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Our turning to the Lord also occurs by grace 10. When God says: Turn to Me, and I will turn to you 65, it seems that one of these deeds is ours, namely, that we turn to Him, and the other is Divine grace, that is, that He also turns to us. Here the Pelagians may hope to preserve their saying that the grace of God will be given according to our merits. Moreover, Pelagius himself did not dare to defend this idea when bishops in the East listened to him, namely in the province of Palestine, where the city of Jerusalem is located. For among the things that were brought against him was the accusation that he said that the grace of God is given according to our merits. This statement seems so alien to Catholic teaching and so hostile to the grace of Christ that if he had not anathematized this position, he himself would have left there anathematized. However, he anathematized this falsely, as his later books show, in which he generally defends only this one position, namely, that the grace of God is given according to our merits. And [the Pelagians] collect the evidence of Scripture, similar to the one I cited a little higher: Turn to Me, and I will turn to you. [affirming at the same time] that according to the merit of our turning to God, His grace is given, in which He Himself turns to us. Those who believe this do not see that if our very turning to God were not a gift from God, then it would not be said to Him: God of hosts, convert us 66; and: God, having converted, You will revive us; and: Convert us, O God of our salvation 67 , and other things of the same kind that would take a long time to remember now. After all, doesn’t coming to Christ mean turning to Him with faith? However, He Himself says: No one can come to Me unless it is given to him by My Father 68 . Objection to the Pelagians who say that the grace of God is given according to our merits 11. It also shows [the presence of a person’s] free decision and what is written in the second book of Chronicles: The Lord is with you when you are with Him, and if you seek Him, you will find; if you leave Him, He will leave you 69. But those who claim that the grace of God is given according to our merits, and this testimony is understood in the sense that, as they say, if we are with God, this is our merit, and according to this merit His grace is given, so that He also remains with us. In the same way, our merit is that we seek Him, and by this merit His grace is given, so that we obtain Him. Also shows the existence of a free decision and what is said in the first book [Chronicles]: And you, Solomon my son, know God and serve Him with a perfect heart and a willing soul, for the Lord searches all hearts and knows every thought of the mind: if you seek Him, you will find Him, and if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever 70 But they are in what is said: If you seek Him, they see the merit of a person, so that supposedly, according to this merit, grace is given, which is said further: Then you will find Him. And generally speaking, they try, as far as possible, to show that grace is given according to our merits, that is, that grace is not grace. For whoever is rewarded according to his merit, his reward is imputed not according to grace, but according to duty, 71 as the apostle clearly says. 12. After all, it is true that the Apostle Paul had merit, only an evil one, when he persecuted the Church, which is why he himself says: I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God 72. So, although he had this evil merit, he was rewarded with good for evil, therefore he further adds: But by the grace of God I am what I am. And in order to also show a free decision, he immediately continues: And His grace in me was not in vain, but I labored more than all of them 73. After all, he arouses this very free decision in others, in those to whom he says: We pray [you] that the grace of God will not be received by you in vain 74 . For why does he beg them if they have so received grace that they have lost their own will? However, so that they do not think that the will itself can do something good without the grace of God, to his words: His grace in me was not in vain, but I worked harder than all of them, he immediately adds: Not I, however, but the grace of God with me 75. that is, not just me, but the grace of God with me. So, not the grace of God alone, and not he alone, but the grace of God together with him. And regarding the fact that he was called from heaven and was converted thanks to this great and effective calling, this was accomplished by grace alone, since he had many merits, but only evil ones. So he himself says to Timothy in another place: I promote the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us with His holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His purpose and grace given to us in Christ Jesus 76 . Also, remembering his evil, and not at all good, merits, he says: For we too were once foolish, disobedient, lost, slaves of lusts and various pleasures, lived in malice and envy, were vile, hated each other 77 . What is due for so many evil services, if not certain punishment? But since God will reward good for evil, by grace, which is not given according to our merits, that [testimony] of which he further adds was accomplished, saying: When the good will and love of our Savior God appeared, He saved us, not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, by the font of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ. our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs according to the hope of eternal life 78 . De gratia et libero arbitrio (CPL 352). Translation based on the publication: Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina. Accurante J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 44, Col. 881–912.