The Work of Grace
I would like to speak to you today about the life of grace—the grace that moved the heart of the bride in the Song of Songs, so that she would rise from her bed and seek her beloved…
What is this grace? Why does God give us grace? What should our stance toward it be? What are the fields of work of this grace? How does it appear? And when?
The Work of Grace¹
What is grace?
Grace is a divine power that surrounds the human being, and a divine work that supports the human being in his life; a divine help that sustains the weak and wavering natural will. It is the tender educator that nurtures the heart, the mind, and the senses in the life of the spirit. Grace—linguistically—is a bestowal from God, by which He grants the human being what his will is incapable of achieving.
Or the grace that God has given us is the grace of existence, then another grace, which is creating us in His image and likeness, and then all the gifts that He grants us.
From here, all gifts enter into the work of grace:
A person, for example, whom God has granted intelligence, or beauty, or imagination, or calmness of temperament… or any spiritual gift of the gifts of the Spirit, because grace gives the gifts. In brief, all lofty and exalted matters that are beyond the limits of human will enter into grace…
Even worldly wealth and material blessings people call grace.
They say that so-and-so lives in grace, or that he has manifestations of grace. And everything with which God has bestowed upon the human being is included.
Grace may also be a spiritual work: it leads a person to repentance, or stirs in him a longing toward God, or arouses in him love for God and love for goodness, or encourages him in the way of the Lord, or gives him fervor in prayer or fervor in service.
+ Why were we given grace?
Because our enemy is strong, and our nature is weaker than him…
Satan has an angelic nature; he was an angel. In his fall he lost his holiness, but he did not lose his nature. As for us, the Psalm says about us: “You have made him a little lower than the angels” (Ps. 8).
With Satan’s angelic nature comes power. The Apostle Peter said about him: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
In the story of righteous Job, we see how Satan caused houses to collapse, scattered possessions, and caused the death of the children. He struck Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And it was said about the sin that he causes that it “has cast down many wounded, and all who were slain by her were strong.”
If our enemy is of such strength, then undoubtedly our earthly nature alone cannot suffice. Therefore, it needs the help of grace.
The Lord Himself knows this, and therefore said to us with complete frankness: “Without Me you can do nothing.”
From the importance of grace is that the Church asks for it on our behalf, in the blessing that the priest gives the believers at the end of every gathering, when he says: “The love of God the Father, the grace of His only-begotten Son, and the communion and gift of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Among the most beautiful phrases that indicate the sufficiency and power of grace is the Lord’s saying to the Apostle Paul concerning his thorn:
+ “My grace is sufficient for you.”
Truly this grace is sufficient, and with it we lack nothing…
Grace is given to sinners to help them repent; it is given to unbelievers so that they may accept the faith; it is given to the weak so that it may grant them strength. But it is not limited only to supporting the weak and sinners…
Grace is also necessary for the saints. By it the saints grow in righteousness and holiness, and by this grace the righteous serve the message of the Kingdom…
Grace gives greater capabilities, new energies, and forward impulses. It is the secret of the strength of the strong. If the strong do not abide in grace, they lose their strength—as happened to Samson…
+ Fields of the work of grace:
Grace works in every one of the Church’s sacraments, and grants everyone who receives the sacrament an unseen gift…
For this reason we baptize children, not only for their eternity, but also so that we do not deprive them of the grace of the holy sacraments.
Likewise, the one who is diligent in attending the Church and its sacraments receives great graces, whose effect he feels in his life and growth…
In the sacrament of Baptism we receive the grace of adoption, the grace of new birth and the washing away of our sins, renewal and purification, and we become members of the Body of Christ.
In the sacrament of Chrismation we receive the anointing of the Spirit and steadfastness in it.
In the sacrament of Confession we receive the grace of forgiveness and repentance.
In the sacrament of Communion we receive forgiveness, salvation, and abiding in the Lord.
In the sacrament of the Priesthood we receive the grace of absolution and binding, and authority from the Lord.
Thus, in every sacrament we take a special grace, a special blessing, and a hidden power from God flows within us…
Just as grace comes to us through the Church’s sacraments, it also comes to us through the intercessions of the saints, through the prayers of the Church, through the pleasure of parents and the pleasure of spiritual fathers, and through the prayers of the poor whom we treat kindly…
Grace comes to us through prayer, and it also comes to us as a free gift without our asking for it…
Many times grace comes to us without our asking.
Among the examples of this is the lost sheep, which, while in the depths of wandering, found a tender heart that seized it and carried it on his shoulders rejoicing.
Saul of Tarsus, while in the depths of persecuting the Church, without praying or asking for grace, grace met him on the road, and he heard the voice of the Lord saying to him: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Abraham, while stretching out his hand to sacrifice Isaac, grace came to him without his asking and restrained his hand from doing harm to the lad.
Levi (Matthew), while in the tax office, grace visited him without any request and brought him out of that place to become an apostle. And Moses, while walking in the wilderness, grace visited him and called him to be a prophet.
So you too, at a moment you do not know, you find a feeling in your heart calling you to God, and you find yourself inflamed without your will.
In a moment of moments you hear the voice of God in your heart; you find yourself freed from the love of sin, and you no longer long for it…
So what is your stance toward this grace?
Our stance toward grace:
First: ask for this grace with all your strength and with full conviction…
Hold fast to the Lord and say to Him: Without You, O Lord, I am able to do nothing. Give me Your grace. Give me grace to overcome, and grace to serve You, grace to strengthen me, and grace to purify me.
Feel the value of grace in your life, and chant with David the psalm of grace:
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive… Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Yes, what can this poor bird do? Can it break the snare? Or resist? No…
Therefore he did not say, “If I had not resisted…,” but rather said, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.” Me? Who am I? I am “pushed violently, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.” “The sinners plowed on my back; they lengthened their iniquity.” And I did not overcome them by my strength, but rather “the Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.”
Were it not for the grace of God, we would all have perished. Were it not that God left us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah—a remnant of life, a remnant of modesty, and a remnant of number…
Grace is the greatest weapon against weakness and against despair…
It is a helper to the one who has no helper, hope to the one who has no hope, comfort to the fainthearted, a harbor to those in the storm.
This grace visits every human being. There is no one whom grace has not visited. It visits all and goes about doing good.
The important thing is: if grace comes to you, surrender to it, open your heart to it, and cooperate with it in the work. Do not quench the Spirit, and do not grieve the Spirit. And as the Apostle says to us:
“If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Do not act like the Samaritan woman at the beginning, who, when Christ came to her, closed her doors in His face. And do not act like the bride of the Song of Songs, who was lazy to open to her beloved when he knocked at her door, and she regretted deeply and said, “My beloved turned away and was gone. My soul went out when he spoke…”
How many people were visited by grace and did not respond to it, and the opportunity was lost. God knocked at the door of their hearts, and they did not feel it, or they felt it and did not care. As the Scripture says, “The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” These did not feel. As for those others, Scripture said about them: “They loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Many did not accept grace when it came to them. And about these it was said: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
Grace comes to you, but it does not cancel your will. You are still free: you may accept it or not accept it. It knocks at your door, and you open or you do not open…
Nevertheless, many of those who rejected the work of grace, grace returned to them again. The Samaritan woman, when she closed her doors in Christ’s face, He did not reject her forever. Rather, He returned to her again and saved her, and He commanded His disciples to bear witness to Him in Samaria…
Grace visited the thief on the right while he was hanging on the cross. It was possible for him to perish, but grace visited him in the last opportunity…
Many were snatched by grace from the fire and did not burn…
Even the one who ignores it is told: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Yes, grace pricks the heart and the conscience, and it moves. As it was said about those who heard Peter on the day of Pentecost, that they “were cut to the heart.”
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine, Fifth Year – (Issue Forty-Five), 7–11–1975.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
