3 Therefore, it is actual grace that brings us back to a state of sanctifying grace. Actual grace is the grace which refers to God’s interventions, beginning at conversion and continuing up to the fulfillment of God’s call to holiness, with our ultimate end being united with God in the beatific vision. The other mode by which God helps us is through actual grace. Without sanctifying grace, we could not possibly partake in the divine nature as this would necessitate a level of transcendence over the limits of our human nature. 2 This grace which is bestowed on us in baptism, gives us the ability to respond to God’s love in order to participate in supernatural virtue. Sanctifying grace, is a habitual grace, or a gift, of a permanent disposition toward living for God. Generally speaking, there are two functions of grace in our lives- sanctifying grace and actual grace. There are different forms in which God offers his grace to us, and each operates in a different way. In light of this definition, it is clear that grace is supernatural insofar as it is wholly contingent on God’s operation as opposed to any natural action by the human person.
#AGERE SEQUITUR ESSE MEANING FREE#
“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.” 1 Let us first turn to the CCC’s definition of grace of which draws directly from scripture. This will then lead to necessary distinctions between the natural and the supernatural in order to properly understand the relationship between merit and grace and Aquinas’ position of grace perfecting nature. However, I will seek to illustrate the need to consider the cause or origin of these powers.
In the absolute sense, it is certainly possible to perform meritorious acts by virtue of our natural powers. Thomas Aquinas to provide a further exposition of this teaching. I will seek to use the teaching of the Church through the CCC as a foundation for the necessary distinctions between the two, and then use the thought of St. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC) provides clarification on much of this misunderstanding. This confusion, from both non-Catholics and on behalf of some Catholics themselves, has led to a general belief that Catholic theology places a larger emphasis on merit than on God’s grace likening it to Semi-Pelagianism. There is often much confusion between the relationship of merit and grace and how it plays a part in our lives from a soteriological perspective.
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