The
Orthodox Faith
For St
Paul Orthodox Youth Society - Brisbane
By Fr.
John Abdel-Karim
February
2010
22 - DIVINE GRACE
Divine
Grace is the good will of God that is made manifest and given to man. Gift,
Love, Assistance--all of these are offered freely to man, without his deserving
them. How can man be worthy of God's grace, since he disobeyed God, and left Him
and departed from Him? He is not worthy of it. Divine Grace is so necessary to
him, but he cannot ask for it. He cannot demand it as though it were his wages.
He needs Grace in order to be redeemed, and it is given to him richly and as a
gift. St. Paul tells us that, "It is by grace that you are saved," and that, "If
it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no
longer be grace" (Romans, 11:6). And this Divine Grace, a gift, is offered to
man through Christ and results from His incarnation, His sacrifice on the Cross,
and His Resurrection. St. Paul explains it wonderfully when he says that, "Much
more have the Grace of God and the free gift in the Grace of that one
man,
Jesus Christ, abounded for many" (Romans,
5:15).
We
said earlier that Divine Grace is indispensable for the salvation of the sinner.
It is necessary. Without it, man cannot attain salvation. Christ Himself says
that, "No one can come unto Me unless the Father Who
sent Me draws him" (John, 6:44). "God is at work in us, both to will and to work
for His good pleasure" (Philippians, 2:13). Again, "Unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God" (John, 3:5). These
scriptural verses reveal to us that we need Divine Grace "which is always the
cure of the weak and fulfils what is lacking." Without it we cannot work out our
repentance and our return back to our God and Father. Man has an absolute need
of Divine Grace. And God grants it freely and richly, but He does not impose it.
He does not force man to accept His Grace. He created man as a free being, and
He respects his freedom. "He desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth"
(1 Timothy, 2:4), but God waits for man
by his own free will to accept the divine Grace which will save
him.
The
apostle of love, St. John, puts it so beautifully in Revelation, 3:20 when he
says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat
with him, and he with Me." He knocks at the door of man in order to save him. He
does not open it Himself. He respects the freedom of man and He waits. Divine
Grace, which is freely offered by God without being imposed, and for which man
has absolute need, but which he must use his own freedom to accept--this Divine
Grace has many fruits that are offered to man through the Holy Spirit. St. Paul
says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians, 5:22-23). In
particular, the fruits of Divine Grace are the awakening of man from the
lethargy of sin and the call to repentance. "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the
dead, and Christ shall give you light" (Ephesians, 5:14): these are the words of
Divine Grace calling out through the voice of St. Paul. After the "awakening"
and the "call" comes regeneration through water and the Spirit, that is to say,
through baptism; for "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the Kingdom of God" (John, 3: 5).
Following
"regeneration" comes sanctification; in other words,
the full and perfect cleansing of man from all sin, through which man attains to
being in God's "likeness." Justification follows this. Man, who had been sinful,
guilty, and condemned, becomes justified through his repentance, regeneration,
and sanctification. He finds peace and rest. He no longer has a guilty
conscience gnawing at him. St. Paul assures us of this when he says, "Since we
are justified by faith,
we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans, 5:1).
All
of these elements of our salvation lead to the glory that even here on earth is
enjoyed by those called to repentance, and who have been regenerated, sanctified
and justified, although in the eternal life it will be even better enjoyed, when
they are fully united with God and "look upon the unspeakable beauty of His
face," for indeed with the Incarnation and Sacrifice of Christ "we have entered
into communion with Divine Nature." For man to attain this justification and
glory, only one thing is needed: Faith. However, let no one be deceived. This
faith cannot be theoretical. It has to be real. It has to be "faith working
through love" (Galatians, 5:6). It has to be faith that is proven to be real and
alive by the works of love. Consequently, both faith and works are needed to
show a faith which is real and alive.
LET US PRAY
Thrice
holy, triune God, You created us in Your "image." You
ordained us to be in Your "likeness." With the
Incarnation of the Son and Logos You again made strong our journey towards "the
likeness." You pour out Your Grace so richly and freely. It is in our hands to
accept this Grace, to be saved and justified. Do not allow us to be deceived. We
all want to be saved. You know this. "What blind man does not want his sight?"
Sometimes, though, we do not know what the light is, what true Grace is. We do
not know how we can walk more steadily towards You. And
this is why we ask You today:
Help us and everyone understand how to accept Your Grace.