REBUKE AND GRACE
How
is it then that miserable men dare to be proud, either of their free
will, before they are freed, or of their own strength, if they have been
freed? They do not observe that in the very mention of free will they
pronounce the name of liberty. But “where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty. ” If, therefore, they are the slaves of sin, why do
they boast of free will? For by what a man is
overcome, to the same is he delivered as a slave. But if they have been
freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing,
and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort
that they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them:
“Without me ye can do nothing;” and “If the Son shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed?”
– Augustine, On Rebuke and Grace, Chp. 52