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Spiritual Life

The Grace of God (Part I)

By January 13, 2025No Comments

As we begin this blog series on grace, the first thing to do is simply define what we even mean by the term. We quite often hear and read the word, but as the saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt”. Which I don’t mean to say that we have a hatred of grace, but moreso that it’s often the case that the more that we hear and read something, the more we can take for granted our understanding of something. So first of all then, what is grace?

In layman’s terms, grace is help from God for us to live a type of life that we cannot live by our own powers – grace is the help that we need to live a life capable of Heaven. Which we need help from God for! First of all because we are but mere creatures, therefore incapable, by nature, of the supernatural acts necessary to attain eternal life. Secondly because of sin, which causes damage in our relationship with God. There is an obstacle to union with God in sin, which must be rectified. So again, in layman’s terms, grace is help from God for us to live a type of life that we cannot live by our own powers – grace is the help that we need to live a life capable of Heaven.

In theological terms, grace is, as the Catholic Encyclopedia defines it, “a gratuitous supernatural gift of God to rational creatures for their eternal salvation”. Let’s break this down into its four main points:

  1. Grace is a gift.

That is, it’s something unmerited, in and of itself. There is nothing that we can do of ourselves to get grace, we are not owed it by God, we have no right to it, we have no claim to it. It is, rather, a gift. One freely given by God. Which therefore means that God can give grace as He pleases, to whom He pleases, under the parameters that He pleases, conditional upon a certain life being lived in response to the gift, otherwise it’ll be lost, and so on and so forth.

  1. Grace is a supernatural gift.

The natural order is comprised of everything that is created, with the supernatural then being God’s existence, which is uncreated, and therefore “super” to the natural. Such is grace, a gift from God that is super to, that is beyond, all created nature, transcendent of the created order, and therefore elevating us into the supernatural order.

  1. Grace a gift given to rational creatures.

That is, both angels and men can be the recipients of grace.

  1. This is a gift given for eternal salvation.

That is, grace has, as its principle purpose, to bring angels and men to their supernatural telos of eternal happiness in the beatific vision, without which grace we could not attain that eternal union with God.

Having herein defined what we mean by the term grace, we will in our next post address how it is that grace helps us.

 

Want to learn more about the grace of God? Check out Daniel’s new audio course on grace – 15 tracks with 14+ hours of material!

https://thewisdomofthesaints.com/

Daniel Campbell

Daniel Campbell earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Preprofessional Studies in 2004 from the University of Notre Dame. After graduation, he worked in medical research for five years in anticipation of entering medical school. However, God called him to a different life when he entered the Catholic Church and received the sacraments of Confirmation and First Eucharist in 2008. He then earned his Master's Degree in Systematic Theology at the Augustine Institute in 2012, focusing his studies on the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. Daniel joined the faculty of the Lay Division at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in 2012 (sjvlaydivision.org). He taught the Denver Catholic Biblical School program for 8 years and was the creator and instructor of the "Art of Living: Mastering the Virtuous Life" and "Life in Christ: Prayer and Conversion" Enrichment Courses. He was given additional duties as the Coordinator of Curriculum Development for the Lay Division in 2017. He currently serves as Director of the Lay Division, as well as creator and instructor of the "Living like Saints" Enrichment Course. Daniel has also published four Audio Courses on the life of Saint Joseph, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas on law, and the grace of God (thewisdomofthesaints.com). Daniel and his wife and five children live in the Denver area.

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