The divine transforming grace

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2004 by Bishop Serapion

In Porto Alegre, Brazil, thousands of Christians will gather for ten days to pray in one voice and with one spirit:

"God, in your grace, transform the world"

This is the theme of the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches, which will be held in Porte Alegre, Brazil, in February 2005. It is a fervent cry to our merciful God to help us, through grace, to face challenges and to overcome tribulation. We are in dire need of divine grace to help us to care for the gift of life, to work for peace and reconciliation, to hold fast to the truth of God in Christ, and to be his faithful disciples witnessing to his love and mercy.

Our merciful God, we need your grace to transform us and transform the world.

In this article, I wish to contribute to the worldwide reflection and meditation on the divine transforming grace. My contemplation will concentrate on the following points:

1. What is divine grace?

2. Why do we need the grace of God?

3. How does the divine grace work in humanity and in the whole creation?

4. Is divine grace for everyone or only for the chosen?

5. What is the role of the human will in the work of grace?

I hope my contribution will be beneficial to all my brothers and sisters who are preparing to come to the assembly.

What is divine grace?

When defining divine grace, we regard it as divine help sent by God Almighty as a free gift to sustain a human being in order to support that person's weak will that often deviates and experiences constant needs. To state it simply, everything that God bestows on a human being is the work of divine grace.

There are aspects of grace that are clearly visible while others are not apparent. The more tangible evidence of grace is the kind we consciously see or feel in our lives; we feel God's hand supporting and guiding us. The invisible work of grace is that which sustains us without our knowledge and keeps evil away from us before we are even aware it has approached us.

Grace can work internally or may work externally, in our surroundings, in order to oppose the powers that work against us. There is grace that seeks our spiritual growth by leading us to repentance or raising us up to a higher spiritual level, approaching divine love. There is also grace that brings about miracles and powerful action in our life.

Grace may either initiate our action and inspire us to work, or it may come to our aid once we begin working. The kind of grace that initiates action is seen when a certain thought, idea or feeling is introduced to us; its source is not from within ourselves, but rather a gift from God. An example of this is the grace that called on Saul of Tarsus and changed him, without him asking or thinking about it; it called on Levi (Matthew) while he was sitting at the tax office; and it also called on Peter and Andrew while they were fishing. The second type is seen when a person has already begun working or wishes to do something and divine grace comes to this person's aid and gives power to him or her. In this case, a person recognizes his or her own weakness and fervently asks God for divine help.

We should note that our Lord gives his grace to everyone and in various ways. The important element is the person's response and reaction to the work of divine grace. Although divine grace may start working in and through a person, if he or she does not interact with it, it may not complete its action or even abandon that individual. Therefore, we must not be negligent when we are visited by divine grace; we must respond lest it leaves us and we end up regretting it. When we pray to our Lord to send God's grace to work within us, we must also ask the Lord to give us a heart that is ready to interact and respond to the work of divine grace.

This leads to the next question: Is it possible that divine grace may abandon a person? The answer is yes. Divine grace sometimes abandons a person either temporarily in order to lead one to repent, or completely if the person insists on refusing to interact with it. In biblical language, this could be referred to as a "debased mind", which is the term St Paul used when he wrote to the Romans: "And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done" (Rom. 1:28).

Divine grace may abandon a person temporarily for one's own benefit. We see this in the book of Isaiah, when God addresses the human soul, "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you" (Isa. 54:7). For any who fall into the sin of pride and vainglory, divine grace may be withdrawn for a short while, in order to allow them to feel their own Weakness and feel humble, for "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18). Then divine grace will return to them. Also, it may temporarily abandon those who become lazy in their spiritual endeavours, like the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon who was slow to get up and open the way for her beloved. When she was late in opening, he turned and walked away, and she said, "I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and was gone ... I sought him, but did not find him; I called him, but he gave no answer" (Song Of Sol. 5:6). In this case, temporary abandonment occurred as a result of laziness, yet it led the Shulamite's heart to be inflamed, and she went out seeking her beloved because she was lovesick.