Jacobs shares the bad side of the Pelagian Gospel and the good side of the Augustinian Gospel:

The Pelagian good news is that at every moment you are free to obey; the (unstated, hidded) bad news is that at every moment you are equally free to sin, and at the instant of choice a lifetime of strict spiritual discipline will avail you nothing. . . . Pelagianism is a creed for heroes, but Augustine’s emphasis on original sin and the consequent absolute dependence of every one of us on the grace of God gives hope to the waverer, the backslider, the slacker, the putz, the schlemiel.  We’re all in the same boat as Mister Holier-than-Thou over there, saved only by the grace that comes to us in Holy Baptism (52-54).