Grace is a very important “word” to study as Christian. If you get it right then you will appreciate the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ but that is not suffice if your understanding gone legalistic. I had visited this catholic teaching website at http://www.catholic.com/library/Grace_What_It_Is.asp and I feel it has something for us Christian to ponder about what it is and what is does. Here, it talks about grace that is separated by actual and sanctify grace. It is almost identical but different in meaning. To them, sanctifying grace stays in the soul. It is how the soul is kept holy and somehow produces supernatural life in one's person soul. Actual grace is transient and by contrast is a supernatural push or encouragement. It does not live in the soul, but acts on the soul from the outside. Catholicism believes that as Christian we should not have actual grace because it is not supernatural. It is a natural state of grace where we hold on because we put our faith in it while sanctifying grace dwells in our soul even when we die; we still continue to have that sanctifying grace to live in heaven. They believe sanctifying grace is the perfect and absolute union with God, the source of all life (cf. Galatians 2:19, 1 Peter 3:18). There is a "BUT" here because they believe you may need to be purified first in purgatory based on 1 Corinthians 3:12–16. This is because maybe they do not have sanctifying grace instead of actual grace which they have to undergo purification in order to attain sanctifying grace in soul when they die.
They believe that in order for them to attain sanctifying grace, they need first receive actual graces from God. It is like a tonic of health to regain strength or perfection. When one's regain actual grace then sanctifying grace comes in. This “actual graces enable the soul to perform some supernatural act, such as an act of faith or repentance”. If the soul responds to actual grace and makes the appropriate supernatural act, it again receives supernatural life". Hence, they discuss the spiritual suicide by differentiate the meanings of venial and mortal sins. Venial sin is a sin that is relatively slight or that is committed without full reflection or consent and so according to Thomist theology does not deprive the soul of sanctifying grace compare with mortal sin which is deadly sin because they kill off this supernatural life. It is in a way of saying that committing suicide is a serious crime to God.
Next, it discusses what is really cleansed. Sanctifying grace implies a real transformation of the soul. They say Protestant Reformers do not believe God really wipe away our sins. Instead, they remain uncleansed or corrupted and that God merely throws a cloak over them and treats them as if they were spotless. To their belief, the soul is really cleansed by an infusion (refers to "pour" in Acts 10:45, Romans 5:5, and Titus 3:5-7) of supernatural based on Paul's words on "a new creation" (2 Corinthians. 5:17), and "created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). To Catholicism, they were justified and then sanctified based on 1 Corinthians 6:11 - "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" and not on Protestant understanding that claim justification is merely a declaratory by God that we are cleansed or sanctified holy. They also compared the term sanctification of the protestant context that is the process of being made holy with their theology where they are "being freed from sin." They believe sanctification and justification are not a just one-time event but an ongoing events or processes in one's life. They against the Calvinism belief which taught the absolute impossibility of losing justification and also Lutheran lose of sanctification through unbelief. To Catholicism, everything is based on mortal sin as I have explained above. One's looses grace through sinning grievously when one's does not take God's gift of forgiveness seriously. God's grace is a continuous process of working with Him and doing what He wants us to do.
In conclusion, it is an interesting article from the sect that makes me think twice of the word - Grace. I do not totally agree about the catholic point of view but on the other hand, it is quite right in their argument i.e. actual grace helps us grow in sanctifying grace and sanctifying grace is sometimes called habitual grace or justifying grace. But no matter what view it is, I always believe God somehow has given us some instinct or hunch of what we do is right or wrong. We have the Holy Spirit in us to guide us in our life. We know what we do is forgivable or not. Let live with that godly conscious and by loving Him will automatically leads to the right path. This article in a way helps or aids us in understanding the different ideas of grace of God and makes to be watchful not to abuse the grace of God given to us.
They believe that in order for them to attain sanctifying grace, they need first receive actual graces from God. It is like a tonic of health to regain strength or perfection. When one's regain actual grace then sanctifying grace comes in. This “actual graces enable the soul to perform some supernatural act, such as an act of faith or repentance”. If the soul responds to actual grace and makes the appropriate supernatural act, it again receives supernatural life". Hence, they discuss the spiritual suicide by differentiate the meanings of venial and mortal sins. Venial sin is a sin that is relatively slight or that is committed without full reflection or consent and so according to Thomist theology does not deprive the soul of sanctifying grace compare with mortal sin which is deadly sin because they kill off this supernatural life. It is in a way of saying that committing suicide is a serious crime to God.
Next, it discusses what is really cleansed. Sanctifying grace implies a real transformation of the soul. They say Protestant Reformers do not believe God really wipe away our sins. Instead, they remain uncleansed or corrupted and that God merely throws a cloak over them and treats them as if they were spotless. To their belief, the soul is really cleansed by an infusion (refers to "pour" in Acts 10:45, Romans 5:5, and Titus 3:5-7) of supernatural based on Paul's words on "a new creation" (2 Corinthians. 5:17), and "created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). To Catholicism, they were justified and then sanctified based on 1 Corinthians 6:11 - "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" and not on Protestant understanding that claim justification is merely a declaratory by God that we are cleansed or sanctified holy. They also compared the term sanctification of the protestant context that is the process of being made holy with their theology where they are "being freed from sin." They believe sanctification and justification are not a just one-time event but an ongoing events or processes in one's life. They against the Calvinism belief which taught the absolute impossibility of losing justification and also Lutheran lose of sanctification through unbelief. To Catholicism, everything is based on mortal sin as I have explained above. One's looses grace through sinning grievously when one's does not take God's gift of forgiveness seriously. God's grace is a continuous process of working with Him and doing what He wants us to do.
In conclusion, it is an interesting article from the sect that makes me think twice of the word - Grace. I do not totally agree about the catholic point of view but on the other hand, it is quite right in their argument i.e. actual grace helps us grow in sanctifying grace and sanctifying grace is sometimes called habitual grace or justifying grace. But no matter what view it is, I always believe God somehow has given us some instinct or hunch of what we do is right or wrong. We have the Holy Spirit in us to guide us in our life. We know what we do is forgivable or not. Let live with that godly conscious and by loving Him will automatically leads to the right path. This article in a way helps or aids us in understanding the different ideas of grace of God and makes to be watchful not to abuse the grace of God given to us.
