St. Augustine on the Paradox of Cooperating with God

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See: "And every one that hath this hope in Him, purifieth(7) himself even as He is pure."(8) See how he has not taken away free-will, in that he saith, "purifieth himself." Who purifieth us but God? Yea, but God doth not purify thee if thou be unwilling. Therefore, in that thou joinest thy will to God, in that thou purifiest thyself. Thou purifiest thyself, not by thyself, but by Him who cometh to inhabit thee. Still, because thou doest somewhat therein by the will, therefore is somewhat attributed to thee. But it is attributed to thee only to the end thou shouldest say, as in the Psalm, "Be thou my helper, forsake me not."(9) If thou sayest, "Be thou my helper," thou doest somewhat: for if thou be doing nothing, how should He be said to "help" thee?

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