Mozley: A Treatise on the Augustinian Doctrine of

CHAP. vi. Doctrine of Grace. 165
considering that unless this very conversion to God were
the gift of God, it would not have been "
said, Turn us,
1 Thou God of Hosts," and * wilt Thou not turn again and
"
quicken and Turn us 2
us," then, God our Saviour,"
and the like. What else is coming to Christ but turning
" to Him by faith ? and yet He saith, No man can come
unto Me except it
3
were given him of my Father." All
that this passage asserts is, that obedience is a gift of God
as well as salvation. But obedience is next made a gift
of God in distinction to salvation. When the Pelagians
say, that that grace which is given at the end i.e. eternal
life, is awarded according to preceding merits, I reply,
true, if they understand these merits themselves to be gifts
of God. 4 But how could the just Judge award the crown,
if the merciful Father had not given the grace ? How
could there be the crown of righteousness, if the righteous
ness by grace had not preceded ? How could this final
reward be given to merit, if the merit itself had not been
given as a free gift? 5 Here the qualified sense of gift, viz. as
a gift according to merit or upon the fulfilment of certain
conditions, is allowed of the ultimate gift of eternal life,
only on the understanding that it is denied of the prepara
tory gift of the righteousness which qualifies for it. The
crown of righteousness is a reward, but the righteousness
itself is not a reward ; i.e. anything given in consideration
of preceding endeavours of man s own will. And the gift
of obedience is described as a gift residing in the indi
vidual previous to action of his own ; for Augustine lays
it down as the object of the institution of preaching, that
those who have this gift may be instructed as to the appli
cation of it
jussis obediendum esset audirent?*
c ui qui haberent donum obedientice., quibus
1
Ps. Ixxx. 7. gratia est: et ipsa enim 2
Ps. Ixxxv. 4. 6.
3
John, vi. 65 ; De Grat. et Lib.
gratis datur,
quia gratis data est ilia cui datur.
Sed ilia cui datur tantummodo
Arb. c. v. gratia est: lisec autem quae illi 4
Ibid. c. vi.
5
: Again Itaque, charissimi,
datur,
quoniam praemium ejus est, gratia
si est pro gratia, tanquam merces pro
vita bona nostra nihil aliud est justitia. C. viii.
6
quam Dei gratia, sine dubio et vita De Dono Pers. c. xix.
seterna quse bonee vitae redditur, Dei