The fact that even the great St. Paul still had to fight against the temptations of the flesh - despite his regenerated status. In other words, God did not take control of St. Paul's will to desire the things of the spirit entirely. He had to battle, in fear and trembling. The path to Christ is a narrow one, FK. St. Thomas Aquinas said that grace does not overwhelm nature. We must continue to fight - it is a slow process that CAN end in failure. This is not in line with Calvinist teachings.
Regards
The fact that even the great St. Paul still had to fight against the temptations of the flesh - despite his regenerated status. In other words, God did not take control of St. Paul's will to desire the things of the spirit entirely. He had to battle, in fear and trembling. The path to Christ is a narrow one, FK.
Well, I don't have any problem with the idea that we struggle. I know I do. Of course we are all engaged in spiritual warfare against the evil one while we are on earth. My side doesn't think that God takes control of our will to be sinless after salvation. We couldn't defend that in a million years.
I agree that the path is indeed narrow. So, I like Paul's teachings in Romans 7 just fine. :) I don't agree with you that a true salvation can end in failure, but I don't see Paul arguing that it can either. Paul is describing sanctification and how it works.