We spoke last week about grace as a general word. Today we would like to speak about some types of grace.

The Work of Grace and Its Types (1)

+ The Grace of Calling:

Calling is one of the works of grace. Therefore, the Scripture says: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined… and whom He predestined, these He also called” (Rom. 8:29, 30).

It is not the human being who calls himself, but the calling comes to him from God, through the work of grace. For this reason, the Lord Christ said to His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” And the Scripture says, “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was” (Heb. 5:4).

There is a type of this calling for those whom God called from their mothers’ wombs, such as when He called John the Baptist from his mother’s womb and filled him with the Holy Spirit, and as He called Samson and consecrated him to Himself before he was born. Among the most beautiful examples of this calling is the Lord’s word to Jeremiah the prophet:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5).

What was Jeremiah’s will before he was born? Or what was his strength? The same is said about Jacob the father of the patriarchs and others. It was the calling that called.

Undoubtedly, grace called based on God’s foreknowledge, who knows people before they are born: “whom He foreknew, He also predestined and called.” Yet, despite this, there are many righteous people whom God did not call to be apostles, prophets, or priests.

Rather, grace called certain persons according to God’s good will and wisdom, as the Apostle Paul said: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace…”

Some may ask: What is my fault if God did not call me? We tell him: You have no fault, except unsuitability because of mistakes… In general, calling to ministry is nothing but calling to the cross, to responsibility, to toil, effort, sweat, and tears, and each one receives his reward according to his labor.

You may not be an apostle or a prophet, yet “you receive a prophet’s reward.” And what was said: “Indeed, more than a prophet”… God cares about the heart and love, whatever the position may be.

Service is a partnership with God in His work, in building His kingdom; therefore, calling to it is grace. All long for this grace.

If service is grace, what shall we say about those who are called and make excuses?! They are called to the priesthood, for example, and they refuse—or their wives refuse, or their fathers or mothers refuse!

Rejecting the calling, neglecting it, or making excuses for it is a dangerous matter that a person should consider very seriously. For the one who rejects the priesthood for a worldly reason is rejecting being a steward of God, a servant of His altar, a mediator of the divine mysteries, and an intercessor between God and people…!!

The calling is grace offered to people. Some accept it, and some reject it.

The Lord previously called people. Some made excuses because of burying a father; another because he had five yoke of oxen; another because he had a wife. The Lord called the rich young man, and the young man went away sorrowful.

What we say about the priestly service and rejecting it, we also say about monasticism. A person is called by God, and his family rises up as though he had perished… Is it not a grace from God that a person dwell in the house of the Lord and hear the blessing of the psalm: “Blessed are all who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You forever”? While these reject the grace of calling, the Apostle Paul says: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace… immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me” (Gal. 1:15–17).

Matthew was called, so he left the tax office and followed Christ immediately. Peter and Andrew, when they were called, left the boat and the nets. The Samaritan woman left her water jar. Moses left Pharaoh’s palace. Abraham left his family, his homeland, his clan, and his father’s house.

All of these responded to the calling, obeyed, and sacrificed for its sake…

And you, if you are not called to a great calling like these, at least you have been called to be temples of the Holy Spirit and dwelling places for God, so that God may work in you and through you. Who among you dares to reject this divine calling?!

May a person pray to God with tears to receive this calling, and that God may see him worthy… and not be like one to whom the calling passes by without feeling it!! “The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”…

There are people who cast themselves into the path of the Lord, and He calls them by His grace.

They are the ones who begin, and then God calls them when He tests their faithfulness, or after He prepares them. Moses the prince cast himself into God’s path and defended his people, committing mistakes… so God took him, prepared him in the wilderness, and then sent him. One day, which Moses did not expect, the voice of God came to him: “I am the God of your father… now come, I will send you to Pharaoh.” The prophet Isaiah is one of the most remarkable examples of calling… He heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isa. 6:8).

Isaiah offered himself and said to the Lord: “Here am I! Send me.”

Who among you will cast himself into the path of the Lord, saying: “Here am I! Send me”? The calling is grace from God. Some seek it; some receive it without seeking and accept it; and some receive it and reject it…

We thank God who called us by His grace to be His children, a holy nation, a justified priesthood, members of God’s household, members of His Body, and witnesses to His Name.

There are people who complicate matters; whenever the calling comes to them, they doubt and ask: Is this truly a calling?! They do not discern the voice of God…

May we leave this complication and walk with God in simplicity of heart. Offer yourselves to God; walk in purity, simplicity, and humility, and the calling will come to you…

For this reason, some theologians divide grace into two types:
Preceding grace, which precedes the human will and is initiated by God, such as those who were called from their mothers’ wombs. And cooperative grace, in which the human being begins any work for God, and then grace comes and cooperates with him in the work.

Preceding grace does not depend on human merit but on God’s generosity and grace. Cooperative grace may come without a request to strengthen the person in his struggle, or a person may cry out to God asking for His grace, confessing his weakness, and it comes to him.

A person must cast his nets into the sea, even if he toils all night and catches nothing; God will surely visit him at the end.

A person must begin—any beginning, no matter how weak—because laziness is not a prelude to the coming of grace; but when grace sees his struggle, it comes…

This grace has various types, among them the preserving grace and the giving grace.

+ The Preserving Grace:

It is the divine preservation; it is the fulfillment of: “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” “The Lord preserves the little ones.” “And no harm shall come near you.”

How many are David’s experiences in the Psalms concerning the work of grace with him…

We do not protect ourselves; rather, God is the One who protects us: “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” For this reason, the children of God live in reassurance, relying on this grace.

Included within this grace are the guardian angel, God’s preservation of Daniel in the lions’ den, the three youths in the fiery furnace, the blessing of the sign of the cross which the saints experienced, and the torments that did not harm the martyrs…

Someone may say: “Where is this preservation? I have not experienced it!” We tell him: Preservation exists, but perhaps because of the weakness of your faith you did not enjoy it.

Let every person review the history of his life and contemplate God’s preservation for him. Be assured that were it not for God’s preservation, you would not be alive today. Many times we rely on our minds and strength to protect us, or rely on people and their schemes, and we leave the preserving grace of God and thus do not experience it.

The Giving Grace:

God’s grace gives generously and without reproach. It opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessings until we say, Enough, enough… It was with the disciples who went out without purse or bag and lacked nothing… It brought forth water from the rock, sent down manna from heaven, and blessed the little so it became much…

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

This grace and these gifts—everyone who asks for them finds them, and to him who knocks it will be opened. But a person must turn to God as the source of the gift; then he receives and does not try to rely on worldly sources.

You must insist on receiving from God. Say to Him: I will not take except from You. I will not leave You until I receive. I will not ask from the world or from people, and I will not rely on my talents, but on You alone.

Many times we live far from grace, yet it is the blessing we receive from the Church at the end of every meeting. How much it is spoken of in the Catholic Epistles: “Grace to you and peace,” “Grow in grace,” “May grace be multiplied to you.”

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1. An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine, Fifth Year – Issue Forty-Six – 14/11/1975.

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