De duobus operibus Dei, id est conditionis et restaurationis, in quibus exercendus est animus, ne a mundo distrahatur.
Two Works of God
God's works are ordered to humanity's creation and restoration, yet only the restorative work is given to the elect, and God chose a way suited to human weakness.
All the works of God were made for the sake of the human person — both those that belong to the first creation of the human person, and those that were done for the human person's restoration. The creation of the world — that is, of heaven and earth, and of all things recorded to have been made by God in the beginning — belongs to the creation of the human person. The restoration of the human person belongs to the Incarnation of the Word, and to everything that either preceded it from the beginning to prefigure and foretell it, or that has happened from then on, all the way to the end of the world, to proclaim and make it believable. Now with respect to those first works that belong to the creation of the human person, God is the God of all, because he created all things himself and gives these temporal goods without distinction to good and bad alike; but with respect to those works that belong to the restoration of the human person, he has not willed to be the God of all, but only of those whom he chose, before the ages of the world, by the purpose of his good will, so that he might call them at the appointed time, and justify them, and glorify them in his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why in sacred Scripture God names himself specifically as the God of certain people, as when he says, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' — because, as it was said, the one who created all things does not redeem all things, but saves some through mercy, and condemns others through justice. Therefore, the things that were done for the restoration of the human person do not apply to everyone, but only to those who are being saved. And just as they are not for everyone, so too they were not done in the presence of everyone, nor have they come to everyone's knowledge, but they were done in certain specific places, and at certain times, and with certain persons, arranged for this purpose according to the depth of God's counsel. For although God, by his omnipotence, could have used many other means for the restoration of the human person, he chose above all the one that was, more than any other, suited to our weakness, so that he might fulfill the work of his mercy not only powerfully and justly, but also wisely.
Grace Restores Free Will
Where the first human fell by free will without struggle, the redeemed rise again by free will moved by grace, so that merit for unhuman happiness is from us, but merit for eternal happiness is from God.
The first human abandoned their Creator when they could still see him face to face through contemplation; now, though, a person seeks through faith the Creator they can no longer see directly. The first human could have stood firm without struggle, yet fell by their own will; now, though, a person rises back to God by that same will, even through suffering. So the plan of divine providence for our restoration is perfectly ordered: the one who fell by their own will must rise again, not by force, but by their own free choice; and the one who was weakened through free will won't regain health until they will to be healed through that same free will. But this willing doesn't come from us; rather, God himself works it within us. For God's grace goes before us and stirs up our free will so that it can will to be healed, because the same person who could by their own power will to become weak can't by their own power will to be healed. This, then, is what is now being worked out in the elect: that in this present life they're being prepared for the blessedness to come, so that a person placed in this unhappiness may deserve to rise to that happiness, just as the first human, placed in that happiness, deserved to fall into this unhappiness. And yet that merit by which a person deserved to be unhappy came solely from the human being. But this merit, by which one deserves eternal happiness, doesn't come from the human being; rather, the grace of God works it within the person.
Hiddenness That Tests Faith
God reveals himself enough to nourish faith yet remains hidden so that faith may be tested and unbelief not prematurely condemned, leading believers through faith toward future openness.
So it's not without reason that God, when he calls humanity back from the blindness of ignorance after sin, holds back his self-revelation in such a way that he does become known, yet always remains hidden. For if he had revealed himself to people so openly that no one could doubt him, then neither would faith have its merit, nor would unbelief have any room. He makes himself known, then, so that faith may be nourished, and he remains hidden so that unbelief may not be condemned. He remains hidden so that faith may be tested, and he makes himself known so that unbelief may be condemned. For believers have something they could still doubt about, and unbelievers have something they could believe in, if they were willing — justly so — and to the one group reward is given for faith, and to the other punishment for unbelief. For it pleased God to have humanity earn beforehand the happiness he was going to give as a gift — yet in such a way that both the merit and the reward of merit came from him. So now he postpones giving what he intends to give — namely, full healing, full knowledge, full happiness — and in the meantime he enlightens our blindness through faith, so that by advancing through it we may deserve to reach his manifest brightness openly.
Read the original Latin
Omnia opera Dei propter hominem facta sunt, sive ea quae pertinent ad primam conditionem hominis, sive ea quae facta sunt ad hominis reparationem. Ad conditionem hominis pertinet creatio mundi, id est coeli et terrae, et omnium, quae in primordio facta esse leguntur a Deo. Ad reparationem hominis pertinet incarnatio Verbi, et omnia quae vel ante ipsam incarnationem ab initio ad ipsam praefigurandam et praenuntiandam praecesserunt, vel quae post eam usque ad finem mundi propter ipsam praedicandam, et credendam fiunt. Cum autem secundum illa prima opera, quae ad conditionem hominis pertinent, omnium Deus sit, quia ipsa omnes creavit et haec temporalia bona indiscrete omnibus bonis, et malis tribuit; secundum illa opera, quae ad reparationem hominis pertinent, non omnium Deus esse voluit, sed eorum tantum, quos ipse ante tempora saecularia in proposito bonae voluntatis suae elegit, ut eos certo tempore vocaret, et justificaret, et glorificaret in dilecto Filio suo Domino nostro Jesu Christo. Inde est, quod in sacra Scriptura specialiter quorumdam se Deum nominat, sicut est illud: Ego sum Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob, quia, sicut dictum est, qui omnes creavit, non omnes redimit, sed alios per misericordiam salvat, et alios per justitiam damnat. Igitur, ea quae ad reparationem hominis facta sunt, non ad omnes pertinent, sed ad eos tantum, qui salvi fiunt. Et sicut non omnium sunt, ita etiam non apud omnes facta sunt, nec ad omnium notitiam pervenerunt, sed facta sunt certis quibusdam locis, et temporibus, et cum certis personis secundum altitudinem divini consilii ad hoc ordinatis. Cum enim Deus secundum omnipotentiam suam multis modis ad restaurationis hominis uti potuisset, hunc tamen potissimum elegit, qui nostrae infirmitati caeteris convenientior fuit, ut opus misericordiae suae non solum potenter et juste, sed et sapienter impleret.
Primus autem homo deseruit Creatorem suum, cum eum per contemplationem praesentem aspiceret; nunc autem homo Creatorem, quem non videt per speciem, quaerit per fidem. Primus autem homo sine labore stare potuit, et sponte cecidit; nunc autem sponte surgens homo ad Deum etiam per tormenta redit. Ordinatissimum igitur est de nostra reparatione divinae dispensationis consilium, ut qui sponte cecidit, non coactus, sed sponte surgat; et qui per liberum arbitrium infirmatus est, sanitatem non recuperet, donec per liberum arbitrium sanari velit. Hoc autem ex nobis non est ut velimus, sed Deus in nobis hoc operatur. Gratia enim Dei praevenit, et excitat liberum arbitrium nostrum, ut possit velle sanari, quia per se non potest velle sanari, qui per se potuit velle infirmari. Hoc igitur est quod nunc in electis agitur, ut videlicet in praesenti vita ad futuram beatitudinem praeparentur, ut homo in hac infelicitate positus mereatur ad illam felicitatem ascendere, sicut primus homo in illa felicitate positus meruit ad hanc infelicitatem devenire. Sed et illud meritum, quo homo infelix esse meruit, tantummodo ex homine fuit. Hoc vero meritum, quo felicitatem aeternam meretur, non ex homine est, sed gratia Dei hoc in homine operatur.
Non ergo sine causa fit, quod Deus hominem post peccatum a caecitate ignorantiae revocans, sic cognitionem suam ab eo temperat, ut innotescat quidem et tamen semper maneat occultus. Si enim ita aperte se manifestaret hominibus, ut nullus de eo dubitare posset, tunc nec fides meritum, nec infidelitas haberet locum. Innotescit igitur ut fides nutriatur, et occultus permanet ne infidelitas convincatur. Occultus permanet ut fides probetur, innotescit ut infidelitas condemnetur. Quia enim et fideles aliquid habent, unde dubitare possent, et infideles unde credere valerent si vellent juste, et illis pro fide redditur praemium, et istis pro infidelitate supplicium. Placuit autem Deo ut beatitudinem, quam gratis daturus erat homini, prius hominem promereri faceret, sic tamen ut ab ipso esset et meritum et meriti praemium. Differt igitur nunc dare quod daturus est, plenam videlicet sanitatem, plenam cognitionem, plenam felicitatem, et interim per fidem illuminat nostram caecitatem, ut per ipsam proficiendo ad manifestam mereamur pervenire ejus claritatem
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