Grace And Man And The Devil

Et ut noveritis, Fratres, quia gratia hoc implet, nemo debet de viribus suis praesumere. Hoc est enim praesumere de gratia Dei. Vocat enim te Deus et iubet ut facias, sed ipse dat vires, ut quod iubet impleri possit. Tibi autem capax fides adhibenda est, ut inundatione gratiae humilies te, supplices Deo nihil de te praesumas; spolies te Golia, induas David. Ad hoc pertinet quod in eodem psalmo dicitur, quod iam commemorare coeperamus: Quid est homo? Hoc enim monet ne de se praesumat homo. Iam videte quomodo incantat adversus Goliam qui de se praesumebat; et commendat tibi David qui infirmus in hominibus in Deo firmissimus erat. Quid est homo? Et dicit quid sit homo: Quoniam innotuisti ei. Hoc est totus homo, si innotescat illi Deus. Si autem non illi innotescat Deus, nihil est homo. Quid est homo, cui non innotuit Deus? Homo vanitati assimilatus est, dies eius velut umbra praetereunt. Ergo, Quid est homo, quoniam innotuisti ei; et filius hominis, quoniam aestimas eum? Quid est, aestimas eum? Placuit tibi eligere illum, et constituere in aliquo superiore et eminentiore loco. Misericordiae tuae est, non meritorum ipsius. Quaere quid sit hominis proprium, peccatum invenies. Quaere quid sit hominis proprium, mendacium invenies. Tolle peccatum, et quidquid consideraveris in homine, Dei est. Non ergo amet homo quod proprium est. Etiam ad hoc potest pertinere illud quod dicit Apostolus: Nemo quod suum est, quaerat. Aliquando enim audiunt illud homines a lectoribus, et aedificantur ad auferendas res alienas. Interest quis tibi dicat: Noli quaerere quod tuum est. Aliquando enim dicitur a malo suasore, aliquando autem dicitur a bono doctore. Deus bonus est doctor. Quando ergo audis a Deo: Noli quaerere quod tuum est, noli sic accipere quomodo dici solet. Aliquid boni est, quod te monet Deus. Quod dicebamus quaerere quid sit tuum, invenies peccatum. Noli ergo quaerere peccatum, et non quaeris tuum. Noli quaerere mendacium, et non quaeris tuum. Veritas enim a Deo est, mendacium abs te. Et si diabolus aliquando aliquid suggerit, consentientem tenet, non cogit invitum. Non enim seducit ille aut trahit aliquem, nisi quem invenerit ex aliqua parte iam similem sibi. Invenit enim eum aliquid cupientem, et cupiditas aperit ianuam intranti suggestioni diaboli. Invenit illum aliquid timentem, monet ut fugiat quod illum invenit timere. Monet ut adipiscatur quod illum invenit cupere. Et per has duas ianuas cupiditatis et timoris intrat. Claude illas, et imples Apostoli illud in hodierna lectione: Non detis locum diabolo. Ibi enim voluit ostendere Apostolus, quia quamvis intret et possideat diabolus, homo illi tamen locum dedit ut posset intrare, Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo XXXII, De Golia et David et de Contemptu Mundi Source: Migne PL 38.200-201

And so that you understand, brothers, that it is grace which achieves this, none of you should rely on his own abilities, for this is to rely on the grace of God. God is exhorting you to do something and it is He who gives you the strength so that you are able to do what He has ordered. What you must provide is abundant faith, so that you might humble yourself under a flood of grace, supplicating God, not trusting in yourself, stripping yourself of Goliath and putting on David. To this pertains what is said in the same Psalm, which I had already began to draw your attention to, 'What is man?' 1 This is a warning to man that he should not rely on himself. Now see how he sings against Goliath who relied on himself, and commends to you David who being weak among men was the strongest in God. 'What is man?' And he says what man is, 'That you would be know by him.' 1 This is the whole man, if God is known by him. But if God is not known man is nothing. What is a man if God is not known by him? Man is likened to a vanity, his days pass like a shadow. 2 Therefore, 'What is man that you are known by him, and a son of man, that you take account of him?' 1 What is it to take account of him? You were pleased to choose him, and establish him in a higher and more eminent place, and this is a matter of your benevolence, not his merits. Look for what is proper to man, and what you will find is sin. Look for what is proper to man, and you will find is falsehood. Take away sin, and whatever you look at in man is of God. Therefore man should not love what is proper to him. And indeed to this it is possible to refer what the Apostle says, 'Do not seek what is yours.' 3 Sometimes men hear this from the lectors and are so edified that they take what belongs to others. It matters who says to you 'Do not seek what is yours.' Sometimes this is said by a wicked seducer, but sometimes it is said by a good teacher. God is a good teacher. Therefore when you hear God saying 'Do not seek what is yours,' don't understand it in the usual way. God is offering you good counsel. As we were saying, seek what is yours and you will find sin. Therefore do not seek sin and you are not seeking what is yours. Don't seek falsehood and you are not seeking what is yours. Truth is from God, falsehood is from you. And if the devil sometimes suggests something, he needs your consent, he cannot compel you unwillingly. Unless he finds something similar to himself in men he cannot seduce or entice. If he finds them greedy for something, it is greed that opens the door for the devil's suggestion to enter. If he finds them afraid of something, he advises them to shun or shirk what they are afraid of. He urges them to go and get what he finds they are greedy for. It is through these two doors of greed and fear that he enters. Shut them, and you fulfill what the Apostle said in today's reading, 'Do not give a space to the devil.' 4 What the Apostle wished to show there was that even though the devil may come in and take possession, yet it is man who gives him a place where he may enter. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 32, On Goliath and David and on Contempt for the World 1 Ps 143.3 2 Ps 143.4 3 1 Cor 10.24 4 Ephes 4.27