Augustine rejects both Pelagian claims that grace is earned by human merit and the opposite denial of judgment according to personal works and free will. Unbaptized infants, he says, are judged for original sin, while others are judged for original sin and their actions; yet every good act of free will depends on prior divine grace. To settle local disputes, he sends letters, council records, and papal documents, invoking St. Cyprian’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer and his own earlier letter to Sixtus as witnesses to grace’s gratuity.

Human freedom is real but powerless to achieve goodness without God’s help. Grace is necessary for conversion, perseverance, and salvation, and believers must therefore remain humble about their gifts. Biblical images of straight and right-hand paths express cooperation between command and divine assistance: God creates and enables good works, whereas sinful paths arise from human choice. Even good works become spiritually dangerous when credited to self rather than grace. Augustine warns equally against self-reliance and moral laxity—the excuse that grace permits continued sin—and calls Christians to die to sin, live righteously, and persevere in God’s peace.