In his Against Heresies, Irenaeus of Lyons
wrote the following which mirrors “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23):
Moreover, we learn from the Scripture itself,
that God gave circumcision, not as the completer of righteousness, but as a
sign, that the race of Abraham might continue recognisable. For it declares:
"God said unto Abraham, Every male among you shall be circumcised; and ye
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, as a token of the covenant between
Me and you." This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with regard to the
Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them,
that they might know that I am the Lord, that sanctify them." And in
Exodus, God says to Moses: "And ye shall observe My Sabbaths; for it shall
be a sign between Me and you for your generations." These things, then,
were given for a sign; but the signs were not unsymbolical, that is, neither
unmeaning nor to no purpose, inasmuch as they were given by a wise Artist; but
the circumcision after the flesh typified that after the Spirit. For
"we," says the apostle, "have been circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands." And the prophet declares,
"Circumcise the hardness of your heart." But the Sabbaths taught that
we should continue day by day in God's service. "For we have been
counted," says the Apostle Paul, "all the day long as sheep for the
slaughter;" that is, consecrated [to God], and ministering continually to
our faith, and persevering in it, and abstaining from all avarice, and not
acquiring or possessing treasures upon earth. Moreover, the Sabbath of God
(requietio Dei), that is, the kingdom, was, as it were, indicated by created
things; in which [kingdom], the man who
shall have persevered in serving God (Deo assistere) shall, in a state of rest,
partake of God's table. (Against Heresies, 4.16.1)
That
Irenaeus held to a synergistic understanding of soteriology can be seen in the
previous section:
And not only so, but the Lord also showed
that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their
hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when,
on their saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing of
divorcement, and to send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of
the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the
beginning it was not so;" thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant,
but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and
reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore it was that they
received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature. But
why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also are
the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been
mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, "But these things I say, not the
Lord." And again: "But this I speak by permission, not by
commandment." And again: "Now, as concerning virgins, I have no
commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained
mercy of the Lord to be faithful." But further, in another place he says:
"That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence." If, therefore, even
in the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain precepts in
consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence of some, lest
such persons, having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of their
salvation, should become apostates from God,--it ought not to be wondered at,
if also in the Old Testament the same God permitted similar indulgences for the
benefit of His people, drawing them on by means of the ordinances already
mentioned, so that they might obtain the gift of salvation through them, while
they obeyed the Decalogue, and being restrained by Him, should not revert to
idolatry, nor apostatize from God, but learn to love Him with the whole heart.
And if certain persons, because of the disobedient and ruined Israelites, do
assert that the giver (doctor) of the law was limited in power, they will find
in our dispensation, that "many are called, but few chosen;" and that
there are those who inwardly are wolves, yet wear sheep's clothing in the eyes
of the world (foris); and that God has
always preserved freedom, and the power of self-government in man, while at
the same time He issued His own exhortations, in order that those who do not
obey Him should be righteously judged (condemned) because they have not obeyed
Him; and that those who have obeyed and believed on Him should be honoured with
immortality. (Against Heresies, 4.15.2)
With respect
to the section in bold, the Protestant translators of the Ante Nicene Fathers
wrote the following admitting it affirms free-will:
Note this stout assertion of the freedom of
human actions. (ANF 1:480)
