Commentary: On the Concept of Grace
For my commentary this week, although it's one day late, I'll dwell on the topic of grace. This came into the forefront when I greeted someone a happy birthday. One of her wishes / reactions was that she wanted God to make her holy as He is holy (an allusion to a phrase in Scripture).
My initial reaction was that of skepticism. It's quite an imperfect paraphrase of Scripture. The Lord's statement was imperative in form: "Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy" or "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". Hence, human action is necessary in achieving holiness or spiritual perfection. In fact, we can see this need for human involvement in other areas in Scripture.
However, her comment is also true on the basis that we cannot be holy without God's initiative. We can see this from St. Paul that we are able to God our Lord because of the Holy Spirit residing in us.
Great, so how can we be as holy as God?
*~*~*~*~*
Well, grace is necessary in order to be holy. It is a free gift from God. We can classify grace into two types: sanctifying and actual. Sanctifying grace is a grace of state where we can pleasing in front of God. We lose this if we commit mortal sin. Actual grace, on the other hand, is a specific gift in response to a particular situation. It could be physical well-being or spiritual consolation.
In order to receive grace, God also sends grace in order to properly receive that grace. Let's call this dispositional grace. If we telescope this idea further, one may ask: Where does it all begin? If we need grace to receive grace, how can we actually receive it?
*~*~*~*~*
This is where human action comes into the picture. Molded in the image of God, we are capable of receiving spiritual resources from God. If we consider the telescoping experiment, we are assuming that God is the only one working, but we will end up with a deadlock with the thought experiment. We can conclude that grace cannot be received by God alone, even though He is capable to doing so.
At this point, God is "powerless" in the face of human freedom. We are like God and He cannot, in a way, go contrary to Himself or His nature. At this point, if we want grace, we should will it ourselves too. We should use the means to dispose ourselves properly to receive grace.
My initial reaction was that of skepticism. It's quite an imperfect paraphrase of Scripture. The Lord's statement was imperative in form: "Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy" or "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". Hence, human action is necessary in achieving holiness or spiritual perfection. In fact, we can see this need for human involvement in other areas in Scripture.
However, her comment is also true on the basis that we cannot be holy without God's initiative. We can see this from St. Paul that we are able to God our Lord because of the Holy Spirit residing in us.
Great, so how can we be as holy as God?
*~*~*~*~*
Well, grace is necessary in order to be holy. It is a free gift from God. We can classify grace into two types: sanctifying and actual. Sanctifying grace is a grace of state where we can pleasing in front of God. We lose this if we commit mortal sin. Actual grace, on the other hand, is a specific gift in response to a particular situation. It could be physical well-being or spiritual consolation.
In order to receive grace, God also sends grace in order to properly receive that grace. Let's call this dispositional grace. If we telescope this idea further, one may ask: Where does it all begin? If we need grace to receive grace, how can we actually receive it?
*~*~*~*~*
This is where human action comes into the picture. Molded in the image of God, we are capable of receiving spiritual resources from God. If we consider the telescoping experiment, we are assuming that God is the only one working, but we will end up with a deadlock with the thought experiment. We can conclude that grace cannot be received by God alone, even though He is capable to doing so.
At this point, God is "powerless" in the face of human freedom. We are like God and He cannot, in a way, go contrary to Himself or His nature. At this point, if we want grace, we should will it ourselves too. We should use the means to dispose ourselves properly to receive grace.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
11:23 AM
2 Comments:
In today's world of ever growing materialism and the ever growing power of man to manipulate his world, man would find a harder time to find grace and the importance of grace in his life.
By
Anonymous, at 12:56 AM
Yep, that is most true!
This is the reason why we should strive to help ourselves and help other realize the importance of grace. Human effort alone cannot bring true happiness and we can see this in the futility of man-made constructs.
By
Chipi Buenafe, at 6:08 PM
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