Grace and Merit

Cum dicit Deus: 'Convertimini ad me, et convertar ad vos', unum horum videtur esse nostrae voluntatis, id est, ut convertamur ad eum; alterum vero ipsius gratiae, id est, ut etiam ipse convertatur ad nos. Ubi possunt putare pelagiani suam obtinere sententiam, qua dicunt gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari. Quod quidem in Oriente, hoc est, in provincia Palaestina, in qua est civitas Ierusalem, cum ipse Pelagius ab episcopis audiretur, affirmare non ausus est. Nam inter caetera quae illi obiecta sunt, et hoc obiectum est quod diceret gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari: quod sic alienum est a catholica doctrina et inimicum gratiae Christi, ut nisi hoc obiectum sibi anathemasset, ipse inde anathematus exisset. Sed fallaciter eum anathemasse, posteriores eius indicant libri, in quibus omnino nihil aliud defendit, quam gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari. Talia ergo de Scripturis colligunt, quale est hoc unum quod paulo ante dixi: Convertimini ad me, et convertar ad vos, ut secundum meritum conversionis nostrae ad Deum, detur gratia eius, in qua ad nos et ipse convertitur. Nec attendunt qui hoc sentiunt, quia nisi donum Dei esset etiam ipsa ad Deum nostra conversio, non ei diceretur: Deus virtutum, converte nos; et: Deus, tu convertens vivificabis nos; et: Converte nos, Deus sanitatum nostrarum; et huiusmodi alia, quae commemorare longum est. Nam et venire ad Christum, quid est aliud nisi ad eum credendo converti? Et tamen ait: Nemo potest venire ad me, nisi datum fuerit ei a Patre meo.  Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio

When God says, 'Turn to me, and I shall turn to you,' one of these clauses seems to be about our will, that is, that we should turn to Him; the other is of grace, that is, that he shall turn to us. Here the Pelagians may think they have support for their own opinion in which they say that God's grace is given according to our merits. In the East, in the province of Palestine, in which is the city of Jerusalem, when Pelagius himself was heard by the bishop, he did not dare affirm this. For among the objections against him, this in particular was objected, that he said that the grace of God was given according to our merits, an opinion which is foreign to Catholic doctrine and hostile to the grace of Christ, and unless he had anathematized the objection, because of it he himself would have been anathematized. But how dishonest his anathema was his later books show in which he defends no other opinion than that the grace of God is given according to our merits. Such passages they gather from Scripture, like the one which I just quoted, 'Turn to me, and I will turn unto you,' as if it were owing to the merit of our turning to God that His grace is given and whereby He turns to us. Now those who incline to this are not aware that unless our turning to God were itself God's gift, it would not be said to Him, 'God of hosts, turn us', and, 'You, O God, will turn and revive us', and, 'Turn us, O God of our salvation', and in like manner in other places, too many to mention. For to  come to Christ, what else is it but to be turned to Him by believing? And He says: 'No one can come to me, except it were given to him by my Father.' Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Grace and Free Will