CHAPTER VI
When He gives man the uprightness we have so often mentioned. He also gives him the ability to keep and to use it; for before He gave man uprightness He gave him free choice for the purpose of keeping and using uprightness. Now if, since no one owed the naked man anything, everyone had refused to give him any clothing, or if he himself had thrown the garment away after receiving it, then his nakedness could be imputed only to himself. Thus when God gives the ability to will or to run to someone conceived and born in sin, to whom He owes nothing but punishment, this ability 'is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God, who shows mercy.' As for the one who does not accept that grace or, having once accepted it, spurns it: it is his own fault, not God's, that he continues in his hardness and his iniquity.
The same interpretation must be given to other passages in which Scripture speaks in favor of grace, namely, that free choice is not excluded. Similarly, when the divine words speak in such a way that they seem to attribute man's salvation solely to free choice, no one should understand this to mean that grace is excluded from this work. Even though offspring are not naturally be gotten solely by a mother, still no understanding of procreation excludes either father or mother from the generation of children. Similarly, grace and free choice are not incompatible but work together for the justification and salvation of man.
CHAPTER VI
When Scripture appears to exhort free choice in various matters to will and to work uprightly, one wonders why it summons men to right willing and why it condemns those who do not obey, since no one can have or receive upright ness unless God gives him grace. We should note that whereas the earth pro duces innumerable herbs and trees, none of which have any nutritive value for
man while some may even kill him, and whereas these grow without having to be cared for by men, the earth brings forth the vegetation we need most for bodily nourishment only when someone plants seeds and labors 'strenuously over them. In the same way, without effort or needing to be taught, human hearts freely germi nate, as it were, thoughts and inclinations which are entirely useless--perhaps even harmful--for salvation. But unless a unique seed is planted within and unless that seed is laboriously cultivated, human hearts never conceive or gene rate the thoughts and inclinations which we cannot do without if we are to make any progress toward the salvation of our souls. For this reason the Apostle calls those men on whom such care is lavished 'God's husbandry.' (I Cor. 3**9)
The seed of this husbandry is the word of God--or better, not the word itself but the meaning which the word carries. For the sound of the word apart from its meaning accomplishes nothing in a man's heart. Moreover, the seed of up right willing comprises not just the meaning of the word of God but also every meaning and sense of uprightness that the human mind can apprehend by hearing, reading, reasoning, or in any way whatsoever.
No one can will what he does not first apprehend in his heart. Now, to will to believe what should be believed is to will uprightly. But no one can will this if he does not know what should be believed. For when the Apostle proclaimed, 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,' he added, 'How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?' (Rom. 10:l8, l4) And a little later he says, 'Therefore faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.' We should not understand the statement 'Faith comes by hearing' to mean that faith comes from what the mind apprehends or conceives
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through hearing in the sense that the mind's conception produces faith in man., but only in the sense that there can be no faith without some rational concep tion. Faith comes into being when, by grace, uprightness of willing is added to the conception, because then a man believes what he hears. 'And hearing comes by the word of Christ,' that is, by the word of those who preach Christ.
To be sure, there are no preachers unless they are sent. But the fact that they are sent is due to grace. Therefore, preaching is grace, since what de rives from grace is also grace; and hearing is grace, and the understanding which comes from hearing is grace, and uprightness of willing is grace. But sending, preaching, hearing, and understanding come to naught unless the will wills what the mind understands. But the will cannot do this unless it has received up rightness. For one wills uprightly when he wills what he ought to will. Thus, what the mind apprehends or conceives through hearing the word is the seed planted in the mind by preaching; and uprightness is the growth which God gives.
For without God there would be no growth, for 'neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who gives the growth.' (I Cor. 3:7)
Just as in the beginning God miraculously--without using seeds or the help of a cultivator--made grain and other things to grow from the earth for the nourishment of men, so also miraculously--without the use of human teaching--He made the Gospels and the hearts of the apostles and prophets rich in the seeds which give salvation. From these seeds we receive whatever we sow in God's husbandry for the nourishment of our souls--just as we now possess from among the first seeds of the earth only those which we cultivate for the nourishment of our bodies. Nothing that we preach is effective for salvation except what
Holy Scripture, made fruitful by the miracle of the Holy Spirit, has brought forth and contains. Now if at times we cannot clearly show that a view we
affirm by reason is also in Scripture, or if we cannot prove it from what Scripture says, then in one way we can still learn through Scripture whether such a view should be accepted or rejected. For Scripture opposes no truth and favors no falsity. So if a view is adopted on the basis of a clear reason and if this view is not contradicted in any part of Scripture, then it may be said to be supported by the authority of Scripture, for Scripture does not con tradict what is said by reason. But even though our reason may seem unassailable to us, we should not believe that it is supported by any truth if Scripture is obviously opposed to our rational understanding of something. Thus when Holy
Scripture either affirms clearly or does not at all deny what reason teaches, it contains the authority for all the truth which reason apprehends.
Let us now consider some examples which show how the word is the seed. When people hear it said, 'If you are willing and will hearken unto me' (Isaiah 1:19)., they understand and believe that what is meant is willing and hearing, or obeying.
For a person who hears but does not obey cannot really be said to hear. One cannot obey, however, unless he wills. Now, to will to obey is to will uprightly.
But no one is able to will uprightly unless he has uprightness of will; and a person has such uprightness only by grace. Moreover, uprightness in willing something is given only to the person who understands both what it is to will and what he ought to will. We see, therefore, that the word, 'If you are will ing and will hearken unto me,' is in no way a seed that bears fruit by itself without uprightness being added to it; and uprightness is given only by means of such seeds, or words.
Similarly, when God says 'Be converted to me' (Isaiah 45:22), these words are a seed which bears no fruit as long as God does not turn the will of man toward willing conversion. A man thinks of conversion when he hears the command