so that abandonment on the part of the abandoned, and as far as they are concerned, is complete. However, on God’s part, and as far as he is concerned, it is almost complete, except for a thin and intangible little thread, an influx or rather an afflux and (so to speak) circumambient flux or near flux by which he saves and keeps them for himself. The desertion of the elect after the calling (which at that point is not decisive or in any way complete) consists of sin, temptation, an external cross