Doctrine of grace

“ True grace is much more excellent than any spiritual gifts whatever. And faith, hope, and love, are the three principal graces, of which charity is the chief, being the end to which the other two are but means. ”

“ Vse. This may serve to exhort us all, to examine our selves according to this rule. For if wee make no reckoning at all, of the meanes and instruments of grace, but doe reject or despise those, that labour most to procure this grace and peace for us, we have cause to feare, that we are yet farre from the nature, and disposition of true beleevers.
Doctrine 3. They which have gone farthest in faith and grace, have yet need of grace.
This is gathered therehence, that the Apostle wisheth grace unto those, that have obtained like precious faith, with the Apostles themselves. ”

“ Thus grace has abounded, and the free gift has come upon all, and the gospel has gone forth proclaiming redemption to every creature. "By grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." By grace ye are loved, redeemed, and justified. By grace ye are called, converted, reconciled and sanctified. Salvation is wholly of grace. The plan, the process, the consummation are all of grace.
"Where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded." "Through the offense of one, many were dead." ”

“ On the other hand, the more perfectly he is disposed by frequent and fervent acts of faith, hope, and charity, and other holy virtues, the more abundant grace he will receive, both because these more perfect dispositions move Almighty God to be more liberal of His graces to him, and they also enlarge the capacity of the soul to receive a more abundant communication of grace. ”

“ When we come to ask mercy of God, and to pray for grace to love and serve him, we may plead and expostulate for the bestowment. Is it not thy will, that we should be renewed and sanctified—that we should repent of sin—believe the gospel, and follow after holiness? Is it not thy will that we should become new creatures—love thee—love our duty, and resign ourselves to thy disposal? Is it not thy will, that we should act with propriety under every trial, and discharge with faithfulness every duty—that we should honor thee in adversity, as well as in prosperity? ”

“ In which a great accession of grace and piety may be gained by the oblation of one's self and all one's actions to God, in union with the actions and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is wonderful how much the maintenance and practice of a right intention, by which we refer all that belongs to us to the glory of God alone, conduces to advancement in grace and true piety. ”

“ For doing good works and winning heaven, the state of sanctifying grace is, therefore, an elementary necessity; but beyond this habitual state we need the help of God’s grace for the performance of every thing that we do ”

“ The state of grace is the first, fundamental, and essential condition to the existence of charity. Charity and mortal sin are two things irreducibly opposed, uncompromisingly antagonistic, eternally inimical. ”

“ Why must he be in the state of grace?
A. Because the Scripture assures us that " the Holy Spirit of Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins," Wis. i. 4 ; and therefore it would be a grievous sacrilege were a person, knowing himself to be in a state of sin, to presume to receive this sacrament without taking the necessary measures to put his soul into the state of grace, and be reconciled with God. ”

“ The grace of the virtues and gifts perfects the essence and powers of the soul sufficiently as regards ordinary conduct: but as regards certain special effects which are necessary in a Christian life, sacramental grace is needed. ”

“ Look therefore for mercy only in Christ, for his sake rely upon God’s mercy. The terms of the gospel are, repent and believe; gracious terms! Mercy for fetching, nay, mercy for desiring, nay, for nothing but receiving. Dost thou desire mercy and grace? I know thou dost. Even this is the gift of God to desire, hunger after Christ; let desires put you upon endeavour, the work itself is sweet: yea, repentance and mourning itself hath more sweetness in it, than all the world’s comforts. Upon repentance and believing comes justification, after this sanctification, by the spirit dwelling in us. ”

“ Rom. v. 5 ; and in another, " the justice of God by faith of Jesus Christ upon all them that believe in Him," Rom. iii. 22. The wise man calls it " a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; and that no undefiled thing can come near it," Wis. vii. 25. From all this it appears that the sanctifying grace of God is a communication which God makes of Himself to our souls; and it is called grace, because it is a free gift of His mercy through the merits of Christ ”

“ Yet since visible signs of themselves have no efficiency ordained for grace, although representative of its nature, it was necessary that they should by the author of grace be appointed to signify and should be blessed in order to sanctify; so that there should be a representation from natural likeness, a signification from appointment, and a sanctification and preparedness for grace from the added benediction, through which our soul may be cured and made whole. ”

“ Oh! enable us to come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. O Almighty and merciful God, who art faithful, and who wilt not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able; but wilt with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it: we cast all our care on Thee, who carest for us: And oh! mayest Thou, Heavenly Father, who hast, of Thy free and unmerited mercy, begun a good work in us, perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. ”

“ We implore God in this petition to enlighten the heathen that yet stand in the shadow of death, and all unbelievers and heretics, that they may learn to know and adore Him; and to grant sincere conversion to all sinners. We also ask, for ourselves and our fellow Christians, the grace to grow in the knowledge of God, in His love and service and in Christian perfection, so that thereby God may ever be glorified more and more. A truly Christian life is our highest glorification of God, hence to obtain this grace we must diligently pray. ”

“ Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God’s infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. ”

“ Now sirs, examine yourselves, if ever you were acquainted with, or partakers of a regenerating work upon your souls Oh! Man, was ever grace powerfully implanted in thy soul? if thou art not a new-born plant of grace, thou dost not belong to the bush of Jesus Christ; thou art a wild bramble (illegible text) this day. Examine yourselves my friends. Did you never find the plow of the law turn up the hollow ground of your hearts, and the seed of the promise sown thereby the spirit of grace? Did you ever find the Holy Ghost dropping grace into thy soul ”

“ It seems that sacramental grace confers nothing in addition to the grace of the virtues and gifts. For the grace of the virtues and gifts perfects the soul sufficiently, both in its essence and in its powers ”

“ Nevertheless there is an imposing school of theologians who maintain the identity of grace with charity. They are Scotus1003 and his followers,1004 Cardinal Bellarmine,1005 Molina, Lessius, Salmeron, Vasquez, Sardagna, Tournely, and others. Their principal argument is that Holy Scripture ascribes active justification indiscriminately to theological love and sanctifying grace, and that some of the Fathers follow this example. ”

“ And hence we must say that if grace be understood as the will of God gratuitously doing something or reputing anything as well-pleasing or acceptable to Him, the union of the Incarnation took place by grace, even as the union of the saints with God by knowledge and love. But if grace be taken as the free gift of God, then the fact that the human nature is united to the Divine Person may be called a grace, inasmuch as it took place without being preceded by any merits—but not as though there were an habitual grace, by means of which the union took place. ”

“ It is love, but it being set on some, and not on others; some are elect angels, some are not; some are elect men, some are not; and this love being so distinguished, is grace, or free favour; and this favour manifested to us as fallen, guilty, hell-deserving creatures, is mercy. I wish you to make these distinctions, as they will open many blessed texts and doctrines of the word. Now as grace and mercy flows to us so divinely, this brings peace indeed, and in fact. ”

“ Is actual grace (as gratia excitans s. vocans, not elevans) absolutely necessary to enable a man in the state of sanctifying grace to perform salutary acts? The answer is—Yes, and this teaching is so firmly grounded on Sacred Scripture and Tradition, and so emphatically sanctioned by the Church, that we do not hesitate to follow Perrone in qualifying it as de fide.346 The councils in their teaching on the necessity of grace, assert that necessity alike for the justified and the unjustified. ”

“ Grace inheres in the substance of the soul, while charity has its seat in one of its several faculties. Inhering in the very substance of the soul, grace, by a physical or moral power, produces the three theological virtues—faith, hope, and love. ”

“ To these he designed to manifest himself as the God of all grace, in the covenant of redemption and mercy—in the mysterious incarnation of Christ—in the meritorious holiness of his life—in the putting away sin by his awful sorrows, and in rising from the dead to justify his own work, and as the first fruits of them that sleep in him. And is it not wonderful that God the Holy Spirit should ever visit you? Can you not often ask, with your sister Ruth, “Why have I found grace in thy sight, that thou shouldst take knowledge of me, seeing I am but a stranger.” It becomes you to be thankful. ”

“ Salvation By Grace And Not By Works. Salvation from sin is by the grace of God. The word “grace” is defined by lexicographers as favor or mercy. Grace is a characteristic in the nature of God which offers mercy or favor though wholly unmerited by the recipient. Man is an offender against God. Through repentance he finds favor or grace in God's sight without any worthiness, excellence or meritoriousness in himself, but because of the merciful nature of the Lord. ”

“ Now, if I could perform any work acceptable to God and deserving of grace, and once having obtained grace my good works would continue to earn for me the right and reward of eternal life, why should I stand in need of the grace of God and the suffering and death of Christ? ”

“ The light is continually breaking in; and I am more and more confirmed in those things of which I told you, namely, redemption by grace; the efficacy of Christ’s blood; justification by his righteousness imputed to us; sanctification through the operation of the divine Spirit; and the glorification by our gathering together unto him at his appearing. ”

“ If any one saith that a man once justified ... is able, during his whole life, to avoid all sins, even those that are venial, except by a special grace from God, as the Church holds in regard of the Blessed Virgin ”

“ The means of grace which she offers to us, and of which she even requires us to make use, the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord himself which she gives us, the penances she imposes upon us by way of fasting and abstinence, the warnings which she is ever giving us of the condemnation which will fall upon impenitent sinners, these and ten thousand other things make the sanctity of the church so well known that it is not so much an article of faith as a thing which we see with our own eyes and which falls under our own experience. ”

“ Be not deceived, we are to be holy as Christ is holy; we are to receive grace for grace; every grace that is in the blessed Jesus, is to be transplanted into our hearts; we are to be delivered from the power, but not from the indwelling and being of sin in this life. ”

“ When persons are called by divine grace, they are brought to feel their need of just such a saviour as Christ is, and are led to prize the infinite value of his blood, the merit of his obedience, the power of his arm, and the love of his heart. But amidst the host of enemies to the person and dignity of Christ, we humbly and gratefully unite with the Psalmist: Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, thy perfections, and thy gospel, wherever it has been carried. ”

“ And ’tis from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such and such particular persons. Those that are called and sanctified are to attribute it alone to the good pleasure of God’s goodness, by which they are distinguished. He is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. ”

“ And we communicate with the faithful, who have departed this life in a more imperfect state, and who, by the law of God's justice, are for a while in a place of suffering, by offering prayers and alms and sacrifice to God for them.
12. We must believe also the necessity of divine grace, without which we cannot make so much as one step towards heaven; and that all our good and all our merits are the gift of God; that Christ died for all men; that God is not the author of sin; and that his grace does not take away our free will. ”