will save me"

Finally, he's neck deep in water, standing, and a helicopter comes by and offers to resue him, but the guy stubbornly says "No, God will save me"

Finally, he drowns, and when he reaches heaven, rushes to God and says: "Why didn't you save me?? I waited and waited"

And God turns around with a pained expression and says "Who do you think sent those two boats and a helicopter?"


Similarly, God helps us when we help ourselves: by Charles Martel's battle of Tours, Europe remained Christian, by the Crusades, Christians retained their rights to worship in the Holy Land, by the actions of Jan Sobieski, again Europe was saved.

[HarleyD]

"Your point seems opposite to what a Catholic would think...

And a great many Protestants these days as well.

I would think a better and scriptural illustration is Lot:

Gen 19:12-16 Then the {two} men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring {them} out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it." Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, "Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city." But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD {was} upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.

Even though Lot knew the town would be destroyed and how vile the citizens were (including his own son-in-laws) he just lingered around. He had to literally be dragged out of town by God. Those of us who do benefit from God's grace and mercy don't recognize how obstinate we are with the Lord. In your boat example if God's compassion is on that person on the roof top, God will drag him off of there just like He dragged Lot out of Sodom.