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28. While some of the angels deserted God in
impious pride and were cast into the lowest darkness
from the brightness of their heavenly home, the
remaining number of the angels persevered in eternal
bliss and holiness with God. For these faithful
angels were not descended from a single angel, lapsed
and damned. Hence, the original evil did not bind
them in the fetters of inherited guilt, nor did it
hand the whole company over to a deserved punishment,
as is the human lot. Instead, when he who became
the devil first rose in rebellion with his impious
company and was then with them prostrated, the rest
of the angels stood fast in pious obedience to the
Lord and so received what the others had not had--a
sure knowledge of their everlasting security in his
unfailing steadfastness. 29. Thus it pleased God,
Creator and Governor of the universe, that since the
whole multitude of the angels had not perished in
this desertion of him, those who had perished would
remain forever in perdition, but those who had
remained loyal through the revolt should go on
rejoicing in the certain knowledge of the bliss
forever theirs. From the other part of the rational
creation--that is, mankind--although it had perished
as a whole through sins and punishments, both
original and personal, God had determined that a
portion of it would be restored and would fill up the
loss which that diabolical disaster had caused in the
angelic society. For this is the promise to the
saints at the resurrection, that they shall be equal
to the angels of God.(45)
Thus the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother and the
commonwealth of God, shall not be defrauded of her
full quota of citizens, but perhaps will rule over an
even larger number. We know neither the number of
holy men nor of the filthy demons, whose places are
to be filled by the sons of the holy mother, who
seemed barren in the earth, but whose sons will abide
time without end in the peace the demons lost. But
the number of those citizens, whether those who now
belong or those who will in the future, is known to
the mind of the Maker, "who calleth into existence
things which are not, as though they were,"(46) and "ordereth
all things in measure and number and weight."(47)
30. But now, can that part of the human race to
whom God hath promised deliverance and a place in the
eternal Kingdom be restored through the merits of
their own works? Of course not! For what good works
could a lost soul do except as he had been rescued
from his lostness? Could he do this by the
determination of his free will? Of course not! For it
was in the evil use of his free will that man
destroyed himself and his will at the same time.
For as a man who kills himself is still alive when
he kills himself, but having killed himself is then
no longer alive and cannot resuscitate himself after
he has destroyed his own life--so also sin which
arises from the action of the free will turns out to
be victor over the will and the free will is
destroyed. "By whom a man is overcome, to this one he
then is bound as slave." (48) This is clearly the
judgment of the apostle Peter. And since it is true,
I ask you what kind of liberty can one have who is
bound as a slave except the liberty that loves to
sin? He serves freely who freely does the will of
his master. Accordingly he who is slave to sin is
free to sin. But thereafter he will not be free to do
right unless he is delivered from the bondage of sin
and begins to be the servant of righteousness. This,
then, is true liberty: the joy that comes in doing
what is right. At the same time, it is also devoted
service in obedience to righteous precept. But how
would a man, bound and sold, get back his liberty to
do good, unless he could regain it from Him whose
voice saith, "If the Son shall make you free, then
you will be free indeed"(49)? But before this process
begins in man, could anyone glory in his good works
as if they were acts of his free will, when he is not
yet free to act rightly? He could do this only if,
puffed up in proud vanity, he were merely boasting.
This attitude is what the apostle was reproving when
he said, "By grace you have been saved by faith."(50)
31. And lest men should arrogate to themselves
saving faith as their own work and not understand it
as a divine gift, the same apostle who says somewhere
else that he had "obtained mercy of the Lord to be
trustworthy"(51) makes here an additional comment:
"And this is not of yourselves, rather it is a gift
of God--not because of works either, lest any man
should boast."(52) But then, lest it be supposed that
the faithful are lacking in good works, he added
further, "For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to good works, which God hath prepared
beforehand for us to walk in them."(53)
We are then truly free when God ordereth our
lives, that is, formeth and createth us not as
men--this he hath already done--but also as good men,
which he is now doing by his grace, that we may
indeed be new creatures in Christ Jesus.(54)
Accordingly, the prayer: "Create in me a clean heart,
O God."(55) This does not mean, as far as the natural
human heart is concerned, that God hath not already
created this. 32. Once again, lest anyone glory, if
not in his own works, at least in the determination
of his free will, as if some merit had originated
from him and as if the freedom to do good works had
been bestowed on him as a kind of reward, let him
hear the same herald of grace, announcing: "For it is
God who is at work in you both to will and to do
according to his good will."(56) And, in another
place: "It is not therefore a matter of man's
willing, or of his running, but of God's showing
mercy."(57)
Still, it is obvious that a man who is old enough
to exercise his reason cannot believe, hope, or love
unless he wills it, nor could he run for the prize of
his high calling in God without a decision of his
will. In what sense, therefore, is it "not a matter
of human willing or running but of God's showing
mercy," unless it be that "the will itself is
prepared by the Lord," even as it is written?(58)
This saying, therefore, that "it is not a matter of
human willing or running but of God's showing mercy,"
means that the action is from both, that is to say,
from the will of man and from the mercy of God.
Thus we accept the dictum, "It is not a matter of
human willing or running but of God's showing mercy,"
as if it meant, "The will of man is not sufficient by
itself unless there is also the mercy of God." By the
same token, the mercy of God is not sufficient by
itself unless there is also the will of man. But if
we say rightly that "it is not a matter of human
willing or running but of God's showing mercy,"
because the will of man alone is not enough, why,
then, is not the contrary rightly said, "It is not a
matter of God's showing mercy but of a man's
willing," since the mercy of God by itself alone is
not enough? Now, actually, no Christian would dare to
say, "It is not a matter of God's showing mercy but
of man's willing," lest he explicitly contradict the
apostle.
The conclusion remains, therefore, that this
saying: "Not man's willing or running but God's
showing mercy," is to be understood to mean that the
whole process is credited to God, who both prepareth
the will to receive divine aid and aideth the will
which has been thus prepared.(59)
For a man's good will comes before many other
gifts from God, but not all of them. One of the gifts
it does not antedate is--just itself! Thus in the
Sacred Eloquence we read both, "His mercy goes before
me,"(60) and also, "His mercy shall follow me."(61)
It predisposes a man before he wills, to prompt his
willing. It follows the act of willing, lest one's
will be frustrated.
Otherwise, why are we admonished to pray for our
enemies,(62) who are plainly not now willing to live
piously, unless it be that God is even now at work in
them and in their wills?(63) Or again, why are we
admonished to ask in order to receive, unless it be
that He who grants us what we will is he through whom
it comes to pass that we will? We pray for enemies,
therefore, that the mercy of God should go before
them, as it goes before us; we pray for ourselves
that his mercy shall follow us.
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