When God says,
"Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you,"1 one of these
clauses--that which invites our return to God--evidently belongs to our will;
while the other, which promises His return to us, belongs to His grace. (A
Treatise on Grace and Free Will, Chapter 10)
Now for the
commission of sin we get no help from God; but we are not able to do justly,
and to fulfil the law of righteousness in every part thereof, except we are
helped by God. For as the bodily eye is not helped by the light to turn away
therefrom shut or averted, but is helped by it to see, and cannot see at all
unless it help it; so God, who is the light of the inner man, helps our mental
sight, in order that we may do some good, not according to our own, but
according to His righteousness. But if we turn away from Him, it is our own
act; we then are wise according to the flesh, we then consent to the
concupiscence of the flesh for unlawful deeds. When we turn to Him, therefore,
God helps us; when we turn away from Him, He forsakes us. But then He helps us
even to turn to Him; and this, certainly, is something that light does not do
for the eyes of the body. When, therefore, He commands us in the words,
"Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you,"1 and we say to Him,
"Turn us, O God of our salvation," and again, "Turn us, O God of
hosts;" what else do we say than, "Give what Thou commandest?"
When He commands us, saying, "Understand now, ye simple among the
people," and we say to Him, "Give me understanding, that I may learn
Thy commandments;" what else do we say than, "Give what Thou
commandest?" When He commands us, saying, "Go not after thy
lusts," and we say to Him, "We know that no man can be continent,
except God gives it to him;" what else do we say than, "Give what
Thou commandest?" When He commands us, saying, "Do justice," and
we say, "Teach me Thy judgments, O Lord;" what else do we say than,
"Give what Thou commandest?" In like manner, when He says:
"Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they
shall be filled," from whom ought we to seek for the meat and drink of
righteousness, but from Him who promises His fulness to such as hunger and
thirst after it? (A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the
Baptism of Infants, Book II, Chapter 5)