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← De gratia et libero arbitrio (On Grace and Free Choice)/Book 1 · De gratia et libero arbitrio
Chapter 14GratL.1.14

Quid gratiae, quid libero arbitrio id negotio salutis attribuendum.

What Merit Truly Is

Augustine and Evodius clarify that merit lies in consent, yet even this consent is from God, who works in us to think, will, and accomplish every good.

So what? Is this whole work of free choice, then, this alone its merit: that it consents? Absolutely. Not because consent itself — in which all merit consists — comes from free choice, since we cannot even think (which is less than consenting) anything from ourselves, as though we were sufficient in ourselves (2 Cor.✦1 3:5).✦ These are not my words, but the Apostle's, who attributes to God everything that can be good — that is, thinking, willing, and accomplishing — in place of a good will (Phil.✦ 2:13), not his own choice.✦ If, then, God works these three in us — that is, to think, will, and accomplish what is good — he does the first indeed without us; the second, with us; and the third, through us.

God’s Priority in Every Good

Augustine explains that God anticipates us in thought, heals our will by our consent, and works through us, so that intention, action, and thought each have their proper role.

If indeed God sends a good thought, he comes before us; by changing even a bad will, he joins it to himself through our consent; and by supplying the ability to consent, the inner craftsman makes himself known outwardly through our open work. Truly, we ourselves are by no means able to anticipate God. But the one who finds no one good saves no one whom he does not first come before.✦ From God, then, without doubt the beginning of our salvation arises — neither through us certainly, nor with us. But consent and work, although they are not from us, are nevertheless not now without us. Neither, then, the first stage — in which we do nothing at all — nor the last stage, which is often wrung out either by useless fear or by damnable pretense — but only the middle stage is reckoned to us as merit. Sometimes, of course, a good will alone suffices: all the other things are of no avail if the good will alone is lacking. They are of no avail, I should say, not to the one who discerns but to the one who acts. So intention counts toward merit, action toward setting an example, and the thought that precedes them both serves only to rouse us to act.

All Good Attributed to Grace

Grace rouses, heals, strengthens, and guards free choice, so that what begins in grace is completed in inseparable cooperation, making the whole work both ours and grace’s.

So we must be careful, when we sense these things at work invisibly within us and alongside us, not to attribute them to our will, which is weak, or to a divine necessity — there is no such necessity — but to grace alone, which is fully sufficient. Grace itself rouses our free choice when it plants a thought; it heals when it transforms our affection; it strengthens so that it may lead us to action; and it guards us so that we never feel abandoned. This is how grace works with free choice: it takes the lead at the very start, but accompanies us through everything else — going ahead, so that from that point on it may work together with us. And yet what is begun by grace alone is brought to completion equally by both — but in such a way that they work together, not separately; at the same time, not in turn; each advance is made through their joint action. Not partly grace and partly free choice, but each is completed in the other's indivisible work. The whole work is ours, and the whole work is grace's — just as the whole is in the other, so the whole comes from the other.

Confirmed by the Apostle’s Words

Augustine appeals to Romans 9:16 and 1 Corinthians 4:7 to show that salvation, including our willing and running, depends on God’s mercy, not human power.

We trust the reader is glad we never stray from the Apostle's meaning; and wherever the discussion wanders, we often come back to almost his very words. For what do our words amount to but this: So then it depends not on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy?✦ (Rom. IX, 16.) He certainly doesn't say this as though anyone could will or run in vain; but that the one who wills and runs should glory not in himself, but in the one from whom he received both the will and the power to run. Finally he says: What do you have that you did not receive?✦ (1 Cor. IV, 7.) You are created, you are healed, you are saved.

No One Can Glorify Himself

Augustine argues that no one can claim creation, justification, or resurrection as his own, and rebukes those ignorant of God’s justice while acknowledging His power and glory.

Which of these comes from you, O man? Which of these is not beyond free choice? You could not create yourself when you did not exist, nor justify yourself as a sinner, nor raise yourself from the dead — to pass over the other goods that are either necessary for your healing or stored up for your salvation. What we're saying is clear from the first and the last. And no one doubts the middle point, except someone who, ignorant of God's justice and wanting to establish his own, is not subject to the justice of God (Rom.✦ X, 3). For what is it? You acknowledge the power of the One creating you, the glory of the One saving you — and you're ignorant of the justice of the One healing you?

Healing, Praise, and God’s Justice

Citing Jeremiah and the Psalms, Augustine shows that the just look to God for healing and glory, and that whoever justifies himself ignores God’s justice and presumes to find merit outside grace.

"Heal me," he says, "and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are my praise" (Jer.✦ 17:14). This man acknowledged the justice of God, from whom he hoped equally to be healed from sin as to be freed from misery; and so he rightly attributed praise to God, not to himself. And David, repeating the same cry: "Not to us," he says, "Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory" (Psal. 113:9) — because he looked to God for both robes, namely the robe of justice and the robe of glory.✦ Who is it that ignores the justice of God? The one who justifies himself. Who is it that justifies himself? The one who presumes to obtain merit for himself from any source other than grace.

Returning Thanks from God’s Own Gifts

Augustine explains that even our repayment to God comes from God, as we offer the cup of salvation and call on the Lord’s name, both of which are His gifts.

And yet the one who did what would save you also gives you the means by which he might save you. He himself, I say, gives the merits to the one who did the things by which he might give them. What shall I repay, he says, to the Lord for all things — not what he has given, but what he has repaid to me? And what he is, and that the just person is just, he confesses to be from God: lest, if he denied either one, he would lose both — losing, at any rate, the source from which he is just, and so condemning what he is. But in this way, or in a third place, he finds something he can repay in return: I will receive, he says, the cup of salvation. The cup of salvation is the blood of the Savior. So then, if you lack anything of your own by which you might repay God, even from his secondary gifts, through which you presume to have salvation: I will call upon, he says, the name of the Lord. Psalm 115:12–13, because without doubt whoever calls upon him will be saved (Rom. Psalm 115:13.✦

Created, Reformed, and Brought to Completion

Augustine outlines a threefold divine work—creation, reformation, and consummation—arguing that only reformation, which involves our consent, is counted as merit.

And so those who truly understand confess a threefold operation — not, to be sure, of free choice, but of divine grace at work in that very choice, whether acting upon it or through it. The first is creation; the second, reformation; the third is consummation. First, we were created in Christ for freedom of will; second, we are reformed through Christ into the spirit of freedom; and then, together with Christ, we are to be brought to completion in the state of eternity. What did not exist needed to be created in him who did exist; the misshapen needed to be reformed through the form; the members cannot be made perfect except in union with the head. This will surely be fulfilled when we all meet together unto the perfect man, unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ (Eph.✦ IV, 13): when Christ our life appears, we too will appear with him in glory (Coloss.✦ III, 4). Since, therefore, consummation is to come about with respect to us, or even within us, yet not from us — and creation was indeed made without us — only reformation, which in a certain way takes place together with us because of our willing consent, will be counted to us as merit.

The Inner Person Renewed Day by Day

Augustine describes how fasting, watchfulness, mercy, and virtue renew the inner person in intention, affection, and memory.

These very things are our fasts, our watchings, our self-control, our works of mercy, and all the other exercises of the virtues — and it's through these that our inner person is clearly being renewed from day to day: while our intention, bent downward by earthly cares, gradually rises again from what is lowest toward heavenly things; and our affection, fainting with desires for the flesh, slowly grows strong in love of the spirit; and our memory of old works, stained with shamefulness, made bright by new and good deeds, grows cheerful day by day. For it's in these three that the inner renewal consists: the uprightness of intention, the purity of affection, and the remembrance of good activity — through which a memory that is well aware of itself shines forth to its own conscience.

God’s Spirit Speaking and Working in Us

Augustine cites Christ and Paul to show that when the Spirit speaks or works in believers, God is the one acting, even though the human will consents.

But even though it's certain that these things are worked in us by the Spirit of God, they are God's gifts — yet truly, because they are ours with the assent of our will, they are also our merits. 'It is not you who speak,' he says, 'but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.'✦ And the Apostle says: 'Are you seeking proof of the one who speaks in me — Christ?'✦ (2 Cor. 13:3.) So if Christ or the Holy Spirit speaks in Paul, doesn't he also work in him? 'For I do not speak,' God says, 'of what he does not accomplish through me.'✦ (Rom.

Where Are Paul’s Merits?

Augustine wrestles with Paul’s bold confession of finishing the race, concluding that such works are God’s yet are counted as merit because done with Paul’s good will.

What then? If they are not Paul's, but God's — God speaking in Paul, or God working through Paul — and both the words and the works are his, then where are Paul's merits now?2 Where is that which he so confidently declared: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith? From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give back to me on that day?✦34 (2 Tim. 4:7–8.) Or does he perhaps trust that the crown is laid up for him precisely because those things were being done through him?5 But many good things are done through wicked people — whether angels or human beings — and yet they are not counted as merits for them.6 Or is it rather because they were being done with him — that is, together with his good will?7

Willing Stewardship and Entrusted Hope

Augustine explains that even the will to preach and the crown promised to Paul rest on God’s promise and mercy, so that the awaited crown is God’s justice, not Paul’s own.

For if I preach the gospel unwillingly, a stewardship has been entrusted to me; but if willingly, there is glory for me (1 Cor.✦ 9:17). Moreover, if even the will itself—on which all merit depends—is not from Paul, by what arrangement does he presume that the crown stored up for him is one of justice?8 Or is it because whatever is promised—whether freely given or required as a debt—is now demanded on the basis of strict justice?9 Finally he says: I know the one I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him (2 Tim.✦10 1:12). He calls God's promise his own deposit, and because he believed the one who promised, he confidently claims what was promised.11 The promise was indeed made from mercy, but now it must be paid from justice.12 The crown Paul awaits, then, is a crown of justice—but it is God's justice, not his own.13 It is surely just that he repay what he owes. But he owes only what he has promised.14

Merit as Gift and Sign

Augustine concludes that God makes us willing helpers, so both will and merit come from Him, and our merits are signs of hope and predestination, not the cause of reigning.

And this is the justice the Apostle presumes upon — the promise of God: lest, despising this, he should wish to establish his own justice and not be subject to the justice of God, whose justice God nevertheless willed him to have as a partner, so that He might also make him a meritorious sharer in the crown. For in that act He established him as a partner in justice and a meritorious sharer in the crown, since He deigned to have him as a helper in the works by which that promised crown was to be obtained. Furthermore, He made him a helper by making him willing — that is, by making him consent to His will. Therefore the will is counted as aid, and the aid is counted as merit. If therefore the will comes from God, so does the merit. Nor is it doubtful that both the willing and the accomplishing are from God, on the basis of His good will.✦ God, therefore, is the author of merit, who both applies the will to the work and explains the work to the will. Otherwise, if what we call our merits are properly so called, they are certain seedbeds of hope, incentives to love, hidden signs of predestination, presages of future happiness, a way to the kingdom — not the cause of reigning.

Justified and Glorified in Christ

Augustine closes with Romans 8:30, affirming that those whom God justified He also glorified, sealing the whole work of salvation as His own.

In the end, those he justified — not those he found to be righteous — these he also glorified (Rom.✦ 8:30).

Read the original Latin

Quid igitur? hoc ergo totum liberi arbitrii opus, hoc solum ejus est meritum quod consentit? Est prorsus. Non quidem quod vel ipse consensus, in quo omne meritum consistit, ab ipso sit: cum nec cogitare (quod minus est, quam consentire) aliquid a nobis, quasi ex nobis sufficientes simus (II Cor. III, 5) . Verba sunt non mea, sed Apostoli, qui omne quod boni esse potest, id est cogitare, et velle, et perficere pro bona voluntate, attribuit Deo (Philipp. II, 13) , non suo arbitrio. Si ergo Deus tria haec, hoc est bonum cogitare, velle, perficere, operatur in nobis: primum profecto sine nobis; secundum, nobiscum; tertium, per nos facit.

Siquidem immittendo bonam cogitationem, nos praevenit; immutando etiam malam voluntatem, sibi per consensum jungit: ministrando et consensui facultatem, foris per apertum opus nostrum internus opifex innotescit. Sane ipsi nos praevenire nequaquam possumus. Qui autem bonum neminem invenit, neminem salvat quem non praevenit. A Deo ergo sine dubio nostrae fit salutis exordium, nec per nos utique, nec nobiscum. Verum consensus, et opus, etsi non ex nobis, non jam tamen sine nobis. Neque primum itaque, in quo quippe nos nil facimus; nec ultimum, quod et plerumque extorquet aut timor inutilis, aut simulatio damnabilis; sed tantum medium nobis reputatur in meritum. Sola nempe interdum bona voluntas sufficit: caetera non prosunt, si sola defuerit. Non prosunt dixerim, sed agenti, non cernenti.

Valet itaque intentio ad meritum; actio, ad exemplum; utramque praeveniens cogitatio, tantummodo ad excitandum

Cavendum ergo, ne cum haec invisibiliter intra nos ac nobiscum actitari sentimus, aut nostrae voluntati attribuamus, quae infirma est; aut Dei necessitati, quae nulla est; sed soli gratiae, qua plenus est. Ipsa liberum excitat arbitrium, cum seminat cogitatum; sanat, cum immutat affectum; roborat, ut perducat ad actum; servat, ne sentiat defectum. Sic autem ista cum libero arbitrio operatur, ut tantum illud in primo praeveniat, in caeteris comitetur; ad hoc utique praeveniens, ut jam sibi deinceps cooperetur. Ita tamen quod a sola gratia coeptum est, pariter ab utroque 622 perficitur: ut mistim, non singillatim; simul, non vicissim; per singulos profectus operentur. Non partim gratia, partim liberum arbitrium, sed totum singula opere individuo peragunt. Totum quidem hoc, et totum illa; sed ut totum in illo, sic totum ex illa.

Credimus placere lectori, quod a sensu Apostoli nusquam recedimus; et quaquaversum evagetur oratio, in eadem pene ipsius verba frequenter recidimus. Quid enim nostra aliud sonant quam illud: Ergo neque volentis, neque currentis, sed miserentis est Dei? (Rom. IX, 16.) Quod sane non ideo dicit, quasi quis velle aut currere possit in vanum: sed quod is qui vult et currit, non in se, sed in eo a quo accepit et velle, et currere, debeat gloriari. Denique ait: Quid habes quod non accepisti? (I Cor. IV, 7,) Crearis, sanaris, salvaris.

Quid horum tibi ex te, o homo? quid horum non impossibile libero arbitrio? Nec creare qui non eras, nec justificare peccator, nec mortuus poteras te ipsum resuscitare: ut caetera praetermittam bona, quae aut sanandis necessaria sunt, aut salvandis reposita. Quod dicimus, de primo patet et ultimo. Sed et de medio nemo dubitat, nisi qui ignorans Dei justitiam, et suam volens constituere, justitiae Dei non est subjectus (Rom. X, 3) . Quid enim? Agnoscis creantis potentiam, salvantis gloriam ; et sanantis ignoras justitiam?

Sana me, ait, et sanabor; salvum me fac, et salvus ero, quoniam laus mea tu es (Jerem. XVII, 14) . Iste justitiam Dei agnoscebat, a quo aeque sperabat, tam sanari a peccato, quam a miseria liberari: et ideo laudem suam illum, non se, merito statuebat: Propter hoc, et David ingeminans: Non nobis, inquit, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam (Psal. CXIII, 9) : quod utramque a Deo stolam, et justitiae scilicet exspectaret, et gloriae. Quis est qui ignorat Dei justitiam? Qui se ipsum justificat. Quis est qui se ipsum justificat? Qui merita sibi aliunde, quam a gratia praesumit.

Caeterum, qui fecit quod salvaret, etiam dat unde salvet. Ipse, inquam, merita donat, qui fecit quibus donaret. Quid retribuam, inquit, Domino pro omnibus, non quae tribuit, sed quae retribuit mihi? Et quod est, et quod justus est a Deo esse confitetur: ne, si utrumlibet negaret, utrumque perderet, amittendo utique unde justus est, et sic damnando quod est. Sed sic vel tertio loco invenit quod vicissim rependeret: Calicem, ait, salutaris accipiam. Calix salutaris, sanguis est Salvatoris. Ergo, si deest tibi omnino de tuo, quod vel secundis Dei donis retribuas, unde tibi salutem praesumis: Nomen Domini, inquit, invocabo (Psal. CXV, 12, 13) , quod nimirum quicunque invocaverit salvus erit (Rom.

X, 13) .

Igitur qui recte sapiunt, triplicem confitentur operationem, non quidem liberi arbitrii, sed divinae gratiae in ipso, sive de ipso. Prima, creatio; secunda, reformatio; tertia est consummatio. Primo namque in Christo creati sumus in libertatem voluntatis: secundo reformamur per Christum in spiritum libertatis; cum Christo deinde consummandi in statum aeternitatis. Siquidem quod non erat, in illo creari oportuit qui erat; per formam reformari deformem; membra non perfici nisi cum capite. Quod utique tunc complebitur, cum omnes occurremus in virum perfectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi (Ephes. IV, 13) : quando apparente Christo vita nostra, apparebimus et nos cum ipso in gloria (Coloss. III, 4) . Cum igitur consummatio fieri habeat de nobis, sive etiam in nobis, non autem a nobis; creatio vero facta sit et sine nobis: sola, quae nobiscum quodammodo fit propter consensum voluntarium nostrum, in merita nobis reputabitur reformatio.

Ipsa sunt jejunia nostra, vigiliae, continentia, opera misericordiae, caeteraque virtutum exercitia, per quae utique constat interiorem hominem nostrum renovari de die in diem: dum et intentio terrenis incurvata curis, de imis paulatim ad superna resurgit; et affectio circa carnis desideria languens, sensim in amorem spiritus convalescit; et memoria veterum operum turpitudine sordens, novis bonisque actibus candidata in dies hilarescit. In his namque tribus interior renovatio 623 consistit: rectitudine scilicet intentionis, puritate affectionis, recordatione bonae operationis, per quam sibi bene conscia memoria enitescit.

Verum haec cum certum sit divino in nobis actitari Spiritu, Dei sunt munera: quia vero, cum nostrae voluntatis assensu, nostra sunt merita. Non enim vos estis, inquit, qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis (Matth. X, 20) : et Apostolus: An experimentum ejus quaeritis, inquit, qui in me loquitur Christus? (II Cor. XIII, 3.) Si ergo Christus, aut Spiritus sanctus loquitur in Paulo, non etiam itidem operatur in ipso? Non enim loquor, ait, quae per me non efficit Deus (Rom. XV, 18) .

Quid ergo? si non Pauli, sed Dei loquentis in Paulo, vel operantis per Paulum, et verba sunt, et opera; ubi jam Pauli merita? ubi est quod tam fidenter aiebat: Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi: de reliquo reposita est mihi corona justitiae, quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die justus judex? (II Tim. IV, 7, 8.) An in eo forte confidit sibi coronam esse repositam, quod per ipsum illa fiebant? Sed multa per malos, sive angelos, sive homines, fiunt bona; nec tamen reputantur illis in merita. An quia potius et cum ipso, hoc est cum ejus bona voluntate, fiebant?

Nam si invitus, inquit, evangelizavero, dispensatio mihi credita est: si autem volens, gloria est mihi (I Cor. IX, 17) .

Caeterum si vel ipsa voluntas, de qua omne meritum pendet, ab ipso Paulo non est; quo pacto eam, quam sibi repositam praesumit, coronam vocat justitiae? An quoniam juste, jam et ex debito requiritur, quodcunque vel gratis promittitur? Denique ait: Scio cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est depositum meum servare (II Tim. I, 12) . Dei promissum, suum appellat depositum: et quia credidit promittenti, fidenter promissum repetit. Promissum quidem ex misericordia, sed jam ex justitia persolvendum. Est ergo quam Paulus exspectat, corona justitiae: sed justitiae Dei, non suae. Justum quippe est ut reddat quod debet: debet autem quod pollicitus est.

Et haec est justitia, de qua praesumit Apostolus, promissio Dei: ne si hanc contemnens, suam velit statuere, justitiae Dei non sit subjectus, cujus tamen suae justitiae ipsum Deus voluit habere consortem, ut et coronae faceret promeritorem. In eo enim sibi justitiae consortem, et coronae statuit promeritorem; cum operum, quibus erat illa repromissa corona, habere dignatus est coadjutorem. Porro coadjutorem fecit, cum fecit volentem, hoc est suae voluntati consentientem. Itaque voluntas in auxilium, auxilium reputatur in meritum. Si ergo a Deo voluntas est; et meritum. Nec dubium quin a Deo sit et velle, et perficere pro bona voluntate. Deus igitur auctor est meriti, qui et voluntatem applicat operi, et opus explicat voluntati . Alioquin, si proprie appellentur ea, quae dicimus nostra merita; spei quaedam sunt seminaria, charitatis incentiva, occultae praedestinationis indicia, futurae felicitatis praesagia, via regni, non causa regnandi.

Denique, quos justificavit, non quos justos invenit, hos et magnificavit (Rom. VIII, 30) .

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩2Cor.3.5 — Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.
  2. ↩2Cor.3.5 — Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.
  3. ↩Phil.2.13 — For God is the one working in you, both to desire and to work for his good pleasure.
  4. ↩Phil.2.13 — For God is the one working in you, both to desire and to work for his good pleasure.
  5. ↩Rom.3.12 — All have turned aside; together they have become worthless. There is no one who does good—not even one.
  6. ↩Rom.9.16 — So then, it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy.
  7. ↩1Cor.4.7 — For who makes you different? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you had not received it?
  8. ↩Rom.10.3 — For they were ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
  9. ↩Jer.17.14 — Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are my praise.
  10. ↩Ps.113.9 — He who makes the barren woman dwell at home as a joyful mother of children — praise the LORD.
  11. ↩Ps.115.13;Ps.117.1 — He will bless those who fear the LORD—the small together with the great. Ps.117.1 — Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
  12. ↩Eph.4.13 — until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
  13. ↩Col.3.4 — When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
  14. ↩Matt.10.20 — For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who is speaking through you.
  15. ↩2Cor.13.3 — since you seek proof of the Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you but powerful among you
  16. ↩Rom.15.18 — For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed.
  17. ↩2Tim.4.7-2Tim.4.8 — I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2Tim.4.8 — From now on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
  18. ↩1Cor.9.17 — For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
  19. ↩2Tim.1.12 — For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know the One in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.
  20. ↩Phil.2.13 — For God is the one working in you, both to desire and to work for his good pleasure.
  21. ↩Rom.8.30 — And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin is elliptical at the end; the negation extends to the claim that consent originates from free choice. The sense is that even the good motion of will is not autogenous.
  2. 2 ↩sed sharpens the contrast: not Paul's doing but God's. vel presents two aspects of divine action (speaking/working). et links verba and opera as a coordinated pair.
  3. 3 ↩Quotation from 2 Timothy 4:7–8 (Vulgate). The Latin preserves the Vulgate wording; English rendering follows the sense of the quoted passage.
  4. 4 ↩fidenter rendered as 'confidently' rather than 'boldly' to capture the tone of assured hope, not presumption.
  5. 5 ↩an introduces a second rhetorical question, probing an alternative explanation. quod introduces the content clause giving the reason Paul might trust.
  6. 6 ↩Sed introduces a counter-argument to the preceding rhetorical question. sive…sive presents two categories of wicked agents. nec tamen adds a concessive negation: good results still don't become the wicked agent's merit.
  7. 7 ↩an opens the rhetorical question. quia potius gives the reason: the cooperation of Paul's good will. et links the two explanatory clauses. hoc est clarifies cum ipso as meaning accompaniment by Paul's willing cooperation.
  8. 8 ↩The phrase 'quo pacto' (literally 'by what covenant/agreement') is rendered 'by what arrangement' to capture the logical force of the rhetorical question: if the will itself is God's gift, how can Paul claim a crown of justice as though it were owed?
  9. 9 ↩The sentence is a compressed rhetorical question. 'Quodcunque vel gratis promittitur' sets up a contrast between what is promised freely (grace) and what is required as a debt (justice). The translation unpacks the implied argument: even a free promise, once made, creates an obligation on God's part to fulfill it justly.
  10. 10 ↩Quotation from 2 Timothy 1:12. The Latin 'Scio cui credidi' follows the Vulgate. The English rendering follows the sense of the Vulgate while using natural contemporary phrasing.
  11. 11 ↩'Dei promissum, suum appellat depositum' — the shift from God's promise to 'his own deposit' reflects Paul's faith appropriating God's pledge as a personal trust. 'Repetit' (claims/asks for) conveys confident petition, not demanding.
  12. 12 ↩The distinction between 'ex misericordia' (from mercy) and 'ex justitia' (from justice) captures the theological argument: God's promise originates in mercy, but once given, His own justice requires Him to fulfill it. 'Persolvendum' (must be paid) is a gerundive expressing necessity.
  13. 13 ↩The contrast 'justitiae Dei, non suae' is the theological heart of the section: the merit Paul hopes for is grounded in God's justice (God's faithfulness to His promise), not in any independent human righteousness.
  14. 14 ↩'Justum quippe est ut reddat quod debet' — the argument is that God's justice is satisfied not by human merit but by God's own faithfulness to His promise. 'Debet autem quod pollicitus est': God 'owes' only because He has freely pledged. The double 'debet' is rendered with 'repay what he owes' and 'he owes only' to preserve the wordplay.

De gratia et libero arbitrio (On Grace and Free Choice) companion

Grace works through practice — so practice

Bernard's conclusion frees you to show up daily without anxiety. Chosen Portion makes showing up simple and free.

Bernard's teaching that grace and human consent cooperate is enacted every time a reader freely opens their daily portion in Chosen Portion.

  • One 10-minute devotional portion every day, no guesswork
  • Read Bernard and other classics in modern English, portion by portion
  • A consistent daily rhythm that treats effort as cooperation, not earning
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