ed to eternity cannot
possibly be made perfect in an instant?

339. Thence it is evident now that all who give thought to salvation for
their life's sake do not think of an instantaneous salvation by immediate
mercy. Their thought is about the means to salvation, on and by which the
Lord acts in accord with the laws of His divine providence, and thus by
which man is led by the Lord out of pure mercy. Those, however, who do
not think of salvation for their life's sake presume an instantaneousness
in salvation and an immediacy in mercy, as do those who, separating faith
from charity (charity is life), presume that faith can be instantaneous,
at the final hour of death, if not earlier. Those do this, too, who
believe remission of sins without any repentance to be absolution from
sins and thus salvation, when attending the Holy Supper. So again those
do who trust to indulgences of monks, their prayers for the dead, and the
dispensations they grant by the authority which they claim over the souls
of men.

340. (iv) _Instantaneous salvation by unmediated mercy is the flying
fiery serpent in the church._ By a flying fiery serpent evil aglow with
infernal fire is meant, as it is by the flying fiery serpent in Isaiah:

Rejoice not, all Philistia, that the rod which smote you is broken, for
out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, whose fruit is a
flying fiery serpent (14:29).

Evil of the kind is flying about in the church when belief is put in
instantaneous salvation by immediate mercy, for this 1. abolishes
religion; 2. induces security; and 3. charges condemnation to the Lord.

[2] First: _It abolishes religion._ Two things are the essentials and at
the same time the universals of religion, namely, acknowledgment of God,
and repentance. Neither has meaning for those who believe that they are
saved out of mercy alone no matter how they live. What need then to do
more than cry, "Have mercy on me, O God"? In all else pertaining to
religion they are in darkness, even loving the darkness. In regard to the
first essential of the church, which is an acknowledgment of God, they
only think, "What is God? Who has seen Him?" If told that God is, and is
one, they say that He is one; if told there are three, they also say
there are three, but the three must be called one. Such is their
acknowledgment of God.

[3] Touching the church's second essential, namely, repentance, they give
this no thought, nor thought to any s