Even the Powers Above Can Change

But that even the powers above are subject to change, as we said, is shown by those who fell from their ranks through the fault of a corrupt will. So we ought not to think that those who remain in the blessed condition in which they were created have an unchangeable nature simply because they were not led astray in the same way to choose the worse part. For it is one thing to have a nature that cannot change, and another to be kept from change through the efforts of one’s virtue, guarding what is good through the grace of the unchangeable God. Everything that is won or kept by care can also be lost by carelessness. And so we read: “Call no one blessed before his death.” For as long as a person is still engaged in the struggle and, if I may use the expression, still wrestling, he can never be free from fear and from doubt about how it will end, even though he usually wins and carries off many prizes of victory. That is why God alone is called unchangeable and good. His goodness is not the result of effort but a possession of his nature, and so he cannot be anything but good. No virtue, then, can be gained by man without the possibility of change. Once it exists, if it is to be kept for good, it must be watched over with the same care and diligence with which it was gained. [a]