Salvation

Grace and God’s Help

31 passages, 4 quoted here · Marked debate. Read the differences

God calls and helps people by his grace, without forcing them.

Where they stood

Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.

4 of the 4 writers here teach: “Grace assists a will that still acts.” The turn comes with Augustine of Hippo, c. 418.

teaches it partly rejects it later writer, summary only

Grace assists a will that still acts4 teach

Irenaeus Clement ×2 Origen Julian

Grace must first remake the will before any good act1 teach

Augustine

What each writer said, earliest first

Irenaeus of Lyons Teaches: Grace assists a will that still acts

c. 130–c. 202 AD · Against Heresies 4.39.1-2

Offer him your heart soft and workable, and keep the form in which the Craftsman shaped you, keeping moisture in yourself so that you do not harden and lose the marks of his fingers. Keeping the jointing, you will rise to the perfect. Soft clay is hidden in you by God’s craft.

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Clement of Alexandria Teaches: Grace assists a will that still acts

c. 150–c. 215 AD · Miscellanies 1.7.38

For the teaching of godliness is a gift, and faith itself is grace. By doing the will of God we come to know the will.

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Greek

δωρεὰ γὰρ ἡ διδασκαλία τῆς θεοσεβείας, χάρις δὲ ἡ πίστις. ποιοῦντες γὰρ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ θέλημα γινώσκομεν.

Clement of Alexandria Teaches: Grace assists a will that still acts

c. 150–c. 215 AD · Miscellanies 3.7.57

Among us it is not to desire at all — not that someone who desires should merely tough it out, but that he should be continent even of desiring. And this self-control cannot be received in any other way than by the grace of God. That is why he said, “Ask, and it will be given you.”

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Greek

Ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀνθρωπίνη ἐγκράτεια, ἡ κατὰ τοὺς φιλοσόφους λέγω τοὺς Ἑλλήνων, τὸ διαμάχεσθαι τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ καὶ μὴ ἐξυπηρετεῖν αὐτῇ εἰς τὰ ἔργα ἐπαγγέλλεται· ἡ καθ’ ἡμᾶς δὲ τὸ μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν, οὐχ ἵνα τις ἐπιθυμῶν καρτερῇ, ἀλλ’ ὅπως καὶ τοῦ ἐπιθυμεῖν ἐγκρατεύηται.

Origen of Alexandria Teaches: Grace assists a will that still acts

c. 185–c. 254 AD · On First Principles 3.1.18

Toward the saying “it is not of the one who wills or runs, but of God who shows mercy,” Solomon’s ascent-psalm helps: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” This does not stop us from building or watching.

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Augustine of Hippo Teaches: Grace must first remake the will before any good act

c. 396–430 · summary; full text not yet in this library

Grace does not merely assist an already willing person; it must precede and enable the will’s good turn.

Other passages filed here (27)