Andrew Forbes Box 723 Augustine Research Paper Dr. Gentry Augustine Seminar Freedom in Surrender: St.

Augustine on Justification and Grace St. Augustine writes extensively about the doctrine of justification. In particular, his writings against Pelagius contain some of the strongest early defenses for justification by grace alone. In this essay, I will argue that St. Augustine is misrepresented by those who wish to present his view of justification as a view absent of an understanding of sanctification, as well as those who choose to categorize his view as weak on its recognition of the purpose and necessity of grace alone. St. Augustine must be counted among the many great fathers of our faith who argued for freedom of our nature only through complete reliance on the grace of Christ, and I intend to present this reality. It is my intention to defend Augustines entire view of justification, as was stated earlier. In order to do so, I will present each area of his view on justification contained in the categories of the origin of sin, atonement in Christ, and life in Grace. Following the explanation of each, I will include a defense from both Scripture and Church tradition. After I have presented each section and defended them in part, I will use the same method of Scripture and tradition to defend the argument as a whole. Following the presentation of all sections, I will point out a number of difficulties and apparent inconsistencies in Augustines teaching. As will the earlier sections, I will defend against viewing these passages as inconsistent, and attempt to work through the difficulties. In doing so, I intend to submit a careful (albeit by no means conclusive) overview of Augustines view on justification and grace, whole and sound throughout its explanation.

Origin of Sin In his original nature, man is best presented in the words of Moses when he said, And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.1 The Creator of the universe, in all His goodness, had created man in His own image, and His creation was good. The first man and woman were bodies indwelt with souls in communion with God as such to be fully surrendered to Him. This surrender extended even to their physical bodies, as their spirit and flesh were not yet at war.2 The first man and woman employed a completely free will with a necessity to neither virtue nor to vice.3 Man was not good in the same sense that his Creator is perfectly good,4 unable to be corrupted by evil, but rather the nature of his goodness was that which made him susceptible to the temptation of evil. By necessity, he would have remained good only if he continued in surrender to God, and thereby focused fully on Him. It was only in the absence of God and His influence on him that he would have become beset with sin,5 as described by the psalmist when he writes, My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread.6 However, had man not fallen, it would have been impossible for him to continue in righteousness, unless God had assisted [him] by imparting a portion of His unchangeable goodness.7 Maintaining this goodness would have simply been too great a task for his will on its

1 2

Genesis 1:31a, ESV Augustine, On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants , ii, 36 3 Jerome, Against Jovinianus, ii, 3 as quoted by Augustine in On Nature and Grace 4 Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, 12 5 Augustine, A Treatise on Nature and Grace, Against Pelagius, 22 6 Psalm 102:4, ESV 7 Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, 106

own, without the power of his Creator acting within him.89 As this did not occur, it is necessary to instead focus on the corruption which did happen. The corruptible nature of man allowed for continuation of good, but also the introduction of evil. A being, although originally created as sound or whole, being yet vulnerable to corruption, is punished if this evil is introduced in it.10 Further, if the punishment of sin is more sin,11 and that sin penalty is ultimately death, as the apostle Paul says, For the wages of sin is death,12 than truly this original sin had only the capacity to continue to fruition until it consumed the mortal nature. Good may bring forth either good or evil, but evil does not have the capacity to produce good,13 as anything which is the absence of another cannot bring forth that thing which it is the absence of. As stated earlier, as his nature was liable to evil, it was necessary for him to remain focused on the good which was unsusceptible. Evil, therefore, entered both due to a misplaced love on the part of the first man and his successive, purposeful disobedience. 14 15 This action was his alone. It was not a sin of ignorance and was not forced upon him by any other being, but was an act of his own free will.16 17 In understanding the total depravity induced by the first sin, it is important to understand the complete inundation it achieved in him and the level of requirement necessary for him to return to the holiness of his Creator. Due to the generative nature of evil, this first sin produced
8 9

Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, 106 I believe this truth is perhaps presented in the story of Christ being tempted by the devil, as our Savior does not rely on His own strength (weakened as it was by days of fasting) to respond to the entrapments of the devil, but continues in the surrender of His will to the Fathers and quotes truth from the Scriptures. 10 Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, 104 11 Augustine, A Treatise on Nature and Grace, Against Pelagius, 24 12 Romans 6:23, ESV 13 Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, 15 14 Augustine, City of God, XIV, 2 15 Augustine, City of God, XIII, 15 16 Augustine, A Treatise on Nature and Grace, Against Pelagius, 3 17 Augustine, City of God, XIII, 14

more evil and immediately the relationship between creation and Creator was severed. Thus, man was unable to remain in communion with God as He is holy and by nature unable to be in relationship with evil.18 As this generative nature continues, man is condemned to remain sinful at his root.19 Even if a child is born to parents who are under the grace of Christ (and therefore no longer slaves to the sinful nature and forgiven of their original sin), he will still be born guilty of sin.20 Therefore, all man have been born needing forgiveness, (except for Christ) as sin is within their nature from birth and has the power to work against their will to bring about unrighteousness.21 In this section, I have presented an overview of Augustines teaching on original sin. He taught that man was originally good, although not good in the same way as his Creator. Man had a will which was free, but different from the free will of God, and therefore susceptible to the influence of evil. He would have remained good only if he remained focused on God, although in practice this would have been impossible for his will, apart from the help of his Creator. Man fell due to a misplaced love, by turning his focus from God to another. This introduction of sin consumed man until he was fully evil and man had only the capacity to produce more evil. Therefore, sin reigns in all of mans offspring and will not be overcome except by a working of his Creator. Defense for Augustines view on the fall and ensuing depravity of man is found throughout Scripture. The psalmist says, I was brought forth from iniquity, and in sin my

18 19

Augustine, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love , 11 Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, and On Original Sin, ii, 43 20 Ibid., ii, 44 21 Ibid., ii, 45

mother conceived me.22 Ephesians presents this idea of sin consuming our very root when the apostle Paul says, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.23 Jeremiah declares, The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick, who can understand it?24 Solomon writes, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts through their lives.25 Paul explains the root and effects of this sin in Romans: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned26 Later in Romans he approaches this subject again by stating, For the wages of sin is death27 Sin, according to Scripture, began in Adam, continues in every man, and is punishable by death. For even further defense of Augustines view, John Calvin is helpful as he described the effects of mans fall as causing a curse to be extended to his offspring.28 According to Calvin, this depravity affected a nature which was formerly good and pure.29 This previous statement

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Psalm 51:5, ESV Ephesians 2:1-3, ESV 24 Jeremiah 17:9, ESV 25 Ecclesiastes 9:3, ESV 26 Romans 5:12, ESV 27 Romans 6:23, ESV 28 Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, ii, 1 29 Ibid.

explained what he believed to be original sin. As with Augustine, Calvin founds his exhortation of justification on this understanding of mans sinful state. Atonement in Christ Due to the veracity that mans sinfulness was all-consuming, and he did not have the capacity to redeem himself, his redemption needed to come through another being. Therefore, Christ was made sin for men, becoming both the mediator to God the Father and the high priest.
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He is able to be the mediator because He did not die as a consequence of sin, but rather as an

act of His own free will to save.32 The devil holds [man], Christ liberates him: Eve's deceiver holds him, Mary's Son frees him: he holds him, who approached the man through the woman; He frees him, who was born of a woman that never approached a man: he holds him, who injected into the woman the cause of lust; He liberates him, who without any lust was conceived in the woman. The former was able to hold all men in his grasp through one; nor does any deliver them out of his power but One, whom he was unable to grasp.33 In order to receive grace, man must accept it in faith. Yet it is not an act of himself that makes it possible to do so, but rather the work of God to incline man however He pleases,34 and grace itself is what causes faith and continues to act in man after this original act of faith.35 This

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Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, and On Original Sin, ii, 37 Ibid., ii, 33 32 Augustine, A Treatise on Nature and Grace, Against Pelagius, 26 33 Augustine, On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin, ii, 45 34 Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 43 35 Ibid., 38

act of faith is seen only in baptism into Christ.36 No rubric exists for how or why God chooses some people and not others. This is instead a matter of the secret judgments of God.37 This working of God in man stands as the only way in which he will be saved. As understood from the previous section on original sin, all humanity is in need of a redeemer. Unless redeemed by the grace of Christ, man must, by necessity, continue to produce dead works, due to his sinful nature.38 Redemption only comes through grace, and is in no way caused or even influenced by an act of our own will.39 It is also not caused by a working of the law or an inherent ability in mans nature.40 Therefore, all credit for redemption is due only to the grace of Christ and no other. In this section, I have presented an overview of Augustines view on justification as related to the first act of faith and mans redemption from sin. Augustine believed man could only produce dead works until he was redeemed and that by necessity faith could only come through grace and God choosing those whom He willed to impart His grace upon. God Himself works through man, and causes the inclination in mans heart, and therefore deserves all glory for mans redemption. Augustine viewed Christ as both mans mediator and the high priest. Christ became sin for man, as an act of His own will in order to die and redeem all of mankind. This death was simply a choice of His will, and not by any means punishment for inherent sin. Scriptural defense for this view on justification is found throughout Pauls epistles. In Romans, Paul says, For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of

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Augustine, On the Soul and Its Origin, 10 Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 45 38 Augustine, On Nature and Grace, 25 39 Ibid, 28 40 Ibid, 25

God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.41 Later in Romans, he states, Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!42 And again, in his letter to the Corinthians, Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.43 Jesus, in Johns gospel, agrees with Paul when he says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.44 Athanasius provides early defense for Augustine, writing that Christ came into our region to renew man once made in his likeness, and find him, as one lost, by the remission of sins.45 And later in the same work he states, for by His becoming man, the savior was to accomplish both works of love; first, in putting away death from us and renewing us again46 Concerning the effect of grace on man, he says, Why, now that the common Savior of all has died on our behalf, we, the faithful in Christ, no longer die the death as before, agreeably to the warning of the law, for this condemnation has ceased47 In similar fashion, John Calvin presents a view of justification in agreement with Augustines. In reference to the nature of mans depravity, he states, It is certain that after the fall of our first parent, no knowledge of God without a mediator was effectual to salvation it is declared, that those who are estranged from God, and as such, are under the curse, the children of
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Romans 5:15, ESV Romans 7:24-25, ESV 43 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, ESV 44 John 3:16-17, ESV 45 Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, 14 46 Ibid., 16 47 Ibid., 21

wrath, cannot pleasing to God until they are reconciled.48 As for the means necessary to bring about salvation, he reminds his readers, believers were plainly and openly taught that salvation was not found anywhere but in the expiation which Christ alone completed.49 He clearly believes this understanding occurred through Gods leading, as he says, God intended to teach them, that in seeking for deliverance, they should turn their eyes directly toward Christ.50 Life in Grace There is, however, no method whereby any persons arrive at absolute perfection, or whereby any man makes the slightest progress to true and godly righteousness, but the assisting grace of our crucified Saviour Christ, and the gift of His Spirit; and whosoever shall deny this cannot rightly, I almost think, be reckoned in the number of any kind of Christians at all.51 Grace does not work in us merely to save us from sin, but continues working to bring about good works in us. It is therefore not only necessary for redemption from our sin, but also to continue striving towards the requirements of Gods commandments.52 In the same way, evil can be avoided if we are redeemed by Christ through grace.53 Prior to redemption, our will is unable to avoid sin.54 That is not to say that sin it is an impossible thing for our will to avoid, as if God commanded us to do the impossible.55 Rather sin

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Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, ii, Ch. 6, Section 1 Ibid., Section 2 50 Ibid., Section 4 51 Augustine, On Nature and Grace, 70 52 Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, 28 53 Augustine, On Mans Perfection in Righteousness, 2 54 Ibid. 55 Augustine, On Mans Perfection and Righteousness, 2

is an act, and acts by definition can be avoided.56 Therefore when a man is delivered from the bondage of a sinful nature, grace acts as a cure for the sickness in his nature.57 Man needed grace due to the corruption of his originally good nature, which was cursed by the first sinful act.58 This natural bent towards sinfulness was only healed in restoration to a will again free to choose good rather than evil.59 This regeneration was not an act of returning man to his original nature, but rather a new nature having the capacity to be perfected.60 However man is not immediately removed from the lust of sin, and must continue, through grace, to fight against it while he is still in this mortal body.61 He is able to avoid this lust of the flesh through faith, but because his sinful nature is still at war with his redeemed nature, he will fall to sin he does not chose out of his own will.62 Even though sin is present, it no longer reigns in him, and he therefore has the capacity to overcome it.63 Therefore, as he grows in grace, he must work, by grace, to bring about righteousness.64 He understands the good he is supposed to do by hearing and responding to Gods commandments, which are not grievous.65 Scripture says they are not grievous for no other reasonthan this, that the soul which finds them grievous may understand that it has not yet received those resources which make the Lords commandments to be such as they are

56 57

Ibid., 3 Ibid., 2 58 Ibid., 4 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid., 8 61 Ibid., 11 62 Ibid. 63 Ibid. 64 Ibid., 20 65 Ibid., 10

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commended66 This exposure of his lack should not cause man to despair, as he will be given all that is needed to resist evil by asking in faith, and through grace.67 When he is united with Christ, man will be perfected, and in this state he will live absolutely without any sin68 Also, when this occurs, man will have victory over death, and there will no longer be any enemy to harass him.69 In this future resurrection and glorification, the entire church will be perfected and resurrected with its savior.70 In this final summary section, I have presented Augustines view on the life lived after redemption. Augustine taught that grace would continue to work in man, even after the first act of faith of choosing to surrender to Christ. Man was unable to work out his own righteousness, unless his nature was healed by the grace of Christ. His nature in its sound state would have been able to choose holiness, but needed grace in its fallen state. The way that man knows the way he should live is by following the commands of God, which are not grave, and if he finds them to be so, he should ask God who renew the area of him which finds them so. In the future glorification, the redeemed man will no longer struggle, and will be perfected and resurrected with his savior. Scriptural defense for this section is in the teachings of Paul and Jesus. Explaining what is required of man, Jesus says, You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.71 And concerning the commands which man must follow to be perfect, He says, For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.72 He challenges His disciples to rely on Him in their prayer to deliver us from evil.73

66 67

Ibid. Ibid. 68 Ibid., 11 69 Ibid., 10 70 Ibid., 15 71 Matthew 5:48, ESV 72 Matthew 11:30, ESV 73 Matthew 6:13, ESV

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Paul reminds us we struggle on earth, even after redemption, when he says, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.74 However, concerning the future life he says, When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.75 This will be achieved when we keep preserving, in faith and through grace, as he declares, Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.76 John Calvin argues that the redeemed man must think, speak, design, [and] actin view of [the] glory of being consecrated and dedicated to God.77 And yet, the ability to do so is a gift of the grace of Christ, and should be viewed only in this light.78 As such, succeeding in this right living depends entirely on the blessing of God.79 Grace therefore is necessary for all Godly living prior, during, and after redemption. Athanasius agrees with Augustine that grace continues working after the moment of redemption by stating, [Christ] both put an end to the law which was against us, and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection which He has given us.80 It was not only the case that grace redeemed man from the progressively evil nature; He also created a new nature and new life within man. Similarly, in another passage he states, [Christ] accomplish[ed] both works of love; first, in putting away death from us and renewing us again Grace always acts in a twofold nature, putting away the evil which was in man and renewing him to new life according to a good nature. Difficulties
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Romans 7:19, ESV Colossians 3:4, ESV 76 Philippians 3:12, ESV 77 Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, iii, Ch. 7, Sec. 1 78 Ibid., Sec. 4 79 Ibid., Sec. 9 80 Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, 10

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The majority of Pelagius dispute with Augustine seems to be founded in the way Augustine viewed the will. For Pelagius, the will was sufficient to work out righteousness, once man was forgiven from his previous sin.81 Therefore, man needed only to be restored to his good nature, and he would have the capacity to continue in good works. Augustine viewed the will as corrupt within the sinful nature of man, and reliant on grace to make right choices, and even a restored human will at times will choose evil which it does not wish. One can see the apparent difficulty Augustines view of the will creates. If mans will is not able to choose that which it supposedly desires, how does it have the capacity to choose and rightfully be recognized a will? The reasoning for this can be seen in Augustines continued defense of the reality that God does not ask an impossibility when commanding man to live righteously. In arguing against Pelagius, he concedes heartily that man, if [his nature] is selfsufficient for fulfilling the law and for perfecting righteousness, ought to be sure of its reward, that is, of everlasting life.82 Surely there can be no doubt that Augustine has no qualms with believing a free will and nature could indeed choose right living. The problem therefore lies in the fallen state causing a sickness which affects the will of man.83 The will, as stated in the explanation of Augustines view on justification, must be submitted to God, who is able to perfect and use it rightly. There is no loss of freedom in this surrender to God, as the unredeemed will is unable to choose any course except unrighteousness, outside of Gods grace. An unredeemed will remains in the cycle of evil began by original sin, unable to escape in its fallen state. Grace frees it to live in the life and hope given freely by its savior, and continues in acting within the will towards righteousness.
81 82

Augustine, A Treatise on Nature and Grace, Against Pelagius, 39 Ibid., 2 83 Ibid., 3

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Another difficulty in Augustines view on justification is found in the way he introduces purgatory as perhaps the result of not fully working out salvation in this life. Specifically he states, "That there should be some such fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish -- through a certain purgatorial fire.84 This idea is problematic especially for the protestant believer, who finds the idea of purgatory foreign to their understanding of faith. In reference to this problem, I must remind believers of Augustines consistent defense of grace as necessary for right living. Purgatory is only problematic if taken outside of grace. If right living on earth is an act of our own will, then purgatory is seemingly a second chance for those who have not completed their works on earth, as if Christ were not sufficient to do so. If man is redeemed by grace, and lives rightly only within grace, than purgatory is of no deterrent to the nature of grace. It is rather merely a part of Gods process which we confess we do not fully understand. Man relies on the grace of God to accept him, as even the good things he does can be converted into sins.85 The teaching of purgatory needs worry the believer if it is taught in a way which man somehow affects salvation by his free will. If salvation is a work of grace, and right living is the same, then purgatory can possibly be part of the divine mystery of its completion. For Augustine, whether or not purgatory is a part of the process of salvation does not change salvations nature.
84 85

Augustine, Enchiridion of Faith, Hope, and Love, 18, 69 Augustine, Refutation of Two Pelagian Letters, iii, 5

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Both of these apparent difficulties, I believe, occur when taking portions of Augustines view out of the whole of his exhortation on justification. As is true with most doctrine and understanding of scripture, the context of passages is always necessary to grasp its meaning. It is easy to find problems with a certain teaching if it is viewed outside of its greater meaning. Augustine is consistent in the way he uses terms throughout his explanation of justification. A will is free even if it cannot choose whatever it can imagine, as a man cannot choose to fly even if his will were completely free, and we would not call this an inconsistency because it is not his nature to do so. Will is therefore always understood in reference to its nature. Therefore, when grace acts on mans nature, his will is free to choose the creator which it once desired to choose. Even if he struggles in choosing good rather than evil, it is not a lack of freedom in his will, but rather its connection to a sinful nature. When he is perfected in glory, all this will pass away, and his will will become free to choose the One it desires. Grace is thereby the only effectual way in which our salvation is brought to pass, as our will fights against our nature and cannot withstand on its own. These difficulties must also be understood in light of Augustines humility. Exemplified specifically in response to Pelagius, Augustine is quick to acknowledge there are many aspects of salvation he is unsure of and are parts of the mystery of Gods work. Consequently, he does not defend his own reasoning, but only chooses to ardently defend that which is clearly said in Scripture. Hence, when Augustine appears contradictory or outside of the scope of Scripture, readers should remember his constant willingness to recognize his theology was not perfect. His explanation at times admittedly does seem incomplete or inconsistent, but perhaps in understanding his heart and the full scope of his exhortation, the true meaning is grasped. Of

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course, as he would be quick to admit, this explanation in no means attempts to present his doctrine as being perfect, but merely instead states that the teaching as a whole is consistent and in line with Scripture and Church tradition. Conclusion It has been my intention to clearly show that Augustine relies on grace in his explanation, and that explanation is conducive to an understanding of sanctification. There are many theories put forth as to why he does not use the same terminology as other church fathers in explaining sanctification, each with their own reasoning. However, I do not believe they are of much consequence as long as it is possible to see sanctification, in concept, throughout Augustines writings. Therefore, I have attempted to allow Augustines ideas speak for themselves. I believe reading them in the entirety of his teaching, is sufficient to remedy many apparent inconsistencies. It is important, therefore, to keep in mind the extensive nature of Augustines writings, as well as his maturity over time. If his writings do seem inconsistent, perhaps his understanding has changed or he addresses the problem in another work. Ultimately though, I believe it is right to conclude St. Augustine was careful to present justification as dependent on grace in all aspects. He viewed justification always within the light of future glory, in which time man would be perfected. Perfection and glorification is always explained as the result of Gods grace on man to redeem him, work in him towards righteousness, and bring him into glory. Man must do nothing of his own, but rather, through grace working in and through him, he will be fully redeemed. As to how redemption is worked out, or who God chooses to be saved, we must, like Augustine and the apostle Paul, recognize that Gods ways are higher than ours. We need not

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worry, but rather trust the goodness of our Creator. Instead let us remember; it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.86

86

Philippians 2:15, ESV

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