What's he saying?
My comment was in response to your "By denying the literal, intended sense of Jesus' Words, you do injustice to the passage." My point was in regard to my opinion of the propensity of Catholicism to take the literal, intended sense of scripture. :)
We must trust in His promises - promises that are in the future - and sometimes, promises that seem pretty far-fetched in the face of what people experience in the world today (for example, if God is so powerful, why do people suffer - this adds a dimension of doubt to the promise...) Thus, even regarding our relationship with God, WE must make a choice, and believe me, it is not automatic for us!
Do you really think that all of God's promises that we must trust in are future promises? What about all the promises that you claim give power to your Church? Are those not ongoing? ... If you believe that God selected His elect, and they cannot be changed, then from His POV, the decision on our part is automatic. Of course, we don't experience that, we believe that we used our free will, when in reality our destiny was settled long before we even existed.
Sorry, I still don't get it. (re: HA! Listen to the pot ... )
If you believe that God selected His elect, and they cannot be changed, then from His POV, the decision on our part is automatic.
Yes, from HIS point of view, His decision will prevail BECAUSE HE foresees our response to His graces, graces that He gives to others, as well. Again, we don't have access to that information. Only when we stand in front of Jesus, and He judges that "OUR righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, will {we} enter the Kingdom of Heaven". While we can have a certain confidence regarding our present, and we can also look to the future - we our hopeful that we will continue and persevere in abiding in Christ.
Of course, we don't experience that, we believe that we used our free will, when in reality our destiny was settled long before we even existed.
Again, you place God in time! God doesn't operate by human calendar. His action is all one simultaneous work that encompasses all of time. Just as Christ is ETERNALLY Begotten, "we" (those who are elect) are ETERNALLY of the elect - because God foreseen our actions and He responded by reaching into time and gracing us, enabling us to continue coming to Him. To God, His initiative and our response is all part of one action.
To God, there is not a calendar that He checks off "Things to do today", and then proceeds to do them. All has been done. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. To HIM, it is complete. To us, it appears that God "operates" first, and then we respond. But to Him, it is all one event. Thus, our response is seen at the same moment as His election of "us".
Regards