Grace (theology)

“ 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." ”

“ But where the sin multiplied, in the place, the region, of fallen humanity, there did superabound the grace; with that mighty overflow of the bright ocean of love which we have watched already. That just as our (ἡ) sin came to reign in our (τῷ) death, our penal death, so too might the grace come to reign, having its glorious way against our foes and over us, through righteousness, through the justifying work, to life eternal, which here we have, and which hereafter will receive us into itself, through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The graces of God's Spirit in the hearts of believers are exceedingly precious in themselves and pleasing to Christ, and his presence in ordinances draws them out into act and exercise. If he withdraw, graces wither and languish, as plants in the absence of the sun; if he approach, the face of the soul is renewed, as of the earth in the spring; and then it is time to bestir ourselves, that we may not lose the gleam, not lose the gale; for nothing is done acceptably but what grace does, Heb. ”

“ Secondly, The great blessing wherewith Christ came to bless us, was, the turning of us away from our iniquities, the saving of us from our sins, (Matt. 1. 21.) to turn us from sin, that we may be qualified to receive all other blessings; sin is that which naturally we cleave to, the design of divine grace is to turn us from it, nay, to turn us against it, that we may not only forsake it, but hate it; the gospel has a direct tendency to it, not only as it requires us, every one of us, to turn from our iniquities, but as it promises us grace to enable us to do so. ”

“ 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 ”

“ But we may well by grace keep us from the sins which would lead us to [Pg 125] endless pains, as Holy Church teacheth us; and eschew venial [ones] reasonably up to our might. And if we by our blindness and our wretchedness any time fall, we should readily rise, knowing the sweet touching of grace, and with all our will amend us upon the teaching of Holy Church, according as the sin is grievous, and go forthwith to God in love; and neither, on the one side, fall over low, inclining to despair, nor, on the other side, be over-reckless, as if we made no matter of it [4] ”

“ 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. ”

“ By the grace of God is sometimes to be understood, that free love, that unmerited mercy, by which I a sinner, thro’ the merits of Christ, am now reconciled to God. But in this place it rather means, that power of God the Holy Ghost, which worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. As soon as ever the grace of God, in the former sense, his pardoning love is manifested to our soul, the grace of God, in the latter sense, the power of his Spirit, takes place therein. And now we can perform, thro’ God, what to man was impossible. ”

“ 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 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 ”

“ Is it a sin knowingly to resist the grace of God? A. It is a sin, knowingly, to resist the grace of God, because we thereby insult Him and reject His gifts without which we cannot be saved.
Q. 479. Does God give His grace to every one? A. God gives to everyone He creates sufficient grace to save his soul; and if persons do not save their souls, it is because they have not used the grace given. ”

“ So Christians, who in that age are to reign, are not surprised, having already learned the secrets of grace. When man first transgressed the commandment, the devil covered the soul all over with a covering of darkness. Then grace comes, and wholly removes the veil, so that the soul, now cleared, and regaining its proper nature, created without blemish and clear, continually beholds clearly with its clear eyes the glory of the true light and the true sun of righteousness beaming in the heart itself. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Considering the subjects on which divine grace has to act, and the opposition which it has to encounter, this, its work in the saints, may well be called the most wonderful of all works, and its triumph the grandest of all triumphs. Unseen and unheeded though it may be, that divine work is ever silently but surely and steadily progressing in the spiritual world over which grace rules. We can see it in its development, if not in its actual operation, and if so minded, can estimate its magnitude by examining its results in the annals of the saints. ”

“ 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. ”

“ True grace, though weak, has the divine approbation; but, though Christ accepts a little strength, yet believers should not rest satisfied in a little, but should strive to grow in grace, to be strong in faith, giving glory to God. True grace, though weak, will do more than the greatest gifts or highest degrees of common grace, for it will enable the Christian to keep the word of Christ, and not to deny his name. Obedience, fidelity, and a free confession of the name of Christ, are the fruits of true grace, and are pleasing to Christ as such. ”

“ So the inexperienced man, being comforted by grace, imagines that grace has taken possession of all the members of his soul, and that sin is rooted out. But the greatest part is still under the power of sin, and only one part under grace ”

“ Those have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, the Spirit that is graciously given to men, and that works grace wherever it is,—the Spirit of grace, that should be regarded and attended to with the greatest care,—this Spirit they have grieved, resisted, quenched, yea, done despite to him, which is the highest act of wickedness, and makes the case of the sinner desperate, refusing to have the gospel salvation applied to him. ”

“ This is the grace that shall prevail
In the decisive hour.
5 [Faith must obey her Father's will
As well as trust his grace;
A pardoning God is jealous still
For his own holiness.
6 When from the curse he sets us free,
He makes our natures clean,
Nor would he send his Son to be
The minister of sin.
7 His Spirit purifies our frame,
And seals our peace with God;
Jesus, and his salvation, came
By water and by blood.] ”

“ Just for this reason, because man can do nothing to restore himself to the divine favor, God by His grace proposes to do all, and has sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to do all, and, last not least, publishes the fact that all has been done in the Gospel of the forgiveness of sin by grace through faith in Christ. ”

“ Thus are sins forgiven by mercy and grace, and our soul is worshipfully received in joy like as it shall be when it cometh to Heaven, as oftentimes as it cometh by the gracious working of the Holy Ghost and the virtue of Christ's Passion. ”

“ The one operation of the soul to which they attach salvation is that of persuasion that itself is saved. To account for so arbitrary a distinction, they allege that this persuasion is not a natural gift, but a divine grace—or, rather, the divine grace; for in it are contained, and from it flow, all those good results which Catholic writers call 'graces;' such as humility, charity, hope, etc. This extraordinary and almost inexplicable doctrine, they consider not only conveyed in Holy Scripture, but the whole sum and substance of its teachings ”

“ 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? ”

“ We should not ask the impertinent question, why God has given us four means of grace, instead of one, but rather thank him, that he has so richly blessed us in making us partakers of the forgiveness of our sins, and that he, through these means, gives unto us a joyful heart and a certain assurance that we are acceptable unto him. ”

“ And as the Christ, who had previously been known more in His pardoning, quickening, and saving grace, is again sought after as a real deliverer from the power of sin, as a sanctifier, He comes and takes up the soul into the fellowship of the sacrifice of His will. ‘He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,’ must become true of us as it is of Him. ”

“ 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. ”

“ God’s grace is never restrained, and though we should not arrive at those heights of heavenly-mindedness, as some of the primitive christians were eminent for, yet, methinks we should imitate them as far as we can, and rely on the divine goodness for grants of such a supply of grace, as he, in his good pleasure, shall judge most convenient for us. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, so every man may go to that propitiatory, and take the mercy that is suited to his degree of guilt.
And find grace - Mercy refers to the pardon of sin, and being brought into the favor of God. Grace is that by which the soul is supported after it has received this mercy, and by which it is purified from all unrighteousness, and upheld in all trials and difficulties, and enabled to prove faithful unto death. ”