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Chapter 11SpCar.1.11

Quod gratia liberum non tollat arbitrium.

Grace Works With Our Will, Not Without It

God does not save us without our willing consent; He bends our will so that His grace becomes our merit and His reward becomes our own.

For those who lack both will and reason, and therefore free judgment — God works nothing of the kind in them, just as they are cattle — and for this reason, neither do they themselves work anything of the kind. Whatever good God works through us, or concerning us, without our will — that is God's alone, not also ours. But whatever he works with our will is both his and ours. For if I do it willingly, the Apostle says, I receive a reward; but if unwillingly, a stewardship has been entrusted to me (1 Cor.✦ 9). And so, in order that the work which he works in us, or through us, may also be ours, he bends our will so that we consent; and thus, from his grace, the reward becomes ours. For if I do it willingly, I receive a reward; but in order that I may be willing in the work of good, it is God who works even the willing.✦ Then, stirring up that very will — to ask, to seek, to knock — he gives grace for grace, namely, to perfect it in place of a good will.✦ Finally, because eternal life is the reward of good works, in giving that very reward he crowns his own gifts — gifts he has willed to be our merits.

Paul: Mercy Before Merit

Paul's own story shows that even the will to be faithful is born of mercy, not of any preceding human goodness.

See all this in Paul: "I was," he says, "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and abusive" (1 Tim. 1). Here there is a will, but an evil one; there are merits, but the worst. But I obtained mercy, so that I might be faithful (1 Tim.1 1). Here is a good will — but see where it comes from. Not because any good thing went before in me, but because his mercy went before me. For I obtained mercy, so that I might be faithful.✦2

Paul Boasts Only in Grace

Augustine insists that no one believes unwillingly, and Paul's boast of working more than all is immediately qualified: it was grace working through him.

Surely, as blessed Augustine says, someone can go to church, hear the word of God, and receive the Sacrament of Christ unwillingly—but no one can believe unless willing. Now hear about the work. I worked more than all of them (1 Cor.✦ 15:10).✦ Is this what you have, Paul—something you did not receive? On the contrary—I did receive it. And indeed I worked more than all of them—yet not I (ibid.).✦ .

Grace Does Not Destroy Free Will

The 'not I' of Paul does not mean the abolition of the self but the denial of self-sufficiency, so that grace may establish rather than erase free cooperation.

How can both be true — "I" and yet "not I"? Not I — because not from myself, not by my own strength, not by my own wisdom, and in short, not by my own merits — but by the grace of God (ibid.).✦3 . What then? Is it so, then, that grace takes away your free will, destroys your power of choice, and consumes the judgment of reason?4 Far from it! I said, "Not I" — because the grace of God is with me. How is it with me?

Three Ways God Works Through the Will

Free will alone is insufficient, but God works in the will, with the will, and through the will, storing up a crown of righteousness that is itself eternal life.

God is at work in me — that is the point — so that I consent to work, and thus he himself began it, and I, willing, cooperate; lest, if he were to work in me or through me while I was unwilling, I could not be the one to say: I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith (1 Tim.✦ 4). Free will alone, then, isn't enough for any of these things; but in the will itself, or with it, or through it, God accomplishes much good. In the will itself, when God by hidden inspiration raises it up toward some good; with the will, when he joins free will to itself through its own consent; through the will, when, God at work, one person profits through another. A crown of righteousness is stored up for me, he says (ibid.).✦ . And what is that crown, if not eternal life? A crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord will give me on that day (2 Tim.✦

Our Merits Are God's Grace

Every good work and every final boast — fighting the good fight, finishing the race — comes not from the self but from the grace of God with us, so that our merits are grace.

iv). He will render, he says. Therefore, since it is rendered, the reward is eternal life. It is clearly a reward, because a good work came before it. For I have fought the good fight.✦ But this work — where does it come from? Not I, however, but the grace of God with me.✦ So our merits are God's grace.5

Grace Upon Grace: The Twofold Gift

Eternal life is grace replacing grace — first the gift of meritorious works, then the gift of glory — far surpassing all present suffering.

It is on account of these merits that God gives eternal life — grace in place of grace.✦ In the end, God will repay each person according to their own deeds.✦ But only those works are granted a heavenly reward which are first bestowed by God's own gift. That eternal life itself is by grace, hear the proof: 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life' (Rom.✦ 6). Grace, I say, is eternal life — and a twofold grace. It is grace because grace was given in place of grace; it is grace because through merits it outweighs all glory. For the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom.✦

Amen

The chapter closes with a single doxological affirmation.

8.

Read the original Latin

Nam qui et voluntate carent ac ratione ac per hoc libero arbitrio, nihil hujusmodi Deus in eis operatur, ut sunt pecora, ac per hoc, nec ipsi aliquid hujusmodi operantur. Quidquid autem boni Deus per nos, vel de nobis, sine nostra operatur voluntate, tantum Dei est, non etiam nostri; quidquid autem cum nostra voluntate, et illius est, et nostrum. Si enim volens id facio, ait Apostolus, mercedem accipio; si autem invitus, dispensatio mihi credita est (1 Cor. ix). Quocirca ut opus quod in nobis, sive per nos operatur, etiam nostrum sit, inclinat voluntatem ut consentiamus; sicque ex ejus gratia, merces sit nostra. Si enim volens id facio, mercedem accipio; ut autem sim volens in bono opere, Deus est qui operatur et velle. Ipsam deinde voluntatem excitans ad petendum, ad quaerendum, ad pulsandum, dat gratiam pro gratia, perficere scilicet pro bona voluntate. Postremo quia vita aeterna bonorum operum merces est, ipsam dans coronat dona sua, quae voluit esse merita nostra.

Vide hoc totum in Paulo: Qui fui, inquit, blasphemus, et persecutor, et contumeliosus (1 Tim. 1). Hic voluntas, sed mala: merita, sed pessima. Sed misericordiam consecutus sum, ut fidelis essem (1 Tim. 1). Ecce voluntas bona; sed vide, unde. Non quia aliquid boni in me praecessit, sed quia ejus misericordia me praevenit. Misericordiam enim consecutus sum, ut fidelis essem.

Nempe, ut ait beatus Augustinus, ire ad ecclesiam, audire verbum Dei, sacramentum percipere Christi, aliquis potest nolens: credere nemo, nisi volens. Audi et de opere. Plus illis omnibus laboravi (1 Cor. xv). Hoccine habes, Paule, quod non accepisti? imo accepi. Et quidem plus illis omnibus laboravi, non autem ego (ibid.) .

Quomodo utrumque verum; ego, et non ego? Non ego, quia non ex me; non viribus meis; non sapientia mea; non denique meritis meis; sed gratia Dei (ibid.) . Quid igitur? Itane, ut liberum tibi tollat arbitrium, destruat voluntatem, judicium rationis absumat? Absit! Dixi, non ego, quia gratia Dei mecum. Quomodo mecum?

Agens scilicet, ut consentiam operari, et sic ipse coeperer, et volens cooperer, ne, si me invito de me, aut per me operetur, non sim qui dicam: Bonum certamen certavi; cursum consummavi; fidem servavi (1 Tim. iv). Non ergo liberum arbitrium ad aliquod horum sufficit, sed in ipso, vel cum ipso, vel per ipsum, Deus multa bona perficit. In ipso, quando illud occulta inspiratione ad aliquod bonum erigit; cum ipso, quando ipsum liberum arbitrium sibi per consensum jungit; per ipsum, quando Deo operante alter per alterum proficit. Reposita est mihi, inquit, corona justitiae (ibid.) . Quae corona, nisi vita aeterna? Reposita est mihi corona justitiae, quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die (II Tim.

iv). Reddet, inquit. Ergo, quia redditur, merces est vita aeterna. Merces plane, quia bonum opus praecessit. Bonum enim certamen certavi. Sed hoc opus unde? Non autem ego, sed gratia Dei mecum. Merita itaque nostra, Dei est gratia.

Propter quae merita dat vitam aeternam; gratiam pro gratia. Denique reddet unicuique secundum opera sua. Sed illa tantum opera coelesti mercede donantur, quae prius ejus munere largiuntur. Nam quod vita aeterna gratia sit, ipsum audi: Stipendium enim peccati mors, gratia autem Dei vita aeterna (Rom. vi). Gratia, inquam, vita aeterna, et duplex gratia. Gratia, quia pro gratia data; gratia, quia meritis praeponderat gloria. Non enim sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis (Rom.

viii).

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.9.17 — For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
  2. ↩Phil.2.13 — For God is the one working in you, both to desire and to work for his good pleasure.
  3. ↩Matt.7.7;Luke.11.9 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke.11.9 — And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
  4. ↩1Tim.1.13-1Tim.1.14 — though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. 1Tim.1.14 — And the grace of our Lord overflowed, with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
  5. ↩1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  6. ↩1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  7. ↩1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  8. ↩1Cor.15.9-1Cor.15.10 — For I am the least of the apostles, and not even worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  9. ↩1Tim.6.12;2Tim.4.7 — Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession before many witnesses. 2Tim.4.7 — I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
  10. ↩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.
  11. ↩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.
  12. ↩1Tim.6.12 — Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession before many witnesses.
  13. ↩1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  14. ↩John.1.16 — For from his fullness we all received, grace upon grace.
  15. ↩Rom.2.6;Matt.16.27 — who will render to each one according to that person's works Matt.16.27 — For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his deeds.
  16. ↩Rom.6.23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  17. ↩Rom.8.18 — For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩ut rendered as purpose ("so that") following the preferred reading; a result reading ("with the result that") is also possible.
  2. 2 ↩ut rendered as purpose ("so that"); result reading also possible.
  3. 3 ↩The repeated "non…sed" structure emphatically excludes every natural human claim, reserving all credit to grace. The semicolons preserve the rhetorical rhythm of the Latin.
  4. 4 ↩Three purpose/result clauses (ut…tollat, destruat, absumat) express a feared consequence that the author will immediately reject. Rendered as a single rhetorical question to preserve the force of the Latin.
  5. 5 ↩The paradox 'Merita nostra, Dei est gratia' compresses the claim that even human merits originate in and are constituted by divine grace — a dense theological statement characteristic of the grace–free will discussion in this chapter.

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