Do Catholic's believe that God's Grace is all sufficient, freely given, freely received?
Quotes from the Catechism are in blue
"Our Justification comes from the grace of God.
Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life."
Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 1996)
Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life; by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.
This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.
The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification.
(Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.) 2 Cor. 5:17 - 18
To summarize the Catechism thus far:
Grace is favor, free and undeserved help from God
Grace is participation in the life of God
Grace depends entirely on God's initiative
Grace is a gratuitous gift from God
Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.
(ie: when one is in Christ, the only way such person can do anything that merits God's favor is because they were first given the gift of Grace. God first intervenes to bring us to him, because we, being dead in our sins, are unable to find him on our own. Once we are adopted into his family, we then receive sanctifying Grace that allows us to grow in him, purify ourselves, and be partakers of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)
The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter (grace) is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, "since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it."
Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be give life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God; for without him we can do nothing. (St. Augustine).
(ie: there is nothing you can do for God without first receiving his Grace. This Grace then allows us to participate with God as he redeems us and perfects us. )
God's free initiative demands man's free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the hearts of man. He has placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. The promise of "eternal life" responds, beyond all hope, to this desire;
If at the end of your very good works... you rested on the seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that at the end of our works, which are indeed, "very good" since you have given them to us, we shall also rest in you on the Sabbath of eternal life. (St. Augustine).
Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning, "favor," gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary , such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented towards sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church."
Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord's words - "Thus you will know them by their fruits" - reflection on God's blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.
To Summarize:
- Grace is favor, free and undeserved help from God
- Grace is participation in the life of God
- Grace depends entirely on God's initiative
- Grace is a gratuitous gift from God
- Sanctifying Grace is a gift that allows us to participate in the life of the Spirit, perfecting man
- Preparing man to receive initial Grace is already an act of Grace by God
- We are able to remain in Christ and to be sanctified in him because he has bestowed his grace upon us. We cannot act of our own might.
- Man must freely respond to this Grace. God will not force his Grace upon us, because he is love, and love does not coerce.
- All man has a longing in his soul to know his Creator and to receive eternal life.
- Grace is first of all a gift from Christ to save us. Grace is also gifts that the Spirit gives us to aid in the spreading of salvation and to the building up of His Body.
- Grace can only be known by faith. We cannot rely on our own merits to conclude salvation. However, if we see growth, fruit, and holiness within our lives, we can know that the grace of God is working within our lives and have hope for that prize to which we have been called, eternal life with him.
The Catholic Church is adamant that one cannot work their way to heaven, it is a sheer gift of the Lord, God's grace freely given so that man may be redeemed. Once received, man must respond to his Grace. God is a lover, he will not force himself upon us. St. James tells us faith without works is dead.
What good is it my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed', but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith, I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that, and shudder." James 2:14/19
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell. Matthew7:26
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:6
By Faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son. Hebrews 11:17
They profess to know God but deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1:16
I could go on, there are many more, but this post is getting long. The point being, faith without works equates to dead faith is a Biblical belief. The sacraments, rather than being acts of a works based system, are the channels in which God sends down specific graces that equip and aid one in their walk towards total and complete union with Him in heaven, and which are used to further build up His Body, the Church. They are not dolled out according to the whim or holiness of the administrator. They are given out from the person of Christ himself, who has entrusted His Bride to bring all people to himself, the Bridegroom.
The Evangelical world does not have a monopoly on the definition of the Grace of God. The Catholic Church does not have final authority on who will receive the Grace of God. That is the work of Christ, alone. He is the head of his Church, but if he chooses to work outside of those visible walls to extend his Grace upon those unaware or distrusting of a representative of the Church, then he is God, and he can act.
I come to the Catholic Church precisely because of what they hold true about God's Grace. The Evangelical Church taught me to search for Him above all else, because there is no greater gift than the grace that has been freely poured down from the Father. The Catholic Church now teaches me how to remain in him once that Grace has been given and received. Grace cannot be cheapened; accepted, but not moved to action. Because although it was freely first given to me, it was bought with a Price. It was bought with a Life. And because HE thought it was important to put actions to his words, then maybe I should be willing to as well.
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