[jo kus]

Was that gift of grace taken back by God?

apparently so.

Regards

[HarleyD]

Why would God take His gift back? Didn't God know this man wouldn't use it in the first place? What you are essentially saying is that God gives grace and then He takes it away if you don't do what He says. Does that sound very loving?

Infusion and imputed righteousness is an interesting topic. The reason traditional Protestants never believed in infused righteousness is because the term "infused" is never used in scripture. Instead scripture uses the term imputed righteousness.

Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him [Abraham] for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

And again...

Jam 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

The difference we can see from Paul and James is that once this righteousness was imputed to Abraham, Abraham was called a Friend of God. It's a one time act and a gift. Applying that to your example, this man who had grace imputed to him would have been called a Friend of God. Do you believe God would take His Friendship away? What's more, does God offer this friendship to everyone?

What makes this discussion interesting is that I believe there might be some truth in what you're saying as applied to Protestants today. Many Protestants may actually believe in infusion verse imputation but not in the exact same way Catholics understand it. They believe that God has given them a spark of goodness through the Holy Spirit to go forward and do good things. This is the reason God loves them. Furthermore, once this spark is given to them they can't lose it which is NOT what Catholics believe.

Although this sound VERY typical of most Protestants theology today it was not the Reformer's teaching. While I have not read or digest Calvin's entire understanding on this issue, I doubt very strongly if Calvin believe in infused grace. I can understand someone making a case that God infuses us with His righteousness and that is what He looks at which is what I believe you are saying Calvin might have believed.

Hmmmm...this is extremely interesting. I'm rambling now so I'll summarize my thoughts if for no other reason than to bore everyone.

Imputed Grace - God sees man through the len of our Lord Jesus. Man has no good works. Only the works of our Lord Jesus working through us is what God sees. This is true traditional Protestant view. Imputed is used in scripture, not infused.

Infused Grace With Christ - God infuses (imputes) man with Christ's goodness and that is what He sees. Any good works that man does based upon man's choices is because of Christ working. This, I believe, is what you feel Calvin believed. I'm not quite sure I would jump on this bandwagon since infusion is not used in scripture and Calvin was a stickler for detail. However this view is exceeding close to Imputed Grace and I would have to think about this a bit.

Infused Grace With Goodness - God infuses man with Christ's grace and goodness. Man goes off and do good things. This is very similar to the Catholic view except that that man can't lose his salvation. I believe most Protestants today truly fall into this category.

Infused Grace - God infuses man with grace. Man must act upon that grace or be lost. This is the true Catholic view.