Grace: its meaning, and the two types

We have talked a lot in this blog about the supernatural help God gives us to live a supernatural life.



(All of the examples that follow I have discussed in my blog before.)  He reveals himself in Divine Revelation.  He establishes His Church, through which he gives us the seven Sacraments, and the gift of the Magisterium.  He sends the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us, through the seven gifts, which produces the twelve fruits.   There are also the nine charisms of the Spirit which bear fruit, through us, for the Church.  He infuses in us the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.   In all of this, he gives us what we need to live divine life, in the love of the Holy Trinity forever.  



What gifts!  So many of them, so powerful!



When God, through these means, or any other means, touches our soul, and it produces an effect, we call that a grace.  You have probably heard that term, but let’s give it a precise definition.  We read in the Catechism (paragraph 1996)  that 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.



Grace takes us beyond where we can naturally go.   Without grace, we can live a life with some good, some bad, and then we die.   That is all we can hope for with natural life.  Grace, however, gives us the strength to live not just a natural life, but a supernatural one.   We live with supernatural virtue, supernatural desire, and supernatural gifts.  Above all, we have a supernatural destiny, life in the Holy Trinity.  



Grace is not something we have earned. It is a free gift from God.  Yet, we are called to cooperate with it, and whether we cooperate with it or not is something we will be judged on.



There are two types of grace, sanctifying and actual.   Both are good gifts of God, but there are important differences.

1)      Sanctifying grace comes from within, actual grace comes from without.  Sanctifying (sometimes called habitual grace) is something that is within us, a stable presence that allows us to live with, and in the power of the love of God.    Actual grace is a direct intervention of God from him to us, such as at the beginning of conversion (for example, what happened to wicked Saul when he was knocked off his horse), or in the course of one’s Christian life (such as a special insight from God that one receives when on a retreat, or during some other dedicated prayer time).    

2)      Sanctifying grace is a permanent disposition, whereas actual grace produces temporary effects. 

3)      We can lose sanctifying grace only through serious sin, whereas actual grace comes and go as God ordains. 

4)      Sanctifying grace can only be experienced by one disposed to receive it, not one in a state of serious sin.  Actual grace can be operated on anyone (such as the aforementioned Saul when he was persecuting Christians).  It can inspire one to conversion (as it did with Saul who became Saint Paul), but it cannot effect salvation.  Saint Paul was not saved due to the actual grace that led to his being converted.  He was saved, rather, because of the sanctifying grace that came into him once he repented, accepted Christ’s forgiveness, and did good works. 

5)      Only sanctifying grace can produce, or be a result of, meritorious works that result in salvation.  Actions done as a result of actual grace are not necessarily merit bearing, since the person may still be in a state of sin.   They can lead to conversion, but they do not in themselves earn us any merit for heaven, like works done through sanctifying grace do.  The good works themselves can in turn help build up the sanctifying grace.  However, actual grace has no intrinsic connection to good works as  either their cause or fruit.

6)      Those who have sanctifying grace are adopted children, and friends of God.  Those who receive actual grace only, on the other hand, may or may not be adopted children of God.  It may be God’s intervention to lead them to become a child of God at some point.  However, just because one receives an actual grace, it does not mean that one is or will be a friend of God, or saved.   God loves all, but only those who love in return, those whom God knows, will be let into heaven. 

7)      To sanctify means to be made holy, so that type of grace, sanctifying, is ultimately what is the most important, because becoming holy, becoming like God, is our destiny.   Actual graces are interventions designed for specific circumstances in life that while they can be an aid to growing in holiness, are not directly tied into growth in holiness.  For example, we could receive an intervention from God, some insight, and decide to do nothing with it.  Sanctifying grace, on the other hand, since it is an interior disposition to be like God, is basically a part of us, and ties so much into our mind and will, it cannot help but be directly tied into our holiness.

8)      The holy cannot exist alongside the unholy.  If we are not holy, we cannot be in heaven.   We cannot be holy without sanctifying grace.   Therefore, sanctifying grace is necessary to get into heaven.   We can receive all the actual graces we want, and they are great, trust me, but if there is no interior disposition in us to be holy, which is only a fruit of sanctifying grace, then there is no chance of salvation.

9)      The usual means to receive sanctifying grace are the gifts of Baptism and Penance (if we have lost the divine life through mortal sin).   It is nourished by the other Sacraments.    This is the only way that has been revealed that God can infuse supernatural life in our souls.   God can act in all kinds of way to effect actual grace, but sanctifying grace is normally more limited in the means it is delivered.

Actual graces, which can produce spiritual “highs”, are indeed something wonderful, and can inspire us.  We should never fear them, nor be afraid to ask for them.   However, it is sanctifying grace that we truly need to live divine life, and be saved.  That is what we should be after most of all.



To receive this new life, which is only a result of sanctifying grace, let us run to the Church, notably to the Sacraments.  Let us get baptized if we have not.  If serious sin has killed the grace of Baptism, or it has been rendered practically mute by venial sin, then let us run to the Sacrament of Penance and get a fresh outpouring of grace so that we can be disposed to the good, to God, and do good works that will bear fruit not just now, but for all eternity.


Joseph most obedient, pray for us.