Prevenient actual grace

[ryanoneil]

Yes. God acts with prevenient grace, even to the wicked. If we resist, the act of resisting grace is our act alone; it is not cooperative with the grace of God.

Agreed!

(1) prevenient grace is given, and it has its full effect of enabling us to avoid sin, for example.
(2) then if we choose to sin, we have rejected cooperating grace, but not prevenient grace. We already received from God the ability to avoid sin, and we chose not to exercise that abililty by cooperating with grace.

This is what is confusing me. I am assuming that (1) also moves man’s will toward the good (by virtue of grace alone). God acts first and my will is actually moved toward the good because (1) has had it’s full effect.
If I resist, I am pushing back against the fact that my will has already been moved toward the good.
I am acting second- after the full effect of (1)- of my own accord- without the grace of (2).

I don’t understand how I can be pushing back against (2). (2) wills the movement of the will (by virtue of grace along with human freewill). I would have responded positively had God given (2), but God did not give it. How can I resist something that God did not give in the first place? God acts first.

 

[ryanoneil]

It makes the most sense that (1) and (2) are actually the same grace, but they produced two effects.

 

[Ron_Conte]

It makes the most sense that (1) and (2) are actually the same grace, but they produced two effects.

I’ve explained it as well as I can. So rather than continue covering the same ground again and again, let me just close by saying:

operating prevenient grace and cooperating subsequent grace are both types of actual grace; so if they seem similar, it is because they are the same fundamental type of grace.

the main point concerning the distinction, and this point is an infallible teaching and a required belief (Trent, on Justification, Canon III), is that God’s grace is first, alone, prior to any holy or meritorious act on our part. This is the basis for the distinction.

Grace is a mystery; it is not something that we can completely comprehend, even in Heaven.

 

[ryanoneil]

I’ve explained it as well as I can. So rather than continue covering the same ground again and again, let me just close by saying:

operating prevenient grace and cooperating subsequent grace are both types of actual grace; so if they seem similar, it is because they are the same fundamental type of grace.

the main point concerning the distinction, and this point is an infallible teaching and a required belief (Trent, on Justification, Canon III), is that God’s grace is first, alone, prior to any holy or meritorious act on our part. This is the basis for the distinction.

Grace is a mystery; it is not something that we can completely comprehend, even in Heaven.

Thanks Ron! I appreciate your effort. It is definately mysterious.

Peace