Chapter 14. Paul First Received Grace That He Might Win The Crown (continued)
CHAPTER 15.
THE PELAGIANS PROFESS THAT THE ONLY GRACE
WHICH IS NOT GIVEN ACCORDING TO OUR MERITS,
IS THAT OF THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
The Pelagians say that the only grace which is not given according to our merits, is that grace by which man’s sins are forgiven; but that grace which is given in the end, that is, eternal life, is rendered according to our preceding merits. These must not be allowed to go without an answer. If, indeed, they so understand our merits as to acknowledge them to also 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 himself, then most rightly the apostle replies: “Who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have, that you did not receive? Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?”1Cor 4.7 To a man who holds such views, it is perfect truth to say that it is His own gifts that God crowns, and not your merits— at least, if your merits are of yourself, and not of Him. If, indeed, they are such, they are evil,7 and God does not crown them; but if they are good, then they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”Jas 1.17 In accordance with this, John [the Baptist], the Lord’s forerunner, also declares: “A man can receive nothing unless it is given him from heaven”Joh 3.27—from heaven of course, because the Holy Ghost also came from there, when Jesus ascended on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.Eph 4.8 If, then, your good merits are God’s gifts, God does not crown your merits as your merits, but as His own gifts.