About grace and free decision

The anti-Pelagian treatise “On Grace and Free Decision” (24 chapters) was written by Bl. Aurelius Augustine in 426-427. The essay is addressed to the monks of the monastery in Adrumet and directly to their abbot Valentin. The teaching on the role of Divine grace, set forth by Bl. Augustine in a letter to the Roman presbyter Sixtus (Letter 194), caused controversy among the monastic community. This theory called into question the question of the monastic desire to grow in perfection and to achieve unity with God: if free will matters so little in the life of a Christian, then what is the point of the monks choosing an ascetic life? The Bishop of Hippo responded with this essay and Letters 214, 215. The treatise defines free will, good deeds and reward, and emphasizes human responsibility. The author in his reasoning relies on the Holy Scripture, which prescribes us to perform certain types of actions and refrain from performing others. The Bible's commandments and warnings would be meaningless if there were no free will. The consequence of free will is good deeds in accordance with the prescriptions of the Divine commandments, ignorance of which is no excuse for a person. The purpose of the commandments is to serve a person’s growth in faith. Blzh. Augustine explains that grace is absolutely necessary when doing good. Without the assistance of grace, free will is insufficient to fulfill the law. Transformed by grace, the human will becomes good. Turning to God, through which a person freely manifests the will to good, is in itself a gift of grace. Grace is not a reward for merit: it is its effect, not its cause. Grace is the gift of God, thanks to which a person becomes righteous through faith in Christ. It accomplishes the fulfillment of the law, the liberation of nature, and the removal of the dominion of sin. *The title of the work in Latin is De gratia et libero arbitrio ad Valentinum. To Valentin and the Adrumetian monks who labor with him, in one book 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.