Chapter 15.—The Pelagians Profess that the Only Grace Which is Not Given According to Our Merits is that of the Forgiveness of Sins.

When, however, the Pelagians say that the only grace which is not given according to our merits is that whereby his sins are forgiven to man, but that that which is given in the end, that is, eternal life, is rendered to our preceding merits: they must not be allowed to go without an answer. If, indeed, they so understand our merits as to acknowledge them, too, to be the gifts of God, then their opinion would not deserve reprobation. But inasmuch as they so preach human merits as to declare that a man has them of his own self, then most rightly the apostle replies: “Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou, that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?”121    1 Cor. iv. 7. To a man who holds such views, it is perfect truth to say: It is His own gifts that God crowns, not your merits,—if, at least, your merits are of your own self, not of Him. If, indeed, they are such, they are evil; and God does not crown them; but if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”122    Jas. i. 17. In accordance with which John also, the Lord’s forerunner, declares: “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven”123    John iii. 27.—from heaven, of course, because from thence came also the Holy Ghost, when Jesus ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.124    See Ps. lxviii. 18, and Eph. iv. 8. If, then, your good merits are God’s gifts, God does not crown your merits as your merits, but as His own gifts.

15. Sed cum dicunt Pelagiani hanc esse solam non secundum merita nostra gratiam, qua homini peccata dimittuntur; illam vero quae datur in fine, id est, aeternam vitam, meritis nostris praecedentibus reddi: respondendum est eis. Si enim merita nostra sic intelligerent, ut etiam ipsa dona Dei esse cognoscerent, non esset reprobanda ista sententia: quoniam vero merita humana sic praedicant, ut ea ex semetipso habere hominem dicant, prorsus rectissime respondet Apostolus, Quis enim te discernit? Quid autem habes quod non accepisti? Si autem et accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non acceperis (I Cor. IV, 7)? Prorsus talia cogitanti verissime dicitur: Dona sua coronat Deus, non merita tua; si tibi a te ipso, non ab illo sunt merita tua. Haec enim si talia sunt, mala sunt; quae non coronat Deus: si autem bona sunt, Dei dona sunt; quia sicut dicit apostolus Jacobus, Omne datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum (Jacobi I, 17). Unde dicit et Joannes praecursor Domini, Non potest homo accipere quidquam, nisi fuerit ei datum de coelo (Joan. III, 27): utique de coelo, unde etiam venit Spiritus sanctus, quando Jesus ascendit in altum, captivavit captivitatem, 0891 dedit dona hominibus (Psal. LXVII, 19; Ephes. IV, 8). Si ergo Dei dona sunt bona merita tua, non Deus coronat merita tua tanquam merita tua, sed tanquam dona sua.