Jeremias 32:40

For that very pride has so stopped the ears of their heart that they do not hear, “For what hast thou that thou hast not received?” They do not hear, “Without me ye can do nothing;” they do not hear, “Love is of God;” they do not hear, “God hath dealt the measure of faith;” they do not hear, “The Spirit breatheth where it will,” and, “They who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;” they do not hear, “No one can come unto me, unless it were given him of my Father;” they do not hear what Esdras writes, “Blessed is the Lord of our fathers, who hath put into the heart of the king to glorify His house which is in Jerusalem;” they do not hear what the Lord says by Jeremiah, “And I will put my fear into their heart, that they depart not from me; and I will visit them to make them good;” and specially that word by Ezekiel the prophet, where God fully shows that He is induced by …

This matter being settled, let us see whether this perseverance, of which it was said, “He that persevereth unto the end, the same shall be saved,” is a gift of God. And if it be not, how is that saying of the apostle true: “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake”? Of these things, certainly, one has respect to the beginning, the other to the end. Yet each is the gift of God, because both are said to be given; as, also, I have already said above. For what is more truly the beginning for a Christian than to believe in Christ? What end is better than to suffer for Christ? But so far as pertains to believing in Christ, whatever kind of contradiction has been discovered, that not the beginning but the increase of faith should be called God’s gift, to this opinion, by God’s gift, I have answered enough, and more than enough. …

This grace He placed “in Him in whom we have obtained a lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things.” And thus as He worketh that we come to Him, so He worketh that we do not depart. Wherefore it was said to Him by the mouth of the prophet, “Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, and upon the Son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself, and we will not depart from Thee.” This certainly is not the first Adam, in whom we departed from Him, but the second Adam, upon whom His hand is placed, so that we do not depart from Him. For Christ altogether with His members is, for the Church’s sake, which is His body, the fulness of Him. …

And lastly the prophet Jeremiah, speaking in the person of God, clearly testifies that even the fear of God, by which we can hold fast to Him, is shed upon us by the Lord: saying as follows: “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me all days: and that it may be well with them and with their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them and will not cease to do them good: and I will give My fear in their hearts that they may not revolt from Me.” Ezekiel also says: “And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh: that they may walk in My commandments, and keep My judgments and do them: and that they may be My people, and I may be their God.”