1727 The beatitude of eternal life is a gratuitous gift of God. It is supernatural, as is the grace that leads us there. The terminology of men “earning salvation” is false if by it we mean Pelagianism or works-salvation. It is true in terms of cooperative merit. God gives us the grace to participate and work together with Him. Merit is God crowning His own gifts, as St. Augustine famously stated. He wants us to participate in the thing, but it is all by grace and never without it. If man does anything,
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