For, evidently in honor of their excellent nature and their holy choice, he inspires those who have made choice of a good life with strength for the rest of their salvation; exhorting some, and helping others, who of themselves have become worthy.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book VII
Chapter VII
Nor shall he who is saved be saved against his will, for he is not inanimate; but he will above all voluntarily and of free choice speed to salvation.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book VII
Chapter VII
All, then, as I said, are naturally constituted for the acquisition of virtue.
…Now he who is bad, having become, through evil, sinful by nature, becomes depraved, having what he has chosen; and being sinful, sins also in his actions.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book VI
Chapter XII
Wisdom which is God-given, as being the power of the Father, rouses indeed our free-will, and admits faith, and repays the application of the elect with its crowning fellowship.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book V
Chapter XIII
…if you consider the truth, you will find man naturally misled so as to give assent to what is false, though possessing the resources necessary for belief in the truth.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book II
Chapter XXII
Such a change, then, from unbelief to faith—and to trust in hope and fear, is divine. And, in truth, faith is discovered, by us, to be the first movement towards salvation; after which fear, and hope, and repentance, advancing in company with temperance and patience, lead us to love and knowledge.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book II
Chapter VI
To these prophecy says, “If ye be willing and hear me, ye shall eat the good things of the land;” proving that choice or refusal depends on ourselves.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book I
Chapter XVIII
If, then, both proclaim the Word—the one by writing, the other by speech—are not both then to be approved, making, as they do, faith active by love? It is by one’s own fault that he does not choose what is best; God is free of blame.
…On him who by Divine Providence meets in with it, it confers the very highest advantages,—the beginning of faith, readiness for adopting a right mode of life, the impulse towards the truth, a movement of inquiry, a trace of knowledge; in a word, it gives the means of salvation. And those who have been rightly reared in the words of truth, and received provision for eternal life, wing their way to heaven.
…One’s own conscience is best for choosing accurately or shunning. And its firm foundation is a right life, with suitable instruction.
Clement of Alexandria
The Stromata, Book I
Chapter I
Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him who chooses.
Clement of Alexandria
The Paedagogus, Book I
Chapter VIII
Exert your will only, and you have overcome ruin; bound to the wood of the cross, thou shalt be freed from destruction: the word of God will be thy pilot, and the Holy Spirit will bring thee to anchor in the haven of heaven. Then shalt thou see my God, and be initiated into the sacred mysteries, and come to the fruition of those things which are laid up in heaven reserved for me, which “ear hath not heard, nor have they entered into the heart of any.”
Clement of Alexandria
Exhortation to the Heathen
Chapter XII