Глава VI

After grace is given, our good merits begin to appear 13. These and similar Divine testimonies prove that the grace of God is not given according to our merits: after all, we see that it was given and is given daily not only without any good merit [of man], but even with numerous previous evil merits. But it is clear that when it is given, our good merits also begin to appear, having their basis in it, for if it is removed, man will fall, not raised up, but overthrown by his free decision. Therefore, even when a person begins to have good merits, he should attribute them not to himself, but to God, to whom the psalm says: Be my helper, do not leave me 79. By saying: do not forsake me, [a person] shows that if he is abandoned, then on his own he will not be capable of anything good: therefore, in another place it is said: I said in my abundance: I will never move 80. For he believed that he had his own goods, and in such abundance that he would not move. And so, in order to show him Whose goodness is, which he began to boast as his own, grace little by little began to leave him, and he, having come to his senses, says: Lord, by Your will You gave strength to my kindness, and when You turned Your face away from me, I became confused 81 . Therefore, it is necessary for a person that the grace of God not only justifies the wicked, that is, makes him righteous from the wicked, rewarding him with good for his evil, but also that, when he is already justified by faith, he lives with this grace and leans on it, so as not to fall. Therefore, in the book of Song of Songs it is written about the Church itself: Who is this who ascends white, leaning on his beloved? 82 The one who cannot become white on her own is whitened. And by whom is it made white, if not by Him who speaks through the prophet: Though your sins be as purple, they will be white as snow 83? So, she did not deserve the fact that she was whitened by any good, but having become white, she already lives in goodness, if only she constantly relies on the One by whom she was whitened. Therefore, Jesus Himself, on whom the white woman leans, said to His disciples: Without Me you can do nothing 84 . 14. So, let us return to the Apostle Paul, who, as we find, being deprived of all good merits and, in addition, having many evil merits, acquired the grace of God, who repays good for evil. Let's see what the apostle says already at the approach of his suffering [for Christ], turning to Timothy. For I, he says, am already becoming a victim, and the time for my resolution has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith 85. It is clear that here he is already remembering his good services; and the one who, after evil merits, was deemed worthy to receive grace, after good merits received a crown. However, look carefully at what follows: And now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which on that day the Lord, the righteous Judge, will reward me 86 . Will a righteous Judge reward someone with a crown if the merciful Father does not first give grace? How is this crown of righteousness possible if it is not preceded by grace, which justifies the wicked? How will what is owed (debita) be repaid if what is given freely (gratuita) is not first given? Eternal life is rewarded for the merits bestowed by God 15. But since the Pelagians say that only that grace is given independently of our merits by which a person’s sins are forgiven; the same grace that is bestowed at the end, that is, eternal life, is rewarded for our previous merits, then here too we should give them a worthy answer. After all, if they understood our merits in such a way that they recognized them as gifts of God, then there would be no need to reject the above position, but since they preach about human merits in the sense that, as they say, a person has the latter on his own, the apostle very rightly answers them: For who sets you apart? What do you have that you wouldn't get? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it? 87 Truly, to those who think like this, we can say this: God crowns His gifts, and not your merits, if these merits you have from yourself, and not from Him. For if they are such, then they are evil, and God does not crown them, but if they are good, then they are gifts of God, because, as the Apostle James says: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights 88 . Therefore, John, the Forerunner of the Lord, says: A person cannot accept anything unless it is given to him from heaven 89 . And it’s understandable why from heaven, because from there the Holy Spirit came, after Jesus ascended on high, took captivity captive, and gave gifts to men 90. So, if your good merits are gifts of God, then God crowns your merits not as your merits, but as His gifts. 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.