In the salvation of man, both the Grace of God and the will of man cooperate simultaneously.

St. Nektarios of Aegina

 

“No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

(Matthew 11:27)

 

Despite the fact that divine love for mankind is infinite, and the Grace of God is abundant for the salvation of man, nevertheless salvation is impossible without the consent and cooperation of man.

He himself must first become aware that he has sinned; to repent, to desire and to seek his salvation, and thus Grace may reward him with it.

For the awareness and the repentance, the desire for salvation and its pursuit, are an indication of the return to God, a sign of aversion to sin and a disposition toward the practice of virtue; they are, in a certain way, an invocation of divine compassion, which hastens to have mercy on the one who has gone astray.

So, in order for Grace to save us, we must want to be saved. This truth is testified by the divine Fathers of the Church.

The divine Chrysostom says:

“Grace, although it is Grace, saves only those who are willing.”

Likewise, Gregory the Theologian affirms:

“To be saved requires both our participation and that of God.”

And Justin adds: “Although God alone created man, He does not save man without his consent.”

They are in error who believe that man can be saved either only by the Grace of God or only by his own will, without divine Grace.

For Grace, as we have pointed out, saves only those who have repented and returned to the Lord, while the will without Grace is insufficient for salvation, because man is unable by himself to justify himself before God.

However, his weakness has already been made evident during the many years of his enslavement to sin and the tyranny of the devil, years during which he remained there serving against his will and groaning, and from this condition neither his development nor his wisdom nor anything else was able to deliver him.

Concerning the power of human will as the sole force capable of salvation, Pelagius was the first to give judgment, in the early 5th century A.D., followed by the Pelagians who adhered to him. Concerning the power of divine Grace as the only thing that saves man, two great Fathers of the Western Church, the holy Augustine and Jerome, declared in opposition to Pelagius, seeking the condemnation of his erroneous teaching.

However, the entire Church, having taken the middle path, proclaimed both sides to be in error and defined that “the salvation of man is accomplished by divine Grace and by the will and cooperation of the man himself.”

The opinion of the Church is the only correct one and in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. From these Holy Scriptures it is shown that both are required — both Grace and the consent of man — for his salvation.

From the very words of the Savior, the necessity of the coexistence of both is considered a given.

The Lord, coming for the salvation of the human race, did not save all, although He wished that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, but only those who followed Him; for this reason, when He preached, He would say: “whoever wills to follow Me must deny himself” — for salvation He required self-denial, which is impossible to occur without consent and individual will.

He also preaches to those who accept salvation as coming from the performance of the works of the law, that is, from human will alone, saying: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved” (John 10:9) and “without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), from which the necessity of the coexistence of both is made manifest.

In the salvation of man, therefore, both the Grace of God and the will of man cooperate simultaneously.

The Grace of God calls, enlightens the mind and the heart, while the will contributes to the opening of the eyes and the purification of the heart. Thus, salvation begins from Grace, is shaped by the will, and is perfected by Grace, which crowns it.

The parable of the Sower is a fitting example. The sower sowed, the good soil received, and God gave the increase and blessed. Therefore, it is necessary that we want to be saved, in order to be saved by the Grace of God.

 

Greek source:

https://www.pemptousia.gr/2024/05/sti-sotiria-tou-anthropou-sinergoun-sigchronos-ke-i-chari-tou-theou-ke-i-thelisi-tou-anthropou/