We have exactly as much say in our salvation as God wishes to grant us, neither more nor less. Insisting otherwise is making God less than sovereign, thereby robbing him of his glory, and is therefore sin, according to what you just said.
If you want to argue that God wishes us to have exactly no say in our salvation, fine, but you have to establish that from the Scriptures. One Scripture you'll have to contend with is Ez 18:21-24, which to me at least, seems to say that God gives us every chance to have a say in our salvation, right up until the day we die.
If a person is rationally given a choice between heaven and hell, and they can weigh all the options; what path do you think they would choose?
After the fall, none of us are perfectly "rationally" capable of making that choice. All of us are plagued with what Catholic moral theologians call "concupiscence": an unnatural and actually illogical attachment to sin. The more we sin, the more our intellects are darkened by it, until, eventually, hell appears to be an entirely rational choice to some.
So the argument that the reprobate are infallibly predestined to hell apart from foreseen demerits, because otherwise nobody would go there, fails. The human heart is infinitely capable of deceiving itself, including the deception that "hell is worth it".
Really, Scripture lays the whole thing out for you in perfect clarity in one verse: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus Our Lord [Rom 6:23]
Wages are things earned. Death, that is, eternal death, is the wage of sin, that is, it is earned by sin. It is not simply infallibly decreed, it must be earned.
For the blessed, OTOH, heaven is infallibly decreed and is pure gift. It is infallibly decreed to them because they did not earn hell. The reason they did not earn hell is because, with God's help, they accepted the grace God offered them. (Sufficient grace was also offered to the reprobate, but the reprobate refused it.)
Thus the reprobate has only himself to blame for his damnation. The saint has only God to thank for his salvation.
“If a person is rationally given a choice between heaven and hell, and they can weigh all the options; what path do you think they would choose?”
“After the fall, none of us are perfectly “rationally” capable of making that choice. All of us are plagued with what Catholic moral theologians call “concupiscence”: an unnatural and actually illogical attachment to sin. The more we sin, the more our intellects are darkened by it, until, eventually, hell appears to be an entirely rational choice to some.”
To put it into visible terms: If a person is rationally given a choice between crack cocaine and self-control, and they can weigh all the options; what path do you think they would choose?
Many choose habits that are not good for them. Overeating, lack of exercise, smoking, drinking, drugs, gambling, laziness - all sorts of self-destructive sins that everyone knows, before starting, are self-destructive.
Of course, with no free will, they are all just things we do because God requires it of us. To deny that is to rob God of the glory of His Sovereignty, and is Sin - except it is a Sin God requires me to do...oh, it makes my head hurt!
Wow! Very well said, Campion! Thank you!
No one is arguing that point. In fact, if you look back on the discussion, we are saying that God has to grant that our eyes may be opened and our ears would be able to hear. Once He does so then we will make the choice and that choice will ALWAYS be for God.
You cannot come to repentance without God granting it to you (2 Tim 2:25). The fact that not everyone comes to repentance is evidence that God does not grant repentance to everyone. Our Lord stated this:
There are obviously those who Christ did not come to call. Who precisely was He talking about?
Thus the reprobate has only himself to blame for his damnation. The saint has only God to thank for his salvation.
NON-REFORMED ALERT-I'll offer an opinion that I personally hold (so don't blame this on the Reformation). There is very little scripture that talks about it. I'll go out on a limb here and say that I don't think the reprobate will blame himself for his damnation. (Not unlike Democrats.) I suspect they will be far more satisfied in hell then they would be in heaven. And this includes all the torment that they will face. The rich man in the story of the rich man and Lazarus never asked to be removed from hell. Instead he asked that father Abraham would give him a drop of water. That to me seems like an odd request if you were able to ask one thing. There are simply those who would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven.
This is the true nature of man. This is what we're all about. We are constantly rebellious and fight against the love of God who is everything beautiful and splendid. And if Christians REALLY examined themselves, we would see how far we fall short of the glory of God. The only thing we have going for us is the Holy Spirit who tries very, very hard to keep us on the straight and narrow. Considering all the things we should do that we don't do and the things we shouldn't do that we do, it's a wonder that God's Spirit just doesn't throw up His hands in frustration. Peter knew this and warned Christians:
I would phrase your statement a bit differently. The reprobate has only his human nature to blame for his damnation. The saint has only the works of Christ to thank for his salvation.