Prevenient Grace

By Pastor Vinnie MacIsaac

“Grace, grace, God’s grace,

grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God’s grace,

grace that is greater than all our sin.”[i]

Prevenient Grace may be a concept that is a “given” for you or a point of contention for you, depending upon your faith tradition. Equally as likely, you may not have heard the term before, but as you read this blog you will come to recognize the theological debate. This concept is debated no matter your Christian faith tradition.

Not our works but God’s Grace!

What you believe about prevenient grace will likely be directly linked to what you believe about free will versus election. Do humans under the curse of the fall have free will, or are they doomed to be slaves to sin, with the total inability to choose God at all? And, if that is the case, then how is anyone ever saved?

If you are a Calvinist[ii], you were likely taught that, because of the doctrine called total depravity[iii], you can only be saved by God’s irresistible grace[iv] [v]. Thus, you become saved if you are of the elect because you cannot resist His grace[vi]. The reason for that assumption would be because God’s grace must be overwhelming, lest you have to do some work to receive it yourself.

The other option would be traditions that lean more on the idea of free will. Free will[vii] [viii], would mean that God has provided a means for mankind to choose Grace despite our fallen nature or depravity. Under free will, we are granted the right to choose – without the act of choosing being a work of self. I am not seeking to be an apologist to either point of view, but rather help define what Prevenient Grace is and what is meant by it when people discuss the concept[ix].

Defining terms:

Grace means undeserved merit or reward. It is the merit that is not a work but a gift. Prevenient means preceding or to come before. So, when we talk of Prevenient Grace in theological terms, what we actually mean is simply what God is doing before you choose or are granted grace.

What Prevenient Grace is not is a work of man, nor is it universalism. If Prevenient Grace was a work of man, it could not produce salvation or “saving grace,” and we’d not be able to define it as grace. Nor is it a free ticket that God universally saves everyone (universalism). Rather, it is a declaration that God provides equal opportunity to all people and has not randomly elected some to be saved, and some to be lost to hell. Prevenient Grace, therefore, must be a work of God Himself, in fallen man, producing the “space” or opportunity for choice and free will despite our depraved nature.

Jacobus Arminius[x], the originator of the term, defined the relationship between grace and free will this way, “Concerning grace and free will, this is what I teach according to the Scriptures and orthodox consent: Free will is unable to begin or to perfect any true and spiritual good, without grace. … This grace [prevenient] goes before, accompanies, and follows; it excites, assists, operates that we will, and cooperates lest we will in vain.”[xi]

The Biblical Foot Print of Prevenient Grace:

1. The Holy Spirit works to convict us of sin. “And when He [The Holy Spirit] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8

2. We hear the Spirit and the Word calling us. “And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:4

3. We choose between good and evil. “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

4. We respond to the working of the Spirit. “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”, And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Psalms 32:5

The Bottom Line:

Free will and Irresistible grace are incompatible concepts. Which one you believe in is likely not so much a biblical conclusion, as much as is it likely tied to which branch of tradition you came to faith from[xii].  Free will traditions teach prevenient grace via the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, empowering you to choose “saving grace”; while irresistible grace traditions will teach you were elected to be saved[xiii] and God’s irresistible grace overwhelmed you into “saving grace.” However, my point in this blog is that no matter which path you take, both traditions concur we are saved by grace and grace alone, and not by human works.  Maybe at least on this last point, both traditions can stop calling each other heretics and just get on with affirming the protestant core value of Grace. We are saved by undeserved merit because of the love of God poured out on the cross of Calvary. Amen?

“Grace, grace, God’s grace,

grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God’s grace,

grace that is greater than all our sin.”[xiv]

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Footnotes:

[i] Marvelous grace of our loving Lord: Author: Julia H. Johnston (1911), Tune: MOODY (Towner).

[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism

[iii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_depravity

[iv] Grace you cannot resist because you are part of the elect.

[v] Irresistible grace (or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom He has determined to save (the elect). Via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irresistible_grace

[vi] And if you are not among the elect you are lost.

[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_in_theology

[viii] https://youtu.be/vCGtkDzELAI

[ix] I am not an apologist and am totally ok with which every tradition you belong too but my faith tradition (Adventist) is affirming of the concept.

[x] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobus_Arminius

[xi] Jacobus Arminius, The Works of James Arminius, D.D., (Auburn, NY: Derby and Miller, 1853)

[xii] Calvin traditions vs Arminian traditions.

[xiii] And therefore some were also elected to be lost.

[xiv] Marvelous grace of our loving Lord: Author: Julia H. Johnston (1911), Tune: MOODY (Towner).