Глава IV

Grace is given to man for every righteous action 12. So, the grace of God does not lie in the nature of a free decision, as well as in law and teaching, as the Pelagian vicissitudes are malicious, but it is supplied for every action (ad singulos actus) by the will of Him about whom it is written: Thou hast shed free rain, O God, on Thy inheritance 35 . After all, we lost the free decision [serving] for the love of God due to the severity of the first sin; also the teaching and law of God, although it is holy, righteous and good, 36 it only kills if it does not give life to the Spirit, 37 thanks to which it happens that the law is fulfilled not in hearing, but in obedience, not in reading, but in love. Therefore, for us to believe in God and live piously, it [depends] not on the one who wishes and not on the one who strives, but on the merciful God 38 . Not because [this is so] that we should not desire and strive, but because He Himself produces in us both desire and action 39 . Therefore, the Lord Jesus Himself, separating believers from unbelievers, that is, separating the vessels of mercy from the vessels of wrath 40, says: No one comes to Me unless it is given to him from My Father 41. And it is known that when He said this, those of His disciples who after that stopped following him were offended in relation to His teaching. So, let us not say that teaching is grace, but let us confess grace, which makes teaching beneficial. And if this grace is absent, then we can easily see that the teaching [only] harms. We pray that the will be corrected and the nature healed 13. Therefore, God, foreknowing all His future deeds in predestination (in praedestinatione praesciverit), distributed in such a way that He converts some non-believers to His faith, heeding the prayers of believers for them. And by this they are refuted, and, if God is favorable to them, corrected, who suppose that the grace of God is the nature of free decision with which we are born, or that the grace of God is a doctrine, however useful it may be, which is preached by language and letters. After all, we do not pray for unbelievers, so that their nature is formed, that is, that they become people, or that a teaching is preached to them, which they listen only to their own harm if they do not believe; moreover, we pray for those who, reading or listening to it, do not want to believe - but we pray that the will will be corrected, agreement with the teaching will appear in it, and the nature will be healed. Why pray for a person to remain good to the end? 14. And believers also pray for themselves, so that they may remain in what they began to be. For it is beneficial for everyone, or almost everyone, that for the sake of the most salutary humility [people] should not know what they are to become. That is why it is said: Whoever thinks he is standing, beware lest he fall 43 . For the sake of this benefit from fear, [serving to ensure that] we, being regenerated and living piously, do not become arrogant, 44 as if being in safety, some of those who are not given to abide, by God's will, or dispensation and determination, are mixed with those who will abide. And we, frightened by their fall, with fear and trembling 45 must advance along the righteous path until from this life, which is a temptation on earth, 46 we pass into another, where there will no longer be a need to suppress exaltation or fight its suggestions and temptations. Stay hidden from everyone until the end 15. But regarding this question, that is, why some of those who are not destined to continue in the Christian faith and holiness, yet receive this grace for a while, why they are allowed to live here until they fall, although they could be raptured from this life, so that malice does not change their minds, 47 as it is written in the book of Wisdom about that saint who died at an early age - let everyone seek [the truth] as best he can, and if he finds besides what stated by me, some other possible basis for this, not deviating from the rule of true faith, let him adhere to this [opinion], and I am ready to agree with him if he does not hide it from me. However, what we have achieved, we will continue to walk in this until, as the Apostolic Epistle 48 convinces us, God reveals to us [something else], if we think about something differently [than we need]. And we have achieved what we know with all certainty that this belongs to the true and catholic faith; and in this, with the help and mercy of Him to whom we say: Guide me, O Lord, in Thy path, and I will walk in Thy truth, 49 we must walk in such a way that we in no way deviate from this. CPL 262 Translation based on the edition: Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina. Accurante J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 33. Col. 978–989. Places with discrepancies were verified with the publication: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vindobonae, 1911.Vol. 57. R. 403–425 Wed: 2 Cor 7:15; Eph 6:5; Phil 2:12. Compare: Job 7 (according to LXX). In Synod.trans.: ...is not man’s time on earth determined? You might be interested in: