salvation by grace (the irony)

Originally posted by vistesd
Grace is something offered without being merited. Or else, one is really talking about an exchange, a transaction.

To say that something (e.g., salvation) is “merited through grace” is just to say that it is merited through that which is not merited. To say that the means of receiving grace are also given by grace just adds an epicycle—to which another ...[text shortened]... dience or disobedience. Saying that any of these are also given by grace does not change that.

I think the ideas of "merit" is fundamentally flawed anyway. The idea that God looks down and says to himself "Ok , that bloke there is righteous enough but bloke B doesn't quite cut the mustard" is false.

You are right in that I am being quite poetic in my use of these terms.