We’ve all heard that “seeing is believing.” Well Augustine seemed to think that “thinking was believing…” or at least he thought that believing was always preceded by thinking.
It works like this. You chose to do something. Maybe you choose to do right or maybe something wrong. You belief however was preceded and based on a thought. This awareness of thought, according to Augustine, was a grace from God. This is why he could firmly believe that even though we have “free will,” it is always founded on a preceding grace of God.
Augustine is never without good reasoning… He reckons—If our belief was not based on God’s initial grace and awakening in our minds, then we could actually boast that our belief were on account of our own merits.
So with this we might ask ourselves, “am I asking God regularly to invade my mind and plant his thoughts in my mind, according to his grace, that I might then act on them?” And, we might also heed Augustine’s warning… not everyone who thinks, believes… or makes the right choices. It is by this inaction in the light of God’s grace that we can stand guilty of faulty faith and faulty actions.
Keener Things 