Prologue: A Profession of Faith Against Those Who, While Claiming That Some Are Drawn to Life and Others Cast into Death Solely by God’s Will, Assert Fate Alongside the Pagans and Deny Free Will Alongside the Manicheans #

¹ To the Most Blessed and Revered Lord, Pope Leontius; Faustus.

² Because of your pastoral concern, blessed Pope Leontius, you gathered a council of the highest bishops to condemn the error of predestination, thereby providing a great service to all the churches of Gaul. However, when it came to arranging those matters that you most learnedly set forth in public discourse, you entrusted the task and responsibility to my weak shoulders. In my view, this was not in keeping with the gravity of the matter, nor with the sacred esteem of your office. By your decision, you have burdened me with the weight of judgment, while placing yourselves in danger through your choice.

³ Since, therefore, you recognize that your own person is also laboring under the burden imposed upon me, you are engaged in a shared cause if you extend a hand of support to the one whom you yourselves perceive to be unequal to the task. The defense of grace is properly and effectively undertaken by one who combines it with the obedience of a servant’s labor, just as a servant closely attends his patron or lord without separation. If one exists without the other, then either the lord will appear dishonored without a servant, or the servant, forgetful of his station, will assume the position of his master. Thus, the proper order will be preserved between the one who assists and the one who strives, so that the former may hold dominion with full authority, while the latter renders service with complete submission.

⁴ Moreover, the dignity of the one who commands will be elevated if he always has the diligence of an obedient servant at his side. The lowly should be joined to the exalted, but in such a way that they are indeed subjected, not made equal. Just as it would be unfitting for a helmsman to lack his rower, a priest his minister, or an emperor his soldier, so too must grace, as a nurturing force, be inseparably bound to obedience in the form of servitude.

⁵ However, since Pelagius excessively exalts human effort alone and, in his folly, believed that weak humanity could suffice for itself without grace, he impiously preached, attempting to build a tower of pride reaching to heaven. Therefore, we have judged it necessary to refute his blasphemies in a brief discourse. Otherwise, someone unfamiliar with careful distinctions might mistakenly equate our assertion—that God’s mercy must be merited through both faith and works—with Pelagius’ error, which denies the necessity of divine grace for human effort. In such a case, abandoning the royal road, he might stray not only to the right but also to the left, and, while we speak of human labor as a servant of grace, we might appear to have placed a stumbling block before the feet of the blind.

⁶ Yet, whenever we speak of work and labor, we will use both the words and the understanding of the prophets, apostles, and evangelists. Whoever dares to oppose these things will not merely seek to overturn our teachings but will, without a doubt, attempt to abolish divine laws and undermine the very foundation of faith.

⁷ We have expounded at length on the topics of foreknowledge and predestination so that what was once thought obscure may become clearer for those who struggle to understand. Let no one who delights in the adornment of words take offense that we have presented the light of truth relying solely on the strength of testimonies, without the loftiness of speech.

⁸ Indeed, in this small work—following the subscription of the Council of Arles—new errors were discovered, and the Council of Lyon deemed it necessary to add certain clarifications.

Chapter 1: It Is Necessary First To Refute Pelagius’ Opinion, Who Denied Grace #

¹ As we are about to discuss the grace of God and the weakness of free will, enlightened by the Holy Spirit according to the teachings of the Gospel and the apostolic doctrines, we believe it necessary, first of all, to briefly and necessarily refute the blasphemies of Pelagius, which have long since been exposed by the faith of the Catholic Church, confounded by learned reasoning, and trampled underfoot by its authority. This is especially required because, among the other abominations of his doctrine, he has also attempted, in a damnable act of arrogance, to assert that human effort can have value without grace. Therefore, we shall take care to bring forth at least some part of his impious opinions, so that every attentive reader may recognize the great difference between adding human effort to the work of saving grace and, on the other hand, presumptuously claiming that human effort alone, without the aid of grace, is sufficient.

² Therefore, as he presumptuously exalts human weakness without regard for the fear of God, he loses the soundness of his own judgment and falls into error in another way—just as those who claim that free will has been entirely abolished. Thus, in this matter, two opposing errors are in conflict: one asserts only grace, while the other upholds only human effort, both departing from the path and measure of truth. Though differing in sectarian affiliation, they are alike in impiety, each whispering with the voice of the same serpent, though in different ways. The one who preaches grace alone initially conceals his poison under the guise of piety, while the one who asserts human effort alone openly reveals his swelling arrogance. The latter, by advocating only human effort, is detestable even by its very title, while the former, cloaked in religious pretense, is all the more dangerous. The former openly declares his sacrilege to the ears, while the latter pours his poison into the depths of the soul before it is even perceived. It is as though two perilous rocks obstruct a narrow strait—one sinking deep below, the other rising menacingly to the heavens. One is visible and threatens sailors, while the other, hidden, causes unseen shipwrecks. The one speaks of grace, the other of effort; yet both are affirmed by divine Scripture. If their errors were set aside and their words brought together, the fullness of sincere faith would appear. But since they, like reckless oarsmen without a master, set sail upon an uncharted sea, knowing neither how to temper their course nor how to steer the ship, one is carried to destruction on the right, like Scylla, while the other is drawn into the leftward abyss of Charybdis. And what should they do in the midst of these dangers? If they would seek the right course, they should entrust the ship to the guidance of a skilled pilot, hold to the middle path, and be led safely to the harbor by a favorable wind.

³ Let us consider to what kind of impiety we might compare or liken this twofold error. In the same way, those who either presume to assert that Christ the Lord is only God or that He is only man—having lost the light of discernment—stumble upon the rock of offense. Both excesses, since they fail to maintain the proper distinction and discernment, fall into an equal fault. Thus, whoever says that Christ is only man denies the power of the Creator, and whoever says that He is only God loses the mercy of the Redeemer. Consequently, those who confess only one substance in the Lord and Savior are forced into the necessity of saying either that only a man descended from heaven or that only God was crucified. But this is not so. For neither could God alone have experienced death, nor could man alone have overcome it. Therefore, in accordance with the dual nature of His substance, Christ as man underwent death, and as God, He conquered it. If, then, you ascribe to each nature its proper attributes and believe and affirm that Christ is both God and man, it is as if you unite grace with effort and do not exclude human striving from divine assistance—yet in such a way that you do not mix the fault of pride with the devotion of the one who strives. For just as it is harmful not to labor, so too it is dangerous to presume upon one’s own labor.

⁴ Pelagius, therefore, claims that human nature alone is sufficient for attaining salvation. This harmful teacher asserts such a thing as if the original condition of our nature remained intact and uncorrupted. But I hold that free will alone could not have been sufficient without the aid of grace, even before the first transgression violated that privilege. How, then, can it now suffice on its own, when to its arrogance it is said: “Without me, you can do nothing”, and to its presumption, the divine word is directed: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain”? Indeed, achievement is denied to pride without grace, but it is granted to humility when accompanied by grace.

⁵ Pelagius continues, asserting that Adam was created mortal and would have died whether he sinned or not. However, since the Apostle says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death”, you understand that if sin had not come first, death would not have followed, and the gift of immortality would have endured. It is clear that this immortality was granted under a given law and conferred with a condition—that if he had not proudly turned away from obedience, he would have remained forever in glory. For when the divine command prohibited it, saying, “On the day that you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die”, the reckless presumption of tasting the forbidden became the occasion of death through consequence. “You shall surely die,” it says. If the grace of the giver contributed nothing, then what did the offense of the condemner take away? Therefore, death—an evil that is foreign and accidental—is not part of the natural order but a punishment by judgment. For, as it is written, “God did not make death”. That man was originally entrusted with immortality is attested by the very envy of the enemy, for, having been cast down, he resented man’s immortality and thus brought about the cause of death, saying, “On the day you eat from this tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods”. Had he merely said, “When you eat, you will enjoy the pleasure of its taste,” the transgression would have reached only the enticement of carnal desire. But since he proposed this as the ultimate goal of disobedience, saying, “You will be like gods,” the guilt of gluttony extended to the aspiration of divinity itself, reaching the crime of sacrilege. Thus, they became “like gods” only in that they were stripped of the gift of divine grace and cast down from their blessed state. In this way, the cunning serpent, having been cast out of heaven for his pride, devised his schemes against man from his own fall and ruin, and just as he fell, so too did he deceive.

⁶ What else, then, should be understood in the very image of God in which man was created, if not the mark of immortality? This immortality, you recognize, was not taken away from the soul and has even been restored to the body through the power of the resurrection. Therefore, do not doubt that immortality was entrusted to man before his sin, since you clearly see that it is given back even after his fall.

⁷ Pelagius asserts that Adam would have died regardless of whether he had sinned or not. This claim arises from his corrupt doctrine, in which he denies original sin. For in insisting that mortality was a necessity of human nature rather than a consequence of transgression, he seeks to make it appear that the origin of this condition came not from the servant but from the Lord, not from the one who despised God’s command but from the Creator Himself—so that the law of death would be believed to be established by divine decree rather than by sin. Should we then think that this sorrowful ruin upon the human race was transmitted not by the transgressor but by the Creator? But what of the Scripture that says, “Through the devil’s envy, death entered the world”? By denying original sin, Pelagius removes entirely the very reason why the Redeemer came. Let us see whether this wretched and lamentable condition began by God’s will or by man’s corruption. Listen to what the trumpet of truth proclaims: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, so also death passed upon all men, in whom all sinned”. By saying that Adam was made mortal in the first order of creation, Pelagius places death at the very beginning, whereas Scripture affirms that it was imposed in the third stage as a penalty for transgression. For man is the work of God, sin is the work of the devil, and death is the punishment for sin. Indeed, the Apostle does not say, “The will of God is death,” but rather, “The wages of sin is death”.

⁸ Let us examine more carefully the deceptions he hides in the depths of his doctrine. He attributes death to the Creator so that the true source of this great evil may not be recognized, allowing him to more freely claim that infants are not bound by the guilt of original sin. In saying this, he commits a twofold blasphemy: first, by ascribing death to the envy of the Creator, and second, by denying the bond of original sin, he nullifies the grace of the Redeemer. Thus, in order to assert that infants do not need baptism, he denies the universality of sin. But in doing so, he follows a path of error, such that he no longer understands the origin of death itself. Is it any wonder that he fails to recognize the tree in its fruits when he refuses to acknowledge its roots? By suppressing the cause of the wound, he also hides the sword by which the wound was inflicted. “The wages of sin is death”. Because he refuses to understand the source of so great an evil, he fails to see that the condition of death was imposed as the consequence of sin, as we have already stated: “The wages of sin is death.” He received a reward worthy of his deeds; he earned such wages because he served under the devil. Thus, the chosen vessel [Paul] most clearly reveals and proclaims the reason for our redemption when he says: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Rarely will someone die for a just man”. This is as if to say: if righteousness had abounded on earth, there would have been no need for a remedy sent from heaven. But for the coming of the one true healing, the universal weakness of humanity made it necessary.

⁹ Meanwhile, as Pelagius is ensnared in such great chains of sacrilege, it is no wonder that he is handed over to manifold errors through a depraved mind—he who believes that he can be saved by his own effort alone. Rightly, therefore, against the presumption of such arrogance, the divine word asserts the power of its authority and reproof: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”, and again, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy”. Whoever, like Pelagius, places his salvation in his own will and strength will rightly recognize these words as spoken against him. However, this reproach does not apply to those who do not rely solely on their own labor, but rather acknowledge that they must daily implore God’s mercy and constant grace, and who seek the Lord’s help with unceasing and watchful prayer.

Chapter 2: Against the Objection of Pelagius, Who Claims That Infants Have No Need of Baptism #

¹ Pelagius also raises this argument: If original sin is removed by the gift of baptism, then children born of two baptized parents should be free from sin. How, he asks, can they pass on to their offspring what they themselves no longer have? To this, the answer is simple: there are two kinds of birth—through one, sin is transmitted by the desire of the begetting parent; through the other, sanctification is granted by the adoption of the regenerating Father.

² How, he asks again, can they pass on to their offspring what they themselves no longer have? What an irrational and unjust objection! You do not want them to transmit to their descendants what belongs to nature, yet you expect them to pass on as if it were their own what belongs to grace? Concerning this, the Apostle says: “You were by nature children of wrath”. Rightly, then, they cannot give as their own what they received from above and from outside themselves. Pelagius most foolishly believes that parents can pass down the purity of innocence to their children. But the second birth does not belong to the ministry of parents. He wants to make into a human duty what is the gift of God, as if grace could be inherited in the same way human traits are passed down through generations—even though grace is something entirely beyond human nature.

³ There is no doubt that original sin passes to children even from baptized parents through the fleshly origin of their birth. As we ourselves affirm daily along with the prophet: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin did my mother bear me”, just as the Apostle confirms that this incurable stain of sin has passed from one man to all humanity.

⁴ But Pelagius says that original sin does not exist because the very concupiscence associated with generation comes from God. However, if you ask where this bond, which draws descendants into sin, originates, it is undoubtedly through the incitement of the cursed passion of procreation and the seductive embrace of both parents. For when you see that He alone is free from the stain of original sin—He who was conceived not by the flesh but by the Spirit, not through a shameful passion but by a wondrous blessing—you must recognize that the cause of original sin is rooted in the pleasure of conception and the corruption of desire.

⁵ For this reason, Adam and Eve were not bound by this condition at their origin, because their own coming into being was apart from the union of two parents, and so their birth and creation were free from such seduction. But perhaps you ask why original sin is placed in conception. The beginning of all ruin was disobedience. First, man was exalted, but then he was humbled and put to shame. And because, when he was in honor, he did not understand, therefore “he was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them”.

⁶ As long as humility maintained reverence in obedience to the Creator, an undefiled conscience did not perceive its nakedness. But when man, in his desire to be like God, reached out for the taste of the fatal fruit and extended his condemned desire into the realm of majesty, forgetting the law and rebelling against its commandments, he was punished with the rebellion of his own members. While presuming equality with his Lord, he lost dominion over his own body. From pride arose incontinence. For what was struck down in him was revealed when he covered himself in shame. Pride came first, and confusion followed. In his ambition for divinity, he became a captive to lust.

⁷ But perhaps you might say: “While discussing these things, you have been found to condemn marriage.” That is not the case. The institution of marriage began with a blessing, but generation conceived corruption through transgression. Between the gift of marriage, which was granted by the Creator in paradise, and its practice, which began outside paradise, sin was in the middle.

⁸ Between generation and concupiscence, I praise whatever divine command has established, and I reject whatever human transgression has added. Just as if someone were to stain the whiteness of a snow-white garment with filthy pollution, the craftsmanship itself is not displeasing, but the stain is. The garment has not lost its use, though it has lost its dignity. Without a doubt, generation would have been pure and undefiled had hostile transgression not intervened.

⁹ But flesh, subjected to the curse, has stained the once-undefiled marriage bed, corrupting pure affection through the spirit of pride. And just as it lost the privilege of immortality, so too did it forfeit the gift of purity. It is not the grace of marriage that is being accused, but the injustice of shameful passion. Gold itself is not at fault, but whatever adulteration fraudulently mingles with pure gold. Just as the spirit of Pelagius is led away from better pursuits…

Chapter 3: Against Those Who Say That Every Person Is Saved by Grace Alone Without Any Effort #

¹ Now we must turn to those who, by asserting that grace is given to some while denied to others, have lost the gift of grace along with Pelagius. They claim that, even after receiving the saving gift of baptism, devoted obedience in the worship and service of God is not required, but that grace alone, by itself, brings about human salvation. “Everything,” they say, “belongs solely to grace.”

² This, however, would be better said by us and applies more fittingly to our position, since we acknowledge that the benefits of grace extend not merely to a part but to the entire human race—yet in such a way that we also hold human diligence to be necessarily joined to it in every respect. For whoever denies that the effort of human service must be united with grace takes away from man the duty of servitude. I do not know where or when such a person is meant to be idle or to abandon labor, since even in Paradise, as we read, man was placed there to work and to keep it.

Chapter 4: Against the View That, By Saying, “One Is Preordained To Death, Another Predestined To Life,” A Person Effectively Cuts Off Any Hope of Prayer Through the Very Nature of Things #

¹ When they say, “Everything belongs to the grace of God,” who would not bow in reverence with their whole heart at such an honorable name? But when we respond, “Indeed, everything is truly of grace, yet the Creator and Redeemer offers and bestows it upon all for the salvation of all,” they, straying far from the path of piety, boldly reply: “The Savior did not give it to all, because He did not die for all.”

² Behold, at once, one who was thought to be a defender of grace in the beginning now appears as its opponent in the end. They invoke the name of grace only to cloak an abhorrent and blasphemous belief. In either case, they exclude the support of prayer. For what further hope remains for the one whom grace has already claimed as its own? And conversely, what hope can there be for the one whom a harsh decree has condemned? In the former, guilt has no place; in the latter, grace finds no room. Justice is endangered in both cases: one is rewarded without any merit of faith, while another is abandoned without any personal fault. Salvation is forcibly given to one who does not seek it, while it is taken away from one who strives for it.

³ But you say: “He ought to pray because he does not know which fate is his.” Who would not think that this was a reasonable and wise response? But what benefit is there in prayer for a person who is already, without a doubt, in one of these two conditions? For even if he does not know to which fate he has been assigned, he does know that both destinies are fixed and unchangeable. What does it matter if he has not yet learned his place when he is absolutely certain that he can no longer suffer harm if he belongs to the right or gain progress if he belongs to the left?

⁴ But if his belief is still so confused that he considers prayer necessary, then he must also acknowledge, without hesitation, that it is possible for a person to be transferred from salvation to damnation or from damnation to salvation. If, therefore, he does not think that the practice of prayer should be abandoned, let him not neglect the effort of good works. What does this mean? Do you judge that I ought to knock, yet despair that the door will be opened to me? Let him choose one or the other—either he must deny the effectiveness of prayer, or he must reject the law of fixed damnation.

⁵ Thus, we see that this claim is full of error, for while it denies the reason for praying, it begins in the light of grace but ends by running headlong into the darkness of sacrilege. This is how the devil, through his ancient cunning and his many deceptions, weaves enticements to sin. This is also how sorcerers act when they mix deadly potions from herbs, disguising the taste with some hidden sweetness so that the unsuspecting drinker is deceived. They obscure the bitterness of poison by fraudulently covering it with sweetness. At first, the scent of the drink is inviting, but once consumed, the hidden poison suffocates. What touches the lips is honey; what reaches the depths is gall.

⁶ They say that, in one of these two conditions, death claims some as its own, while life preserves others. And as they say this, they affirm that one person is lost from the beginning while another is chosen by predestination. See to what an impious persuasion this leads!

⁷ For what else does it mean except that neither of them has any need of the help of prayer? Those already predestined for life have no necessity for it, and those assigned to death cannot benefit from it. For the one, it would be useless; for the other, powerless. The one who is predestined for salvation has no need for the benefits of supplication, and the one who belongs to perdition cannot receive them.

⁸ But if one considers prayer to be necessary, then one must also undoubtedly understand that what is destined can be changed, as the Gospel says: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation”, and again: “Be vigilant at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are to come and to stand before the Son of Man”, and again: “This kind of demon is not cast out except by prayer and fasting”.

⁹ If prayer were unnecessary, why would the One who is to be prayed to have established a model of prayer and Himself prayed? Therefore, in the case of those who flatter ignorant ears with the mere assertion of grace, the prophecy will be fulfilled: “The wicked man causes harm when he associates with the righteous”.

¹⁰ Gold appears valuable at first glance, but within, the baseness of lead is hidden. It is as if an enemy, under the guise of a citizen, suddenly reveals himself, or as if an enemy’s cunning deceit transforms him into an angel of light. Thus, under the appearance of piety, the evil of paganism is concealed, and within the name of grace, the fatal decree remains hidden.

¹¹ If, therefore, as they claim, one person is assigned to life and another to destruction, then—as one of the saints has said—we are not born to be judged, but judged already. And under this view, no justice in judgment could stand. For if God has given nothing to His servant, what can He demand in return?

Chapter 5: The Works of the Law Are Nullified, and Grace Is Upheld—A Response to Those Who Unskillfully Cite Testimonies in Support of Grace Alone #

¹ They say, “We read in Romans: ‘For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God’; and again: ‘Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts in him who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness’.” They also add: “‘And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace’.”

² To this, we must respond that there are two kinds of works: one that is abolished after the coming of the Lord, and another that is approved. For when it says, “To the one who does not work but trusts in him who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness”, it clearly places faith above the works of the Law.

³ For we cannot say that the testimonies of the apostles contradict or oppose each other, since another apostle says: “Faith without works is dead”; and again: “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works”. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder”; and also: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead”.

⁴ Nor does Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles, appear to contradict himself when he says: “In everything, we commend ourselves as servants of God: in great endurance, in troubles, in hardships, and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors”; and again: “Each will receive their own reward according to their labor”.

⁵ To those who are unskilled, uneducated, and stubbornly resist the truth, these passages may seem contradictory. But according to the rule of the Catholic faith, the works of the Law—those performed merely according to the letter—are abolished, while those that must be carried out after grace, with grace as their companion, are upheld.

⁶ Let us see if we can prove this to be true from the facts themselves. We read that the works of the Law are abolished when the pride of the Jews is restrained, as it says: “Where, then, is your boasting? It is excluded. By what law? That of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law”. Similarly, he says to the Galatians: “Knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. For by works of the Law no flesh will be justified before Him”. The impious person declared that works were made void, but he deceitfully concealed which works those were. Now, you will struggle to understand if you fail to distinguish between different people and different works. To the Jews, it is said: “By works of the Law no flesh will be justified”. But to Christians, who are already reborn in Christ, the instruction is given: “Do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the household of faith”, and again: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord”. To Christians, I say, it is declared: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven”; that is, we should not lapse into idleness but rather, in our good works, give glory not to ourselves but to the Lord. To Christians, it is said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, whoever fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him”.

Chapter 6: On the Saying, “By the Grace of God, I Am What I Am” #

¹ Listen to the apostle as he humbly blends labor with grace: “By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. Rather, I labored more abundantly than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me”. See how he always joins the gift of grace with the duty of labor: “Yet not I.” Because he had mentioned only his labor, he quickly returned, as if embracing the mother of grace, saying, “But the grace of God with me.” “By the grace of God, I am.” In pious submission, he attributed the first and chief part solely to grace, assigned the intermediate role to labor as the master of obedience, and in the end, harmonized both by uniting grace and labor. He did not say, “I without grace” or “grace without me,” but “the grace of God with me.” How beautifully he connected at the conclusion what he had earlier distinguished separately! Thus, in the case of those who are reborn, whenever Scripture speaks of grace without labor or labor without grace, one is omitted, not separated. When one is mentioned without the other, the other is left unspoken, not denied—according to that rule which Bishop Augustine teaches: “Not everything that is left unsaid is thereby denied.”

² The Apostle also says elsewhere: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, after I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified”. Behold, the blessed Apostle, already won over to Christ, already made a chosen vessel, does not, under the name of predestination and grace, lay down his efforts in idleness. Instead, he joins his own striving with God’s blessings and says, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” See how, though he is already a soldier on the right hand, he still fears the danger of falling. Though he is elect, he dreads being rejected. He already holds victory in his hands, yet he does not lay down his weapons. He has already been led in triumph, yet he still fears the outcome of battle. Since this is the case, consider that you are not opposing some weak or insignificant person, but rather rising up in the arms of wicked error against the teaching of the highest Apostle, contradicting Christ, who speaks through him. And while you take away the labor of service and the duty of prayer, recognize that you are shutting the door of salvation to the human race. Moreover, while you fail to reject the impiety of Pelagius, understand that you are drifting toward the destructive doctrine of the Manicheans, who deny free will altogether.

Chapter 7: How to Understand the Words: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not from works, so that no one may boast”, Where Faith Itself is Counted Among Works, and the Food of the Law Perishes, While the Food of Grace Remains #

¹ Just as, in your ignorance of discernment and your friendship with idleness, you strayed from the path of understanding between the works of the Law and faith, so too, in following your misguided persuasion as a most unworthy guide, you have lost the shining rule of the Catholic faith between the two periods of grace. The time of grace in which we were redeemed did not wait for human merits, nor did it seek works at all. God was entirely satisfied with the devotion of our faith alone, as the Apostle says: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”, and elsewhere: “The just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him”. He affirmed that the just live by faith because He remembers granting both faith and righteousness to those who seek Him. But by saying, “if he draws back,” He shows that when a person willingly turns away from God, he does not perish as if abandoned, but rather is lost because he ungratefully withdraws himself from the mercy that reaches out to him. Likewise, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is written: “Whoever approaches God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him”. How fittingly he joins both the role of the Lord and that of the servant when he says, “He rewards those who seek Him.” Just as granting a reward belongs to God, so too, seeking Him pertains to human devotion.

² But you say that not everyone is capable of having faith. It is no wonder that you, who deny that works belong to a person, also strive to take away faith from them, even though it is clear that faith is counted among works. As we have in the Gospel: “Work not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life”, where the food, that is, the understanding of the letter, is described as perishing, whereas the food of grace, that is, faith, is said to endure. And so, the discourse continues in sequence: “The Jews said to him: ‘What shall we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them: ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in the one whom he has sent’”. Do you see that nothing in the service of God is done without work, when even the one who is seen to believe is working? Likewise, the Apostle says: “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love”. Similarly, to the Thessalonians: “May God make you worthy of his calling and fulfill every good resolve and work of faith in you”. And concerning Abraham in the epistle of the Apostle James: “You see that faith was active along with his works, and by works, faith was made complete”. Recognize here the twofold role of both work and faith. “By grace, you have been saved through faith”. Therefore, the first calling requires from us the foundation of faith, but the grace of the time that follows, after we have been redeemed, washed, and renewed, imposes diligence in works and the effort of laborious service, so that we may preserve with effort, through the help of God, what we have received without effort. As the Apostle warns: “See that you do not receive the grace of God in vain”. Recognize that there are distinct stages of calling and completion. He expects faith from those who are still young in the faith, but from those who are established, he requires both works and faith—yet in such a way that he increases the disposition of belief in those who are advancing and provides daily assistance to those who labor.

Chapter 8: Against Those Who Say That Free Will Has Been Entirely Taken Away #

¹ The proponent of this wicked belief considers a person—who is endowed with intellect, gifted with reason, and honored with the dignity of being made in the image of God—as comparable to brute animals and unreasoning beasts. According to this view, a person is led to the right path not by any guidance of their own but solely by the violent command of their Creator. By this argument, he also strives to liken a person to the insensible elements, as if, just as the earth does not produce any fruitfulness by its own choice, being unaware of its own fertility and possessing neither sense nor liberty nor will—yet the fruits of the field are still brought forth from it by the labor of the cultivator—so too, in a person who remains idle and unexercised in virtue, the fruits of justice and the desire and progress toward good things are obtained solely by God’s intervention. And as if the person neither perceives nor consents in any way, whatever they desire or do is judged to have no connection to their effort or intention. In the same way that the vast sea is tossed back and forth by the winds, so too is the human mind directed toward any good deed by the impulse of divine power alone, without any movement of its own. If this were the case, if a person’s intellect does not turn them away from the path of evil and the pursuit of what is good does not stir them toward righteousness, then they would no longer be regarded as human but as a mere beast.

² Behold, the heretic, under the guise of grace, defines what kind of person he believes should exist after receiving grace. If free will were entirely lost—which undoubtedly pertains to love of innocence, the practice of justice, and the sanctification of the body—if this were wholly taken away due to the transgression of the first man, then how do we read: “Learn justice, you who dwell on the earth”, and again: “The just shall live by faith”, and: “The just shall inherit the land”, and: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears are open to their prayers”? Does innocence completely perish because its first possessor failed to remain in its initial state? I do not think so, for it is written: “The innocent and the upright have adhered to me”, and again: “Who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart”, and again: “The Lord will not withhold good things from those who walk in innocence”. Should we then believe that the sanctification of the body has been entirely lost because, in the rebellious servant whose members no longer maintain their proper service, the original dignity of purity has been cast off? Certainly not, for we read: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”, and again: “Be holy, for I am holy”. Thus, among these blessings, which the careless inhabitant of paradise had received from his gracious Creator, their practice has not perished, even if their perfection has been lost. No, I say, the virtue of chastity has not perished, even if virginal integrity has been violated.

Chapter 9: How the Weakness of Free Will Should Be Understood #

¹ But you ask: “How should we understand the weakening of the human mind’s free will?” Its diminished freedom now requires the help of grace even more, just as a man weakened by a long illness needs the support and comfort of another as he struggles to walk. In the same way, after being accustomed to indulgence for a long time, restoring self-control requires much effort. Likewise, sobriety, once enslaved by prolonged drunkenness, can only be regained with the hardship of a strict discipline, whereas before, when it was intact, it was easily maintained. For when an untainted conscience possesses it with a certain delight, it is held without difficulty. And just as, after indulging in various bodily pleasures and vices—pleasures which in youth could have been easily resisted—one must now return to the path of virtue with great struggle, as if ascending a steep mountain, so too has the liberty of human free will, granted by God, lost the beauty and vigor of its grace. Yet it has not entirely perished. The divine gifts are not so much forbidden to it as they are recognized to require great toil and effort, with the aid of divine assistance, in order to be reclaimed.

² Hear the Lawgiver discussing free will when He says: “I have set before you life and death, good and evil; choose life, that you may live”. And again: “I have chosen the way of truth; I have not forgotten Your judgments”. You see that no one here is constrained by fate or by the necessity of imposed destruction, since the power to choose is granted. Nor does predestination force one toward a single path when the choice of both options is presented. Likewise: “Let Your hand be ready to save me, for I have chosen Your commandments”, which means: ‘The harmful pleasures of the world indeed tempted me toward the left, but the benefit of Your commandments drew me toward the right’. Therefore, if even the Gentiles are guided in their judgment of good and evil by an innate sense of free will, how much more can a humble Christian direct the freedom of his will toward the good, since he places his ability in the strength of God’s help? To him, it is said: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have”, and again: “Do you want to be made well?”. Knowing how much the Almighty Creator has implanted in the human heart, He asks the will of the one He is about to heal. For in another place, He reproves the people, having granted them freedom of choice: “Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears”. Here, their blindness and deafness are understood as obstinacy, not as a natural defect. And in the Gospel, He openly shows that the desire for a good will is implanted in man: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me”. That is to say: ‘It is My mercy that calls you, but it is entrusted to your will to follow’.

³ Let us see whether God calls man to Himself through idleness. He says, “Let him deny himself”, that is, let him who is evil strive to become good and humbly say, “And I will praise Him according to my will”. Each person is commanded to turn to God by their own will so that no sinner may despair of being able to change for the better. “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself”, meaning he must become a different person from what he was. Patience must overcome anger, temperance must restrain lust, humility must drive out pride, and the cross must crush pleasure. Who would think that these things are given to a person while he sleeps, through grace alone, without the toil of the heart, the affliction of the flesh, and the great struggle of both aspects of man? “Let him deny himself,” that is to say: ‘O man, do not think that you were created by your Maker in such a way that you cannot become righteous from being wicked, chaste from being lustful, or kind from being malicious. To achieve this, it is not your nature that must be changed, but your life’. Now, in saying this, we do not equate human effort with grace, but we place grace far above all comparison.

Chapter 10: How to Understand “It Is Not of Him Who Wills, Nor of Him Who Runs, But of God Who Shows Mercy”, and “I Have Not Come to Call the Righteous, But Sinners to Repentance” #

¹ But you say: “Man is nothing in himself, but everything depends on the grace of God”—just as the Apostle says: “It depends not on human will or exertion”. This is how the Jew boasts in the Law, or how Pelagius presumes upon free will. However, even though human effort is enslaved, everything still depends on God’s mercy—not on human will or exertion. Here, the Apostle clearly identifies and rebukes the one who believes he is self-sufficient and does not need the helping hand of God.

² On the other hand, regarding the one who unites his efforts with God’s merciful aid, the Apostle does not say, “It depends not on human will or exertion,” but speaks to him in a very different manner: “So run that you may obtain it”. And again: “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?”.

³ If human will in striving were not also to be expected, why does Scripture say: “So I do not run aimlessly”, and again: “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”?

⁴ “Not on human will or exertion”—this phrase casts a veil of darkness over those who fail to understand the proper persons or contexts in the Holy Scriptures. In this passage, the Apostle to the Gentiles asserts faith and restrains the pride of the Jews, who arrogantly claimed righteousness based on the works of the Law while rejecting God’s mercy and grace. As the Apostle says: “Seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness”.

⁵ Elsewhere, He condemns them for their false justification, speaking with veiled irony: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. By “righteous,” He means those who flatter themselves with the presumption of their own righteousness. In the same way, in another passage, He rejects the Pharisee who justifies himself and accepts the tax collector who accuses himself. “I have not come,” He says, “to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” That is, I have not come for the Jews, who claim the privileges of righteousness for themselves through the Law, but rather for the Gentiles, who, through faith, confess their sins in repentance.

⁶ For in response to their arrogance, He also says elsewhere: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”. The Jews boasted that they were righteous and healthy—but they were not. Indeed, who would dare to call himself truly healthy in spirit, when the whole human race, struck by a single bite of the serpent, has been left weak and ailing?

⁷ Therefore, the only hope of healing for the sick is to acknowledge their illness before the physician. It is right that the one who refuses to recognize his sickness should be denied the remedy. And so, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance”. But who would truly believe that these so-called righteous ones have no need of repentance? No one is in greater need of salvation than the one who fails to recognize his own need.

⁸ Thus, the true Shepherd rejoices more over the one sheep that is brought back from its wandering than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. And who could claim to be free from the peril of deadly error, when the prophet himself declares: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way”? What a sorrowful blindness! In rejecting the Savior, the Jews lost the way and refused to acknowledge their own error.

⁹ Thus, the divine word, under the name of “the just,” without prejudicing any other interpretation, more specifically refers to and rebukes the arrogance of the Jews. For while the number ten and the number one hundred represent the just and the perfected, the number ninety-nine, by the very nature of being an incomplete number, signifies the unjust and sinners.

¹⁰ Therefore, in this passage, the apostolic teaching reproves the arrogance of the Jews, who, seeking to justify themselves by the Law, had rejected the mercy of the Redeemer. It does so by saying: “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs”. For in the humility of a Christian, obedience and submission constitute both progress and ascent, whereas in the arrogance of a Jew, there is a fall and descent. He says, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs.”

¹¹ How could these words apply to a faithful person, one who is subject to the laws of Christ, to whom it is said: “And his delight was in the law of the Lord”? And as we have already stated: “If anyone wishes to come after me”; “I will freely sacrifice to you, O Lord”; and “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”. See how great and how difficult a work it is that the loss and recovery of one’s soul are placed within human will! And for this reason, he concludes: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each one according to his works”.

¹² Notice that when he says “according to his works,” he places human salvation not in the predestination of the Creator but in the action of the servant to whom grace is given. Thus, this passage does not refer to the condition of man but to his conduct. That is why elsewhere it says: “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God, so that each one may receive according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil”. Recognize here that it is not the evils of one’s lineage or origin that will be examined in the final judgment, but rather one’s own deeds done in the body.

¹³ Therefore, in the case of a person who has been reborn in Christ, what is to be called into judgment is not the fact that he was born, but rather what he has done. If human action were not also a matter of the will, how could it be said: “If you are willing and you listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land”?

¹⁴ Thus, God, the Creator of both the outer and inner man, just as He arranged the members of the human body by His power, so too, by His ordering, has granted man the ability to act and to exercise the functions of his members. And just as He Himself formed the right hand in every human being, yet placed it in man’s power to extend it as he wishes and to apply it to various tasks, in the same way, He has implanted, inspired, and infused into each soul the faculty of reason and the freedom of the will. However, He left it to be governed and exercised by human judgment, committing its functions to man’s own control and dominion.

¹⁵ Thus, if a person, being corrupt, desires evil, he must understand that it is permitted to him in the freedom of his will, but he must not believe it is lawful. However, if he desires what is good, he must seek from the Creator both the ability to act and the fulfillment of that good. Yet the devotion with which he seeks it pertains to his own merit. For this reason, the Creator and Governor of man has assigned the use of a good will to man, but has reserved its effect to Himself.

¹⁶ Therefore, it is not the case that He has granted the ability to will to some while denying it to others. Rather, just as He has given every human being hands, eyes, and the ability to walk, so also He has granted the will to all, allowing each to direct it as he chooses. Thus, righteousness in man is not a personal privilege but a general and public gift of God. The opportunity to attain salvation is set forth like a spring in the midst of this world, freely open to all for drawing. Consequently, the one who neglects to drink from it is rightly guilty before the Giver.

¹⁷ It was offered to all, and thus it will be required of all. For if there were a special dispensation concerning a person’s, as they say, salvation, I do not see how a universal judgment could take place. But since it is written: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of God”, He would not demand it fearfully from all unless He had mercifully offered it to all.

¹⁸ Thus, as one enlisted in military service, the Apostle exhorts: “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs; rather, he seeks to please his commanding officer. Likewise, anyone who competes as an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules”. And again: “The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops”.

¹⁹ Listen also to the Apostle elsewhere, not preaching idleness to you: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day and, having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”.

²⁰ When he says, “so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” and again, “so that you may be able to resist in the evil day,” and further, “taking up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” he very clearly demonstrates that God has granted the power of free will to every person. By this, each one is able not only to resist their own flesh but even to fight against the devil himself, about whom he says elsewhere: “Be sober and watchful, for your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”.

²¹ If, as you claim, necessity of origin had already assigned certain individuals to this adversary, then he would not need to seek out those to deceive, nor would it be of any benefit for those already assigned to be watchful. But this is not the case. Just as the enemy approaches all, so too is the hand of protection and assistance not denied to anyone. Mercy and kindness come to those who pray and keep watch, granted not according to predestination but rather in response to their devotion.

²² Therefore, in light of this, does not the one who claims that grace alone, without the effort of works and labor, is sufficient, seem to you to be rushing into the ruin of blasphemy with a mind estranged from the truth? Such a person, in effect, declares: ‘Let no one keep watch. Let no one fast. Let no one combat the assaults of indulgence with the restraint of abstinence. Let no one wage war against vice through the mortification of the flesh. Let no one strive to heal the wounds of the soul through the salutary affliction of discipline. Let no one resist lust. Let no one seek remedies for sin through the toil of bodily penance. Let no one repel the enemy, armed with the enticements of shameful pleasure, by the power of the cross. Instead, let him expose his unguarded heart to the flaming arrows of the adversary. Let no one ransom himself from the debt of eternal death through the sacrifices of almsgiving. Let no one tend to his wounds through works of mercy and justice, but instead bring them untouched to the day of judgment.’

²³ Behold, this one who was just now thought to be a defender of grace is found to be an opponent of grace by blocking the path to human salvation—the very grace through which salvation is given. He is shown to have fallen into the schemes of the devil, becoming an accomplice in destruction.

Chapter 11: Against the Claim that Free Will is Inclined only Toward Evil and Not at all Toward Good #

¹ Where, then, is the prophet’s word: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord”? Or that of the Apostle: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”.

² Thus, when the Apostle calls upon people to strive for better things, he shows that they have the capacity for a good will. And when we acknowledge this, we openly proclaim the order and marvelous design of our Creator, who prepares the human will for just deeds. The same Apostle demonstrates this when he says: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness”. And again: “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification”. Does he not here summon the very same person—who was previously given over to evil—to the pursuit of good works?

³ Therefore, while the enemies of free will declare that all things are determined and fixed solely by predestination, they even nullify the supreme remedy of repentance by their reckless impiety. How can one claim to preach grace while denying mercy? How does one appear to uphold God’s gift while taking away His help? How dare he presume to use the testimony of Scripture when he seeks to exclude the very benefits of Scripture?

⁴ How can it be said to me, “Turn away from evil and do good”, if I am incapable of turning away from evil? Why does the Apostle say, “Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you”, and again, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”?

⁵ How does the preacher of the law suggest that I change myself if the Creator has imposed an immutable law upon me? He also says, “You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self”.

⁶ How can you insist that the stain of sin is inseparably bound to our origin and condition when you acknowledge that it can be cast off and removed? Recognize that you are speaking with a spirit contrary to the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit who gave the sacraments of the Law and the Prophets, who delivered the oracles of Gospel truth as a help to the world, and who, through the laborious service of divine commandments, has promised the kingdom of heaven to those who observe them with the aid of grace.

⁷ Therefore, measure the honor of this holy work and labor by the greatness and dignity of its reward. Surely, you would consider its prize and crown worthless if you claimed it could be obtained without the painful toil of contrition. Can the command of divine precept truly be fulfilled without great effort?

⁸ “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”, and also: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’”. How, then, can you assert that the grace given is in no way at risk when Scripture itself teaches that goodness, once ingrained in character, can be corrupted by evil?

⁹ Can what the Apostle says be achieved without effort? “In all things, we suffer tribulation, but we are not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; we are persecuted, but not forsaken; we are struck down, but not destroyed”. And elsewhere: “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world”.

¹⁰ If such things, and many others with which the Holy Scriptures abound, could be obtained through ease, why does everyone not attain them? Much would be taken away from the glory of the reward and the justice of the Rewarder if great and illustrious men were crowned through idleness and complacency. And what of the prophetic words: “Because of the words of Your lips, I have kept to hard paths”?

¹¹ If the pursuit of salvation were an idle endeavor, and if the way of virtue were broad, open, and accessible to all, then the Gospels would be lying when they say: “How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it!”. If works cease, merit will have no honor. If nothing is difficult in labor, nothing in virtue will be precious. But this arduous path offends the lazy, and labor discourages the idle.

¹² Therefore, it is not the force of divine foreknowledge that is to blame, but the disobedience of the sinner, as we read: “They perished because of their iniquities, like a dream upon awakening”, and again: “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity”, and elsewhere: “They did not keep the covenant of God, and they refused to walk in His law”.

¹³ Thus, it is not the impossibility of performing righteousness that turns a person away, but rather their own iniquity and will. For when the Apostle says, “Rebuke a sinner in the presence of all”, there would be no reason to rebuke or condemn someone who sins unwillingly. But that is not the case. For when the Lord, through His prophet, declares, “I will judge each one according to his ways, O house of Israel”, it is clear that whoever succumbs to sinful passions is not overcome by the force of divine foreknowledge, but is rather seduced by the enticement of sin.

¹⁴ Those who deny the effort required in human labor often raise this objection: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it”. Yet those who ignorantly cite this verse and claim that human effort is entirely meaningless fail to grasp the true meaning of the words. For does the Lord alone, as if by solitary action, administer the salvation of the human race? Certainly not. Rather, just as the body carries out the will of the head through its members, so too does the Lord build His house through the bishops and shepherds of the Church—through those who declare: “For we are God’s co-workers”. Indeed, whoever takes on the responsibility of saving souls is a helper of the Redeemer.

¹⁵ Thus, the Lord builds this house through His saints, and the saints build it through their Lord. The Church is built by Him who said, “As a wise architect, I have laid the foundation”. Do you recognize the Church as having been built in any other way than through the labors and duties of the priests, through the ministries and examples of the saints, through the virtues of the apostles, and the deaths of the martyrs? Yet, in the midst of all this, while the servant of God must labor to the point of enduring all evils and even the loss of life itself, the fruit of his labor must always be referred back to the Lord.

¹⁶ For the one who presumes to claim either the beginning or the completion of the work for himself is rightly addressed by the words: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain”. However, just as devotion and tireless service are expected from man, so the perfection of the completed work must be attributed to the Lord, for the only one who does not receive His gifts is the one who has neglected to keep them.

¹⁷ Indeed, even that servant acknowledged that he had received what was given to him, though he despised the task of doubling his entrusted talent for the sake of salvation; instead, he buried it in the idle sloth of the earth. Similarly, Saul received God’s grace when he was anointed by Samuel, and he obtained the special bounty of royal power—on the condition that he did not stray from the commandments of God. While he once overthrew the sacred groves and temples of idols along with their sorcerers under the guidance of his priestly teacher, after his teacher’s death, he lost his faith and later turned to the deceitful responses of a sorceress. He had demonstrated his belonging to God by destroying idols, yet in the end, he sought out those very false prophets whom he had once rejected.

Chapter 12: Against Those Who Claim That a Vessel Made for Dishonor Cannot Rise to Become a Vessel of Honor #

¹ They say that a vessel of dishonor cannot be transformed into a vessel of honor because the Apostle said: “Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?”. In this passage, however, the Apostle deliberately omits the preceding causes by which a person transitions either to honor or to dishonor, concluding his statement without elaboration.

² For when a person, by grace, has become a vessel of honor, he must remain vigilant to preserve this honor through divine cooperation, lest, having once acquired it, he later turn into a vessel of dishonor through his own fault. But when they claim that a person’s inferior state is predetermined from birth and cannot be changed for the better, this can only be believed concerning the afterlife—where, in the realm of the dead, there will no longer be any possibility of correction or change.

³ However, until the end of this life, even the most wicked can turn to righteousness, and even the most perfect must remain vigilant against the danger of falling, as we read in First Samuel: “Those who glorify me, I will glorify; but those who despise me shall be held in contempt”.

⁴ Why, then, is one person honored and another despised? Surely, it is because the one who has brought dishonor also had the ability to glorify God, and the one who has brought glory also had the ability to despise Him. For the person who chose to please the Lord his God could have chosen otherwise, and the one who refused to do so could have willed it. Do not think, therefore, that this is due to any difference in nature; it is the same person who wills and the same person who does not will.

⁵ Therefore, everyone who is reborn in Christ could not have been a vessel of wrath and offense unless he had first been a vessel of wickedness by his own fault. Conversely, in order to become a vessel of mercy, he must first be a vessel of obedience, so that the judgment of the just Judge follows upon preceding causes.

⁶ Let us show that a vessel of dishonor can, with God’s help and its own effort, be transformed into a vessel of honor. The Lord declares: “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and he repents of his sin and does what is just and right, he shall surely live and not die”.

⁷ What is the wicked man, if not a vessel of dishonor? Yet behold! Through the remedy of repentance, he is suddenly honored with the brightness of grace and clothed in the beauty of righteousness. With the stain of sin washed away, he can confidently say with the prophet: “You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; you will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow”..

⁸ Listen to the Apostle, as he proclaims how the stains of conscience can be cleansed so that a vessel of iniquity may appear as a vessel of sanctification: “In a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some for honor, and others for dishonor”.

⁹ Take heart, O human nature! Be freed from the notion of an unchangeable fate, and recognize the ineffable goodness of your Lord concerning man’s salvation. For after saying, “Some for honor and others for dishonor,” he opened wide the door of hope for the faithful, declaring: “If anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified…”.

¹⁰ Thus, the heart is capable of holding both things, and what it once allowed to be poured into it can easily be emptied out by changing its previous intention. The same vessel can remain within itself, either filled with iniquity or emptied of it. Therefore, “vessel” refers to the substance of a human being, while what is placed within the vessel pertains to the kind and diversity of the will.

¹¹ Elsewhere, the Lord shows that one who is lost can be restored when He says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, and again: “We must celebrate and rejoice, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and has been found”.

¹² Thus, his loss was not part of his nature, but rather, he had died through his own refusal to return; he came back to life through his desire to return. For just as it was his own fault that he fled far from his compassionate father’s sight, so too, it was by his own devotion—through the goodness planted within him—that he made the decision, arose, and returned to his father’s embrace.

¹³ Yet it was grace that first moved the wanderer and then welcomed him upon his return. So, let neither the definition of original sin nor fatalistic necessity stand in the way here. See, the one who was dead is united again, and the lost one is found, just like the woman in the Gospel who, upon losing a silver coin in her house, lit a lamp to search for it, diligently applied her efforts with the oil of grace, and joined her intention with God’s help—thus, what she had lost within, she found within.

¹⁴ Whenever a person, by the effort of their own mind, seeks to change from good to evil or from evil to good, it is the free will given by God that is corrected, not the force of predestination that acts upon them. And whenever you read in the sacred scriptures: “On whatever day you turn and grieve, then you will be saved”, and again: “I do not desire the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live”, and also: “Turn away from your evil ways”, and further: “The wickedness of the wicked shall not harm him on the day he turns from his injustice”, and: “Remove the old leaven, that you may be a new batch of dough”, it is clear that whenever a person, aided by grace, rejects what is worse and turns to what is better, they are transformed from a vessel of dishonor into a vessel of honor.

¹⁵ However, for a good person to become evil—this is more easily received by human weakness, so that a vessel of honor becomes a vessel of dishonor. As we read in Habakkuk: “His chosen food”, and also: “He will regard gold as straw”, and in Jeremiah: “How the gold has become tarnished, how the finest color has changed!”, just as the Apostle says: “Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?”.

¹⁶ Thus, it is clear that a person, through their own fault, can be transformed from being part of Christ’s body into belonging to the devil. Elsewhere, Scripture teaches in the most absolute terms that someone can go from being excellent to being utterly wicked and that even the temple of God can be violated. As it says: “You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him”.

¹⁷ See, this person is already recognized as being the temple of God, already possessed by the Holy Spirit, yet it is said that through negligence, they can be violated, corrupted, and occupied by an unworthy inhabitant. Likewise, the prophet rebukes a soul that has willingly forsaken the grace of God, saying: “I planted you as a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned into a degenerate foreign vine?”.

¹⁸ Here, he shows that the vineyard, which God planted with a noble root and which was chosen by the careful work of the cultivator, has been ruined by its own fault. For this reason, in Isaiah’s song, God speaks about it: “I expected it to produce good grapes, but it yielded thorns”. This rebuke from the vineyard’s cultivator shows that it had the potential to bear the fruit of righteousness. And since Scripture testifies that one who stands can fall—“Let the one who thinks he stands take care lest he fall”—and, conversely, speaks to the fallen: “Does he who falls not rise again?”, and: “God is able to raise him up”, it is clearly shown that a person’s condition can change, not by God’s decree, but by the freedom of their own will.

¹⁹ Moreover, Isaiah explicitly affirms that those who are corrupted can be corrected and those who are stained can be cleansed, when he speaks to sinners, saying: “Wash yourselves, be clean; remove the evil of your thoughts from before my eyes”.

Chapter 13: That the Will and Choice of a Person Is Given Control Over Both Good and Evil #

¹ Meanwhile, we must carefully ask heretics whether man is unable to do good or simply unwilling. The presence of the seeds of a good will in man is clearly affirmed when it is written:

² * “If you will keep the commandments, they will save you”.

• “Do not withdraw from the discipline of the Lord”.
• “Do not withhold good from the needy”.
• “Do not devise evil against your friend”.
• “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding”.
• “Do not reject the counsel of your mother”.
• “Do not fix your gaze on a deceitful woman”.
• “He did not want to understand in order to do good”.
• “They did not want to accept discipline”.

³ Where unwillingness is condemned, it is evident that willingness was present. And many similar passages in the Old Testament writings firmly bind and prove the role of the will. Likewise, in the books of the New Testament—both the Gospels and the apostolic writings—what else is affirmed but the freedom of the will? It is written:

⁴ * “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth”.

• “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body”.
• “Be sober, be righteous, and do not sin”.
• To Timothy: “Do not neglect the grace that is in you”.
• “Let your good not be as if by necessity, but willingly”.

⁵ Even servants are instructed to serve their masters sincerely, with good will. Elsewhere, it is written:

⁶ * “Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with partiality”.

• “Do not slander one another”.
• “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”.
• “Do not love the world or the things in the world”.

⁷ We see, then, that human consent can turn both toward good and toward evil. For this reason, it is also written elsewhere: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not give up. So then, let us do good to all people, especially to those of the household of faith”.

⁸ He also says, “Do not love the world”. If human affection were not capable of being directed toward something better, the desire for evil would not be forbidden. Therefore, the one who is called by his Lord to the right hand is condemned by his own guilt when he turns to the left. Thus, it is written again: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”.

⁹ Clearly, no one is forced by necessity into evil, for victory is promised to those who choose good. The law of our origin does not compel us toward error, for our Creator has placed us at the crossroads of choice. Therefore, to the one who has been given the will to overcome evil, if he yields to his adversary, it is not because success was impossible, but because he lacked the resolve to fight.

¹⁰ We read in the Letter to the Hebrews: “For if we deliberately continue in sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”. According to this, if we do not have free will, how can we sin voluntarily? If you ask why a person is guilty, it is because after receiving the knowledge of the truth, he turned to the spirit of error. “After receiving the knowledge,” it says—understand that he had received grace but lost it through neglect. And again: “Anyone who disregards the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severe punishment do you think one deserves who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”.

¹¹ Why is it that someone is accused by two or three witnesses and condemned to death as if personally guilty of a crime, if they are inevitably compelled to sin by the law of nature? The answer is clear: they undoubtedly deserve punishment because they had the ability to uphold justice but refused to do so.

¹² If you ask why they were deprived of such a great good, the reason is given: “They have insulted the Spirit of grace”. Recognize here that grace was not simply withheld from the person, but that it first abandoned them because it had been rejected and despised. The kindness of the Giver rebukes with a certain sorrow the insult of the one who rejects it. Thus, when someone willingly turns aside to error, they do not perish because they have been abandoned, but because, in their ingratitude, they have withdrawn themselves from the mercy that sought to embrace them. They become like those about whom the Psalmist declares: “And He blessed them, and they multiplied greatly”, but then he immediately explains the reason for their lost blessing: “And they were deceived by their own vanities, and they went astray in a pathless place, not in the right way”.

¹³ Here, the one who violates the commandment is shown to be guilty because they were led astray into evil rather than forced into it. Similarly, Paul attributes transgression to human fault when he says to the Galatians: “But at that time, not knowing God, you were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods”. According to this, Christ is God by nature, and we are commanded to serve Him. He continues: “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you wish to be enslaved to them all over again?”. He does not say, “You are incapable of being good,” but rather, “You choose to be evil.” If they had not been able to remain in goodness after being corrected, they would not be rebuked for falling into worse sins. To these same people, Paul says again: “My little children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you”.

¹⁴ Behold, those who were begotten in faith but became as if aborted are still said to be capable of being reformed into the image of Christ. And since they are still called children, even though they are lost, their transgression is condemned without despair. This teaches that what has been lost can be restored, just as what has been given can also be taken away.

¹⁵ Now, when a heretic interprets the Apostle’s words as referring to God’s predestination or predetermined decree—when it is written, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion”—he must be asked whether what God wills is orderly or disorderly, just or unjust. When he answers that what is necessary is just, we must reply: then understand these words in the sense of justice, for the divine will is justice itself.

¹⁶ Thus, this expression should be understood as: “I will have mercy on whom I will,” that is, on whom I recognize it to be just to have mercy—on those whose ready faith I see, whose obedience to my commandments I perceive, and whom I judge to do my will. And when it says, “I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion,” it should be understood in this way: the one who keeps the mercy given by God with a submissive and diligent heart will obtain even greater mercy.

¹⁷ As it is said elsewhere: “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance”. That is, the one who carefully and fearfully preserves the gift received from God will gain an even greater increase of grace, so that his very progress will produce further growth in virtue. Likewise, another passage says: “Let the one who is holy be made still holier”.

¹⁸ Now, some believe that the Apostle’s words—“So then, he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’”—should be understood as a definition of God’s nature. However, here the Apostle clearly introduces an objection from an opponent’s perspective, a contrary argument that he immediately rebukes with the following words: “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”.

¹⁹ With this response, he silences the arrogant curiosity of those who argue against divine authority. When he asks, “Has the potter no right?”, he rebukes those who falsely accuse God, emphasizing only His sovereign power while disregarding His wisdom. These opponents ignorantly and faithlessly attribute all human actions solely to divine ordination.

²⁰ Moreover, when the Apostle says “out of the same lump”, he refutes the mistaken belief that there are two separate masses of humanity. Instead, recognize from sacred Scripture that there is only one human nature. What creates division is not some inherent difference in creation, but rather the corruption of desires and the diversity of human wills. Thus, each person becomes either a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor—not by God’s compulsion, but according to their own moral character.

Chapter 14: Where the Grace of God and Human Will Are Affirmed Together Through Testimony #

¹ If you focus your mind carefully, you will clearly and abundantly recognize how the Scriptures sometimes affirm the power of grace and at other times the consent of human will. We demonstrate the weakness of free will when we say to God, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips”. Likewise, the divine word commands something that implies the strength of free will when it says to man, “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit”. The wisdom of Scripture commends free will when it states, “Keep your heart with all vigilance”. However, the Apostle makes it clear that this cannot be done without divine assistance when he says, “The Lord will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. The prophet asserts the capability of personal will when he declares of himself, “I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes”. Yet, he does not presume this can be achieved by his own strength alone, for he cries out to God, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain”. Because of free will, we are instructed, “Make level paths for your feet, and direct your ways”. But recognizing our weakness, we flee to grace and pray, “Make straight my way before you”, and “Establish my steps in your paths”.

² He commands us, the ones to whom He has granted the right of our own will by His universal dispensation: “Illuminate for yourselves the light of knowledge”. Yet because everything must ultimately be referred to the Author of grace, we read: “It is He who teaches man knowledge”, and “The Lord gives sight to the blind”, and again: “Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death”, and “Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your law”. The Apostle, as a proclaimer of free will, stirs its liberty by saying: “Keep watch over your souls”, yet he proclaims the mercy of God, recalling: “The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in”.

³ Through these passages, in which sometimes the freedom of the will is affirmed and at other times the generosity of heaven is demonstrated, man is now admonished about the strength granted to him, so that he does not idly place all his hope in grace alone, and now he is urged to hope in grace, so that he does not falsely trust in his own effort alone.

⁴ But you ask: “If predestination does not exist, why are some infants baptized while others are taken away without the sanctification of baptism?” It is the deceit of the serpent to abandon the light and flee into dark caverns when the sacred Scriptures throughout their entirety clearly speak of free will. What reason is there to inquire into hidden matters when you see that clear truths fully answer your concerns? What benefit is there in ignoring what is certain and seeking what is uncertain, things about which you find nothing written in Catholic teaching? Do you not understand that you do an injustice to truth when you investigate what truth itself knew yet willed not to reveal?

⁵ You raise a discussion on the nature of free will, yet by a dangerous error, you fall into debating the state of infancy, where no trace of free will at all, no indication of personal volition, can be found.

Chapter 15: Against Those Who Say That Those Who Perish After Baptism Never Truly Believed in Baptism #

¹ At this point, you must answer: on whose authority do you read this law, and by what teacher do you presume to assert it? Since you do not deny that original sin is removed in baptism and that baptism is confirmed to be valid where the undivided Trinity is invoked, provide reasons why someone who has been baptized would still remain under the debt of original sin. And yet, you say, they perish in Adam because they did not believe in baptism. But did you not just say earlier that human effort is not required to receive God’s gifts? Behold, you yourself now openly declare that without the recipient’s devotion, the generosity of the giver is in vain. You, I say, confirm that without the merit of faith—that is, without the cooperation of the human will—grace is of no benefit. And how then can you say that God has reserved everything regarding the state of man to Himself and has given nothing to man?

² Behold, even according to your own reasoning, the mystery of regeneration cannot stand on its own unless a person, in accordance with the gift of blessing, also applies the desire to believe. If you deny human effort, why do you then require assent from them? But when the prophet says, “Living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem”, referring to the sacrament of the life-giving waters, how can it be that a renewed person would still retain the bond of the old man that has been erased? How can it be that someone who has been freed in Christ from Adam’s debt rises again still bound by it? How can it be that someone, after being washed in the sacred waters and adopted by God, would still bring forth death instead of life, when the Apostle says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”? Indeed, no one can put Him on unless they have cast off the garments of their first birth. But how can you claim that baptism has not benefited one who has freely come to it, when even a heretic who has been regenerated in the name of the Trinity receives such power from the mystery itself that, if they later come to the faith of Christ, they do not require a second baptism, but are judged to have been cleansed by grace alone, needing only the blessing of chrism? The Catholic Church utterly rejects this corrupt reasoning of yours. You say that those who have been washed in any kind of water at birth do not receive the gift of baptism because they come to it without faith. That is not true. Consider this carefully: the very act of coming to baptism and desiring salvation is already an expression of faith. You say that whoever perishes after baptism perishes in Adam because they did not believe in baptism. It would be more correct to say that they perished after baptism because they refused to add the effort of good works to the gift of grace, because negligence, the laziness of the heart, and the disregard of discipline drew them away from diligent service and the labor of a watchful life.

³ But if the fault of unbelief is the cause of perdition, what shall we say about little children, for whom the watchful guardianship of faith is entrusted to the devotion of their parents and the innocence of their nursing infancy? They receive the spotless gift of regeneration without any danger of unbelief, yet many of them, as they grow older, plunge into the depths of destruction. What explanation accounts for this, if not that they are overcome as negligence weakens them… (Text lost)

⁴ (Text lost, except for an exerpt quoted by John Maxentius in ‘Response to the Letter of Hormisdas’)… [Faustus, addressing those who claim that faith is not a general but a special gift, says:]

⁵ But you say that faith is not given to everyone, but is a personal gift, and that only those whom God has specially granted the ability to believe are able to do so. This is not the case. For while the Lord requires faith even from unbelievers, He shows that it has been implanted in all. And how could belief not be required by the very law of nature, when even the demons believe and tremble?

Chapter 16: On the Fall of the Angel and the Holy Angels Having the Likeness of God Against the Persuasion of Some #

¹ (Text lost)… He explained the reason why they seemed to have been broken off: “They were broken off because of unbelief,” he said, “not because of foreknowledge.” He teaches that God’s generosity is not reserved only for believers, since He also demonstrates that even those whom He reproaches for their unbelief were capable of believing. In this way, he also makes it clear that unbelievers have received the opportunity for faith, and by stating that they were broken off due to what is natural, he restrains the presumptuous through a salutary warning: “For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you”. And he adds, “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again”. Here, he speaks both to magnanimity and humility of heart—humility, so that the one who has been grafted in may fear being cut off, and magnanimity, so that the one who has been broken off may not lose hope of restoration. Just as the diligent shepherd sought the lost sheep and, having found it, carried it back to the fold on his shoulders, how could He abandon the one who follows Him, when He even follows the one who turns away? … (Text lost)

Chapter 17: Against the Claim that Christ Did Not Die for All #

¹ Our Lord Jesus Christ, they claim, did not take on human flesh for the salvation of all, nor did He die for all. The Catholic Church utterly rejects this. For if this were so, how could the Apostle say, “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive”? Here, it cannot be said that the whole is meant for only a part. Just as the first part of the sentence clearly shows that all die in Adam, without a doubt, the following statement—“in Christ shall all be made alive”—likewise applies generally to all who will be made alive in Christ, not partially but universally. That is, even the wicked are believed to be raised through the power of Christ’s resurrection, though they will rise not to be judged but to be punished. And when the Apostle says, “who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe”, by saying “of all men,” he refers to the intention of divine goodness. But by adding “especially of those who believe,” he makes a distinction, referring specifically to those who have received the gifts of the Redeemer through faith, obedience, and a submissive will.

² The Apostle clearly declares that Christ came for all, saying: “The love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again”. Since the general resurrection belongs to the power of redemption, if redemption does not pertain to all, then neither will the resurrection pertain to all. Therefore, just as all will rise, though not all will be changed, so too do we testify that the Lord came as the Redeemer with the benefit of universal mercy, even if unbelief rejected it because it refused to accept it. For whoever has sought God at any time has found Him, and whoever is not found to have found Him has not sought Him. But if, as impious blasphemy dares to claim, some are preordained for death and others predestined for life, then Christ had no reason for coming and no necessity for dying, other than the love that His mercy ordained.

³ A new remedy could have accomplished nothing if an ancient decree had already determined human affairs before time began. But since the belief in fate—which implies a compelling force in divine foreknowledge—must be entirely rejected, God all the more gave the Law and raised up prophets in the course of time. He knew that human free will had been weakened, though not destroyed. For if its strength had been entirely lost, how could it be written: “His delight is in the law of the Lord”, and again: “I will freely sacrifice to You, O Lord”? Or how could Paul say to Philemon: “So that your good deed might not be by compulsion, but voluntary”?

⁴ And since Christ declares in the Gospel: “The flesh that I will give is for the life of the world”, we must never doubt that He offered Himself for the whole world. He gave more than the entire world was worth, just as the blessed John the Evangelist testifies: “He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”.

⁵ But you may ask: “How has He redeemed the whole world? We see people still living in their sins—how can we consider redeemed those whom we still see remaining in captivity?”

⁶ Let us understand this through an appropriate analogy. Suppose an envoy or priest, interceding for a captive city, offers a great ransom and thereby takes possession of the entire captive population from the one who held them by right of war. If every law and obligation of servitude is entirely abolished, yet among the captives, some—either drawn by the allure of their former way of life or deceived by the false charms of a wicked master—refuse this freely given deliverance, does their ingratitude lessen the value of the ransom? Does the refusal of freedom diminish the goodwill of the redeemer? Certainly not. Rather, just as the one who returns can be counted grateful to the redeemer, so the one who remains behind is guilty of contempt. For He redeemed those who were willing to be redeemed, since He is the rewarder of willing hearts. God, as the just judge, desires the return of those who fell freely, for He remembers that they did not fall against their will. If this is true, tell me: whom has He excluded from the grace of redemption, He who has erased the universal record of ancient condemnation?

Chapter 18: Against Those Who Interpret the Gospel Message Ignorantly and Wickedly #

¹ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”. Who could be so forgetful of their own salvation as to dare deny the mercy of the One who draws us? Yet truly impious is the one who claims that this mercy is not offered to all, or that it is not made available to everyone. Some think that being “drawn” means a form of coercion in salvation. But such people seem to know nothing except the chains of forced servitude, for they fail to recognize the bonds of devoted love. This divine teaching specifically rebukes those who arrogantly trust in their own strength and impiously presume upon their own efforts.

² In this debate, some insist that everything depends on human labor, while others claim that everything depends solely on grace. In both cases, we see the truth of the Greek saying: “Extremes are inequalities.” It is equally wrong and equally impious to attribute everything to grace alone or everything to effort alone. What, then, should we believe? We must always place our labor under the guidance of grace and always unite grace with our efforts.

³ But above all, let us reject the arrogance of relying on our own efforts, and let us not claim any merit for ourselves, lest we be found imitating the Pharisee in his deadly presumption. For though he spoke the truth when he prayed, saying, “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess”, he nullified the truth of his faith because he mixed vanity with it. It is not our works themselves that must be avoided, but rather the pride of our hearts.

⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him”. But does this mean that a person is like an inanimate, lifeless object, dragged from one place to another? No. Rather, when the Lord stands before him and calls, the servant extends the hand of faith by which he is drawn, and he cries out: “I believe, Lord; help my unbelief!”. In this way, two things come together: the power of the One who draws and the willingness of the one who obeys—just as when a sick person tries to rise but lacks the strength to do so and therefore asks for a helping hand. The will desires, but weakness prevents it from rising on its own.

⁵ Thus, the Lord invites those who are willing, draws those who desire, and lifts up those who strive toward Him. But what does it mean to “draw” someone? It means to proclaim the truth, to awaken souls with the comfort of Scripture, to warn them with rebukes, to set before them things worth desiring, to place before them things to be feared, to threaten judgment, and to promise reward.

⁶ Listen to the Lord—not as one bound by harsh chains, but as one drawn by the hands of hope and embraced by the arms of love. As the prophet says, “I drew them with cords of kindness, with bands of love”, and also, “We will run after you in the fragrance of your perfumes”.

⁷ For this reason, Christ declares, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”, so that no one may excuse themselves as if they had been excluded, when in fact they have been invited. Even though He foresaw that not all would obey, He nevertheless granted to all both the invitation and the ability to respond.

⁸ Here, we must carefully consider whether a person wants to be drawn or not. If they do not want to be drawn, then they are entirely unworthy of the benevolence of the one who calls them. But if they do want to be drawn, then behold! Their own will is already cooperating with God. As Christ Himself says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”. If you recognize the One who draws, why do you ignore the one who comes?

⁹ Therefore, just as it is by grace that one is drawn, so it is by obedience that one follows. If God’s mercy in drawing people were given only to the worthy, you would see that human effort, in some way, plays a role in the soul’s submission. But if it is given also to the unworthy, then it follows that even the reprobate are not denied this calling. By His manifest compassion, God’s goodness is freely offered to both the just and the sinful alike.

¹⁰ But the One whom you recognize as drawing people seeks, above all, those who keep His commandments so that, through even the smallest inclination of their will, they may be grasped and drawn toward Him when called. If you believe that He draws those who are unwilling, then you are accusing divine justice of being unjust.

¹¹ Yet, if it is true that He draws even the unwilling, how much more will He embrace those who long for Him! Even the one who seems to be drawn effortlessly will still have to labor in order to remain with the One drawing him. For how many have come and then turned away because, though they were drawn by grace, they refused to persevere in response to the One calling them? As it is written in the Gospel: “Many of His disciples, upon hearing this, turned back and no longer walked with Him”. And again: “Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that You are the Christ, the Son of God’”.

¹² In both cases, their will was free: in those who, with ungrateful hearts, chose to leave, and in those who, with the freedom of faith, chose to remain.

Chapter 19: Against Those Who Say That God’s Power Forces a Person to Be Hardened So That They Cannot Attain Salvation #

¹ If, as you blasphemously claim, it is He who hardens hearts, then how does He say in the Psalm: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts”? And again: “By your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath”. Likewise, In Jeremiah: “You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent”.

² Now consider further the cause of hardening according to the wisdom of Solomon, who says: “When the wicked reaches the depths of evil, he shows contempt”. That is, from habitual sin comes despair, and from despair arises hardness of heart. When Jeremiah says, “they refused to repent,” you can see that hardness of heart is a crime of one’s own will. A man who is depraved, greedy, and bloodthirsty is a slave to every crime if he does not resist sin.

³ Let us consider, then, where this hardness of heart comes from. It is not, of course, caused by the compulsion of divine force, but rather arises as an occasion of God’s mercy holding back punishment. When God’s unfailing goodness patiently waits for a sinner to repent, an arrogant sense of security takes advantage of His kindness in delaying punishment. This is why the blessed Apostle says: “Do you despise the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed”.

⁴ Notice how the Apostle, by saying “because of your hardness and unrepentant heart,” attributes the guilt of a hardened heart not to God, but to the person himself. He asks, “Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” and then warns, “But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Clearly, it is not God’s severity that hardens the hearts of the wicked, but His goodness. Because they are not afflicted by the labors and scourges of tribulation, due to God’s patience, they are instead corrupted by pride.

⁵ The prophet confirms this truth when he says: “They are free from the burdens of mortals; they are not afflicted like other people. Therefore, pride is their necklace”. Thus, when punishment is delayed for judgment and God’s patience calls sinners to correction, the servant grows contemptuous, mistaking impunity for approval. As Scripture says: “He will repay each one according to his deeds”.

⁶ Certainly, God does not impose on a person the necessity of sinning based on His foreknowledge, since He is the one who will judge everyone according to their works. The prophet laments: “I have sinned, and what sorrow has come to me?” This is as if to say: “Surely, God must not know about sin, since He does not immediately punish it with vengeance.” Again, Scripture records: “He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten; He has turned away His face, and will never see it’”.

⁷ Thus, when someone says, “God has forgotten,” he wrongly interprets God’s patience as negligence, as if God were ignorant. He thinks that God forgets what, in fact, the wise and patient Judge is merely postponing. In this way, divine correction reforms the one who fears, but the leniency of God’s patience hardens the one who despises Him. The wicked person presumes that God’s ignorance hides everything forever, simply because God, in His kindness, does not immediately punish wrongdoing. When a sinner grows bolder in his contempt, God is falsely believed to have caused his hardness of heart. By withholding His wrath while sins multiply, He allows the sinner to persist in his insolence.

Chapter 20: Against the Claim that People are Driven to Death by God’s Will #

¹ If, as the heretic says, people are led to destruction by God’s will, then how is it that in the book of Kings, a woman speaks to David and says: “God does not desire that a soul should perish, but rather He devises ways so that the banished one may not be forever cast away”? Likewise, Ezekiel speaks the words of the Lord: “Great effort has been made, yet its excessive rust has not been removed, nor has your abominable impurity been purged even by fire. Though I desired to cleanse you, you would not be cleansed from your filth”.

² See how God not only desires the salvation of a person but even labors intensely for his purification! Yet, because of His justice, He does not accomplish this purification by force, but rather waits for the free will of the one to be cleansed. Similarly, it is written: “The bellows have failed; the refiner has blown in vain, for your wickedness has not been consumed”. When you hear of bellows and the refiner’s work, understand this as a reference to pure metal corrupted by an impure alloy, tainted and removed from its natural purity.

³ If a person is driven to death by God’s compulsion and will, then why does He say through Ezekiel, rebuking and lamenting: “Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I do not desire the death of the wicked, says the Lord. Turn back and live!”? And how can He drive people to death, as you blasphemously claim, when He not only commands them to live but even pleads with them to do so?

⁴ Again, He declares: “As I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live”. Let the one whom the Lord calls to return recognize that he has the power to do so! “As I live, says the Lord”—so that no sinner may doubt His mercy, the Judge confirms His clemency with an oath.

⁵ And the apostle Peter makes clear the will of our most merciful Creator: “The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient with you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. Repentance is given to the sinner so that justice may have a place in the granting of mercy. He patiently works for the sinner’s correction because, though He longs for it eagerly, He waits patiently.

⁶ Likewise, in the Gospel of Luke, it is written: “As He approached, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: ‘They will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation’”.

⁷ Here, heretics must be refuted. If the Lord had barred the way of salvation to those who were perishing, then He falsely lamented their destruction. But if, as is evident, He truly grieved over their ruin, He showed that what was lacking was not His own will for their salvation, but rather their consent to His will. Is it any wonder that He weeps for the salvation of mankind, when He is about to pour out His blood for them?

⁸ Likewise, in the Gospel of Matthew: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!”

⁹ Here, divine speech expresses two things: when He says, “How often I wanted, but you were unwilling,” He reveals both the goodness of God’s intention and the freedom of human will. And by saying, “Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,” He declares that He truly willed their salvation, even as He makes clear the reasons why He had to deny it to them. In this passage, the wickedness of the servant’s cruel heart is exposed, while the Lord’s most merciful kindness is revealed.

¹⁰ If God desires man’s destruction, then how can the prophet Micah say: “I will show you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

¹¹ By saying, “what the Lord requires of you: to act justly,” He would not demand a willing exercise of good works unless He had first given man the ability to do so. Do you see how, just as it belongs to God to encourage and invite, so too it is left to human obedience to follow?