485. VI. Without free will in spiritual matters man would have no means of establishing a mutual link with the Lord. The result would be not imputation, but complete predestination, which is a detestable doctrine.

It was fully shown in the chapter on faith that without free will in spiritual matters no one could possibly possess either charity or faith, much less the two linked together. From this it follows that without free will in spiritual matters man would have nothing by which the Lord could link Himself to him; yet without a reciprocal link there could be no reformation or regeneration, and consequently salvation would be impossible. It is an irrefutable consequence that without a reciprocal link of man with the Lord and of the Lord with man there could be no imputation. Many things have followed from the attempt to prove that without free will in spiritual matters there can be no imputation of good and evil. These aberrant doctrines will be discussed in the last part of this book [Chapter 11] dealing with the heresies, paradoxes and contradictions which stem from the present-day belief that the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Saviour is imputed to man.

704. Anyone who has received enlightenment from heaven can perceive for himself that flesh here does not mean flesh, neither does blood mean blood, but that both in the natural sense mean the passion on the cross, of which they are a memorial. Therefore Jesus said when He instituted the Supper as the last celebration of the Jewish passover and the first of the Christian Easter ¹ :

Do this in remembrance of me, Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25.

Likewise bread does not mean bread, neither does wine mean wine, but in the natural sense they mean much the same as flesh and blood, that is to say, His passion on the cross. For we read:

Jesus broke bread and gave it to the disciples, and said, This is my body. And taking the cup, he gave it to them, saying, This is my blood. Matt. chapter 26; Mark chapter 14; Luke chapter 22.

He also for this reason called the passion on the cross 'a cup' (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; John 18:11).

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