Page "Grace (Christianity)" Paragraph 10

Pelagius's seemingly optimistic creed in fact burdens weak mortals with a burden too great to bear ; or at least this was part of the response of St Augustine.

More importantly, it does not clearly explain why Jesus Christ had to die for anyone's sins ; if men can redeem themselves by their own efforts, atonement by Jesus on the Cross was at best a vague sort of moral example.

The taint of original sin did extinguish God's grace in men's souls ; no matter how righteously they conducted themselves, their virtues could never make them worthy of the infinite holiness of God.

Men are massa peccati, a mass of sin ; they can no more endow themselves with grace than an empty glass can fill itself.

While we may have " free will " ( liberum arbitrium ) in the sense that we can choose our course of conduct, we nevertheless lack true freedom ( libertas ) to avoid sin, for sin is inherent in each choice we make.

It is only by God's sovereign choice to extend His grace to us that salvation is possible.