On Rebuke and Grace 11–13

What then? Did Adam not have the grace of God? On the contrary, he had great grace, but different. He was among goods which he had received from the goodness of his Creator; for he had not acquired those goods by his own merits either, and in them he suffered no evil at all. But the saints in this life, to whom this grace of deliverance belongs, are among evils, from which they cry to God, “Deliver us from evil.” He, among those goods, did not need the death of Christ; these the blood of that Lamb absolves from guilt both inherited and their own. He had no need of that help which these implore when they say: “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive in the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” For in them the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and, labouring and endangered in such a contest, they ask that the strength to fight and conquer be given them through the grace of Christ. But he, tempted and troubled by no such strife of himself against himself, enjoyed his own peace in that place of blessedness. Therefore these, though they need a grace not more joyful for the present, yet more powerful; and what is more powerful than the only-begotten Son of God, equal to the Father and co-eternal, made man for them, and, without any sin of his own, original or personal, crucified by sinful men? Though he rose on the third day, never to die again, yet he suffered death for mortals, he who gave life to the dead, so that, redeemed by his blood, having received so great and such a pledge, they might say, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how has he not with him also given us all things?” God, then, took up our nature, that is, the rational soul and flesh of the man Christ, by a taking-up singularly wonderful or wonderfully singular, so that, with no preceding merits of his own righteousness, he was the Son of God from the beginning in which he began to be man, so that he and the Word, which is without beginning, were one person. For no one is so blind with ignorance of this matter and of the faith as to dare to say that, though born the son of man of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, he nevertheless deserved to be the Son of God by free choice, by living well and doing good works without sin, when the Gospel resists him and says, “The Word was made flesh.” For where was this done but in the virginal womb, where the man Christ had his beginning? Again, when the Virgin asked how what was announced to her by the angel would come about, the angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy One who will be born of you will be called the Son of God.” “Therefore,” he says: not because of works, which certainly do not exist in one not yet born, but because “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, the Holy One who will be born of you will be called the Son of God.” That birth, surely given freely, joined man to God, flesh to the Word, in the unity of a person. Good works followed that birth; good works did not merit it. Nor was there any fear that, human nature having been taken up by God the Word in this ineffable way into unity of person, it would sin by free choice of the will, since the taking-up itself was such that the nature of man so taken up by God would admit in itself no movement of evil will. Through this Mediator God shows that he makes those whom he has redeemed by his blood good for ever thereafter from evil, he whom he so took up that he was never evil and, not having been made good from evil, was always good. This grace the first man did not have, by which he would never will to be evil; but he did have a grace in which, if he had willed to remain, he would never have been evil, and without which, even with free choice, he could not be good, but which nevertheless he could forsake by free choice. Not even him, then, did God will to be without his grace, which he left in his free choice. For free choice is sufficient for evil, but for good it is too little, unless it is helped by the omnipotent Good. If that man had not forsaken this help by free choice, he would always have been good; but he forsook it and was forsaken. For it was a help of such a kind that he could forsake it when he willed, and remain in it if he willed; not one by which it would come about that he willed. This is the first grace, which was given to the first Adam; but more powerful than this is that in the second Adam. For the first is that by which it comes about that a man has righteousness if he wills; the second, then, can do more, by which it even comes about that he wills, and wills so much, and loves with such ardour, that by the will of the spirit he overcomes the will of the flesh lusting against it. Nor was that first grace indeed small, by which even the power of free choice was shown, since he was so helped that without this help he would not remain in good, but could forsake this help if he willed. But this second grace is so much greater that it is too little for man to recover his lost freedom through it, too little, finally, that without it he can neither lay hold of the good nor remain in the good if he wills, unless it is also brought about that he wills. At that time, then, God had given man a good will; for he had made him in it, having made him upright; he had given him help without which he could not remain in it if he willed; but that he should will he left in his free choice. He could, then, remain if he willed, because the help was not lacking by which he could, and without which he could not perseveringly hold the good he willed. But because he did not will to remain, the fault is certainly his, whose merit it would have been if he had willed to remain; as the holy angels did, who, when others fell by free choice, themselves stood by that same free choice, and deserved to receive the due reward of this remaining, namely so great a fullness of blessedness that it is most certain to them that they will always remain in it. But if this help had been lacking to angel or man when they were first made, since their nature was not made such that it could remain without divine help if it willed, they would certainly not have fallen by their own fault; for the help would have been lacking without which they could not remain. But now, for those who lack such help, it is already the punishment of sin; and to those to whom it is given, it is given according to grace, not according to debt; and through Jesus Christ our Lord it is given so much more fully to those to whom it has pleased God to give it, that not only is that present without which we cannot remain even if we will, but it is so great and such that we will. For by this grace of God it comes about in us, in receiving the good and holding it perseveringly, not only that we can do what we will, but also that we will what we can. This was not so in the first man: one of these was in him, the other was not. For to receive the good he did not need grace, because he had not yet lost it; but to remain in it he needed the help of grace, without which he could not do so at all; and he had received the ability if he willed, but did not have the will to do what he could; for if he had had it, he would have persevered. For he could persevere if he willed; that he did not will came from free choice, which was then so free that it could will both well and ill. But what will be freer than free choice when it is unable to serve sin? This would have been the reward of merit for man too, as it has been for the holy angels. But now, good merit having been lost through sin, in those who are set free there has become a gift of grace what would have been the reward of merit.

Therefore we must consider carefully and attentively how these pairs differ from each other: to be able not to sin, and not to be able to sin; to be able not to die, and not to be able to die; to be able not to forsake the good, and not to be able to forsake the good. For the first man was able not to sin, was able not to die, was able not to forsake the good. Shall we say, “He was not able to sin,” who had such free choice? Or, “He was not able to die,” to whom it was said, “If you sin, you shall surely die”? Or, “He was not able to forsake the good,” when he did forsake it by sinning, and therefore died? The first freedom of the will, then, was to be able not to sin; the last will be much greater, not to be able to sin. The first immortality was to be able not to die; the last will be much greater, not to be able to die. The first was the power of perseverance, to be able not to forsake the good; the last will be the happiness of perseverance, not to be able to forsake the good. Because the last goods will be preferable and better, were those first ones therefore nothing or small? Likewise the helps themselves must be distinguished. One kind is the help without which something does not come about, another the help by which something comes about. For without food we cannot live, and yet when food is present it does not bring it about that one who has willed to die lives. The help of food, then, is one without which it does not come about that we live, not one by which it comes about. But blessedness, which a man does not have, makes him blessed at once when it has been given. For it is a help not only without which it does not come about, but also by which that comes about for which it is given. Therefore this help is both one by which it comes about and one without which it does not come about; because if blessedness is given to a man he at once becomes blessed, and if it is never given he never will be. But food does not of itself bring it about that a man lives; yet without it he cannot live. To the first man, then, who in that good in which he had been made upright had received the ability not to sin, the ability not to die, the ability not to forsake that very good, there was given a help to perseverance, not by which it would come about that he persevered, but without which he could not persevere by free choice. But now to the saints predestined to the kingdom of God by the grace of God there is given not such a help to perseverance, but such that perseverance itself is given them; not only so that without this gift they cannot be persevering, but also so that through this gift they are nothing but persevering. For he not only said, “Without me you can do nothing,” but also said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” By these words he showed that he had given them not only righteousness but also perseverance in it. For when Christ so appoints them that they go and bear fruit and their fruit remains, who would dare to say, “It will not remain”? Who would dare to say, “Perhaps it will not remain”? “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”; but the calling of those who are called according to his purpose. Since Christ intercedes for these, that their faith may not fail, without doubt it will not fail to the end; and therefore it will persevere to the end, and the end of this life will find it only remaining. For a greater freedom is necessary against so many and so great temptations, which did not exist in paradise, a freedom fortified and strengthened by the gift of perseverance, so that this world may be overcome with all its loves, terrors, and errors: the martyrdoms of the saints have taught this. Then he, with no one terrifying him, and moreover using free choice against the command of a God who warned him with terror, did not stand in such happiness, in such ease of not sinning; but these, with the world, I do not say terrifying them, but raging so that they should not stand, stood in the faith; while he saw the present goods he was going to leave, and these did not see the future goods they were going to receive. Whence this, but by the gift of him from whom they obtained mercy to be faithful, from whom they received the spirit not of fear, by which they would yield to their persecutors, but of power and love and self-control, by which they overcame all threats, all allurements, all tortures? To him, then, a free will without any sin was given, with which he was created, and he made it serve sin; but the will of these, when it had been the slave of sin, was set free by him who said, “If the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed.” And they receive through this grace so great a freedom that, although as long as they live here they fight against the lusts of sins, and some steal upon them, for which they say daily, “Forgive us our debts,” yet they no longer serve the sin that is unto death, of which the apostle John says, “There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he should pray for it.” About this sin, since it is not specified, many different opinions are possible; but I say that this sin is to forsake, until death, the faith that works through love. To this sin they no longer serve, not free by their first condition, as he was, but set free by the grace of God through the second Adam, and by this deliverance having free choice by which to serve God, not by which to be taken captive by the devil. For having been set free from sin they have become slaves of righteousness, in which they will stand to the end, he giving them perseverance who foreknew them, and predestined, and called according to his purpose, and justified, and glorified; since he has already made even the future things that he promised concerning them; and Abraham believed him when he promised, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. For he gave glory to God, most fully believing, as it is written, “that what he had promised he was able also to do.” He himself, then, makes them good so that they do good. For he did not promise them to Abraham because he foreknew that they would be good of themselves. For if that were so, what he promised would be not his own but theirs. But Abraham did not believe so; rather, “he was not weak in faith, giving glory to God, and most fully believing that what he had promised he was able also to do.” He does not say, “What he foreknew he was able to promise,” or, “What he foretold he was able to show,” or, “What he promised he was able to foreknow,” but, “What he had promised he was able also to do.” He himself, then, makes them persevere in good who makes them good. But those who fall and perish were not in the number of the predestined. Although, then, the Apostle was speaking of all the regenerate who live godly when he said, “Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls,” yet he at once looked to the predestined and said, “But he will stand”; and lest they should claim this for themselves, he says, “for God is able to make him stand.” He himself, then, gives perseverance, who is able to make those who stand stand most perseveringly, or to restore those who have fallen; for the Lord raises up those who are crushed. That the first man, then, did not receive this gift of God, that is, perseverance in good, but that persevering or not persevering was left to his choice, his will, which had been established without any sin, had such strength, and nothing in him resisted him from himself by concupiscence, that the choice of persevering was fittingly entrusted to so great a goodness and so great an ease of living well: God indeed foreknowing what he would do unjustly; foreknowing, yet not forcing him to it; but at the same time knowing what he himself would justly do concerning him. But now, after that great freedom was lost by the merit of sin, the weakness that remained had to be helped by even greater gifts. For it pleased God, in order most fully to extinguish the pride of human presumption, “that no flesh should glory before him,” that is, no man. And of what should flesh not glory before him, if not of its merits? Which it could indeed have had, but lost; and by that through which it could have them, by that it lost them, that is, by free choice; so that nothing remains for those to be set free but the grace of the deliverer. So no flesh glories before him. For the unrighteous do not glory, since they have nothing to glory of; nor the righteous, since they have it from him, and have no glory of their own but him, to whom they say, “My glory, and the lifter of my head.” And therefore what is written belongs to every man, “that no flesh should glory before him”; but to the righteous belongs this: “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” For the Apostle shows this most plainly, who, when he had said, “that no flesh should glory before him,” at once added, lest the saints should think they had been left without glory, “But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’” Hence it is that in this place of miseries, where human life is a trial upon earth, power is made perfect in weakness: what power, but that he who glories should glory in the Lord? And therefore not even of perseverance in good did God want his saints to glory in their own strength, but in him; who gives them not only such a help as he gave the first man, without which they cannot persevere if they will, but also works in them to will; so that, since they will not persevere unless they both can and will, both the ability and the will to persevere may be given them by the bounty of divine grace. For their will is so kindled by the Holy Spirit that they can because they so will, and so will because God works that they will. For if, in such weakness of this life (in which weakness, however, power had to be made perfect to repress pride), their own will were left to them, so that they would remain in the help of God without which they could not persevere, if they willed, and God did not work in them that they willed, among so many and so great temptations the will itself would give way through its weakness, and therefore they could not persevere, because, failing through weakness, they would not will, or would not will so firmly, through the weakness of the will, that they could. Help was given, then, to the weakness of the human will, so that it might be moved by divine grace without turning aside and without being overcome, and therefore, though weak, it might not fail nor be overcome by any adversity. So it came about that the weak and feeble will of man persevered by the power of God in a good still small; while the strong and sound will of the first man, having the strength of free choice, did not persevere in a greater good; although the help of God was not lacking without which he could not persevere if he willed, yet it was not such that God worked in him that he willed. To the strongest, indeed, he left and permitted to do what he willed; for the weak he reserved that by his gift they should most invincibly will what is good and most invincibly refuse to forsake it. When Christ says, then, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail,” let us understand that it was said to one who is built upon the rock. And so the man of God, not only because he obtained mercy to be faithful, but also because faith itself does not fail, “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

I am speaking of those who are predestined to the kingdom of God, whose number is so certain that no one is added to them or taken from them; not of those who, when he had announced and spoken, “were multiplied beyond number.” For these can be called called, but not chosen, because they are not called according to his purpose. That the number of the elect is certain, neither to be increased nor diminished, John the Baptist too indicates when he says, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance, and do not say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father’; for God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham,” so as to show that these are to be cut off if they do not bear fruit in such a way that the number promised to Abraham will not be lacking; yet it is said more plainly in the Apocalypse, “Hold fast what you have, lest another take your crown.” For if another is not going to receive it unless this one loses it, the number is certain. But that these things are said even to saints who will persevere, as if it were uncertain whether they will persevere, they ought to hear in no other way than this: it is good for them not to be high-minded, but to fear. For who, out of the multitude of believers, as long as one lives in this mortality, may presume that he is in the number of the predestined? For it is necessary that this be hidden in this place, where pride must be so guarded against that even so great an apostle was buffeted by an angel of Satan lest he be lifted up. Hence it was said to the apostles, “If you remain in me,” by him who certainly knew that they would remain. And through the prophet, “If you are willing and listen to me,” though he knew in whom he would work even to will. And many similar things are said. For because of the usefulness of this secret, lest anyone be lifted up, but that all, even those who run well, may fear, while it is hidden who will arrive: because of the usefulness of this secret, then, it must be believed that some of the sons of perdition, not having received the gift of perseverance to the end, begin to live in the faith that works through love, and live faithfully and righteously for some time, and afterwards fall, and are not taken from this life before this happens to them. If this had happened to none of them, men would have that most wholesome fear, by which the fault of pride is suppressed, only until they reached the grace of Christ by which one lives godly, and from then on they would be secure that they would never fall from him. Such presumption is not good in this place of temptations, where there is such weakness that security could breed pride. In the end this too will be; but then, what already is in the angels will also be in men, when there can be no pride at all. The number of the saints, then, predestined by the grace of God to the kingdom of God, with perseverance to the end also given them, will be brought there whole, and there, most whole, will be kept for ever most blessed, the mercy of their Saviour cleaving to them, whether when they are converted, or when they fight, or when they are crowned. For holy Scripture testifies that God's mercy will be necessary to them even then, where a holy man says to his soul of the Lord his God, “who crowns you with compassion and mercy.” The apostle James also says, “Judgment without mercy to him who has shown no mercy”; where he shows that even in that judgment in which the righteous are crowned and the unrighteous condemned, some are to be judged with mercy, others without mercy. That is why the mother of the Maccabees also says to her son, “that in that mercy I may receive you with your brothers.” For when the righteous king, as it is written, sits on his throne, no evil will stand against him. Who will glory that he has a chaste heart? Or who will glory that he is clean from sin? And therefore even there the mercy of God is necessary, by which he is made blessed to whom the Lord has not imputed sin. But then mercy itself will also be bestowed by just judgment according to the merits of good works. For when it is said, “Judgment without mercy to him who has shown no mercy,” it is shown that in those in whom good works of mercy are found, judgment takes place with mercy; and therefore that mercy itself is rendered to the merits of good works. It is not so now, when his mercy goes before a man, not only with no good works, but with many evil works preceding, so that he may be set free from evils, both those he has done and those he would have done unless he were governed by the grace of God, and those he would have suffered for ever unless he were rescued from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. Yet, since eternal life itself, which it is certain is rendered as due to good works, is called by so great an apostle the grace of God, although grace is not rendered to works but given freely, it must be confessed without any doubt that eternal life is called grace because it is rendered to merits which grace has conferred on man. For what is read in the Gospel, “grace for grace,” is rightly understood of it, that is, for those merits which grace conferred. But those who do not belong to this number of the predestined, whom the grace of God brings to the kingdom, whether they do not yet have any free choice of their own will, or with a choice of will truly free because set free by that very grace: those, then, who do not belong to this most certain and most happy number are most justly judged according to their merits. For either they lie under the sin which they drew by origin through their generation, and depart hence with that hereditary debt, which has not been remitted by regeneration; or by free choice they have added others besides: a choice, I say, free, but not set free; free from righteousness, but the slave of sin, by which they are rolled about through various harmful desires, some more, some less, but all evil, and to be judged with different punishments according to that very difference. Or they receive the grace of God, but they are temporary and do not persevere; they forsake and are forsaken. For they have been left to their free choice, not having received the gift of perseverance, by the just and hidden judgment of God.