34.—Pelagius Says that Grace is Given According to Men’s Merits. The Beginning, However, of Merit is Faith; And This is a Gratuitous Gift, Not a Recompense for Our Merits.

Then, again, whatever it is which he means by “grace,” he says is given even to Christians according to their merits, although (as I have already mentioned above86    In ch. 23 [xxii.].), when he was in Palestine, in his very remarkable vindication of himself, he condemned those who hold this opinion. Now these are his words: “In the one,” says he, “the good of their created87    Conditionis bonum. condition is naked and defenceless;” meaning in those who are not Christians. Then adding the rest: “In these, however, who belong to Christ, there is defence afforded by Christ’s help.” You see it is still uncertain what the help is, according to the remark we have already made on the same subject. He goes on, however, to say of those who are not Christians: “Those deserve judgment and condemnation, because, although they possess free will whereby they could come to have faith and deserve God’s grace, they make a bad use of the freedom which has been granted to them. But these deserve to be rewarded, who by the right use of free will merit the Lord’s grace, and keep His commandments.” Now it is clear that he says grace is bestowed according to merit, whatever and of what kind soever the grace is which he means, but which he does not plainly declare. For when he speaks of those persons as deserving reward who make a good use of their free will, and as therefore meriting the Lord’s grace, he asserts in fact that a debt is paid to them. What, then, becomes of the apostle’s saying, “Being justified freely by His grace”?88    Rom. iii. 24. And what of his other statement too, “By grace are ye saved”?89    Eph. i. 8.—where, that he might prevent men’s supposing that it is by works, he expressly added, “by faith.”90    Eph. i. 8. And yet further, lest it should be imagined that faith itself is to be attributed to men independently of the grace of God, the apostle says: “And that not of yourselves; for it is the gift of God.”91    Eph. i. 8. It follows, therefore, that we receive, without any merit of our own, that from which everything which, according to them, we obtain because of our merit, has its beginning—that is, faith itself. If, however, they insist on denying that this is freely given to us, what is the meaning of the apostle’s words: “According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”?92    Rom. xii. 3. But if it is contended that faith is so bestowed as to be a recompense for merit, not a free gift, what then becomes of another saying of the apostle: “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”?93    Phil. i. 29. Each is by the apostle’s testimony made a gift,—both that he believes in Christ, and that each suffers for His sake. These men however, attribute faith to free will in such a way as to make it appear that grace is rendered to faith not as a gratuitous gift, but as a debt—thus ceasing to be grace any longer, because that is not grace which is not gratuitous.

34. Deinde quamlibet sentiat gratiam, ipsis Christianis secundum merita dari dicit: cum eos qui hoc dicunt, jam in Palaestina, sicut supra commemoravi (Cap. 22, n. 23), sua illa praeclara purgatione damnaverit. Nam verba ejus ista sunt: «In illis,» inquit, «nudum et inerme est conditionis bonum:» in eis dicit, qui christiani non sunt. Deinde caetera contexens: «In his vero,» inquit, «qui ad Christum pertinent, Christi munitur auxilio.» Videtis adhuc incertum esse quo auxilio, secundum ea quae supra diximus. Sed adhuc sequitur de his qui christiani non sunt, et dicit: «Illi ideo judicandi atque damnandi sunt, quia cum habeant liberum arbitrium, per quod ad fidem venire possent, et Dei gratiam promereri, male utuntur libertate concessa. Hi vero remunerandi 0377 sunt, qui bene libero utentes arbitrio merentur Domini gratiam, et ejus mandata custodiunt.» Nempe manifestum est, cum dicere gratiam secundum merita dari, quamlibet eam, vel qualemlibet significet, quam tamen aperte non exprimit. Nam cum eos remunerandos dicit, qui bene utuntur libero arbitrio, et ideo mereri Domini gratiam, debitum eis reddi fatetur. Ubi est ergo illud Apostoli, Justificati gratis per gratiam ipsius (Rom. III, 24)? Ubi est et illud, Gratia salvi facti estis? Et ne putarent per opera, addidit, per fidem. Rursus ne ipsam fidem sine Dei gratia sibi putarent esse tribuendam, Et hoc, inquit, non ex vobis, sed Dei donum est (Ephes. II, 8). Nempe ergo illud unde incipit omne quod merito accipere dicimur, sine merito accipimus, id est, ipsam fidem. Aut si negatur dari; quid est quod dictum est, Sicut unicuique Deus partitus est mensuram fidei (Rom. XII, 3)? Si autem sic dicitur dari, ut reddatur meritis, non donetur; quid est quod iterum dicit, Vobis donatum est pro Christo, non solum ut credatis in eum, verum etiam ut patiamini pro eo (Philipp. I, 29)? Utrumque enim donatum esse testatus est, et quod credit in Christum, et quod patitur quisque pro Christo. Isti autem libero arbitrio sic applicant fidem, ut fidei videlicet reddi videatur, non gratuita, sed debita gratia: ac per hoc jam nec gratia, quia nisi gratuita, non est gratia.