Margaret Armstrong – Providence Circuit, Jamaica District

Written Assignment – May 2022 Christian Doctrine2

Assess the importance of the doctrine of grace to the Methodist doctrine making reference to:
1. Prevenient Grace
2. Justifying Grace
3. Sanctifying Grace

Introduction and Definitions

The grace of God through Jesus Christ is the back bone of Christian theology. It’s alongside the golden
thread of Jesus that weaves from the beginning of scripture to the end and continues forever more.

The Hebrew word Khen or Chen is translated as “grace” or “favour”. Another meaning of Khen is
“delightful” or “favourful”.i

Khen is often used to describe a gift given with delight and favour – a favour that is not deserved and
requires a generous spirit. For example, over 40 times in the book of Psalm people cry out for God’s
Khen.ii

The New Testament Greek equivalent word is Kharis or Charis and is used 140 times in the New
Testament which means “gracious gift”.iii

Whilst the Grace of God is found in every page of scripture from beginning of the canonised bible to the
end, Ephesians 2:1-10 and Romans 5 are examples of verses that pave the way for the Doctrine of Grace.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we
were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have
been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus…For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God-not the result of works…”(Ephesians 2:4-5,8,9)iv

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass,
much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,
abounded for the many. And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the
judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many
trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death reigned through
that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:15-17)v

Yet Charles C Ryrie in his book The Grace of God states that within Christianity there are differing
concepts of how grace is attained which he described as “the watershed that divides Catholicism from
Protestantism, Calvinism from Arminianism, modern liberalism from conservatism”. vi

Despite this “watershed”, the Doctrine of Grace is commonly defined in Christian churches as
“unmerited mercy or favour that God gave to humanity by sending his Son, Jesus Christ to die on a cross,
thus securing man’s eternal salvation from sin.”vii
Margaret Armstrong – Providence Circuit, Jamaica District

Importance to Methodism

This Doctrine of Grace was very thoroughly thought through by John Wesley and he preached many
sermons touching the matter. Kenneth L Carder in his article A Wesleyan Understanding of Grace says
that “while John and Charles Wesley shared an understanding of grace deeply rooted in Christian
teaching and tradition, they provided a distinctive emphasis, which came to characterize Methodist
teaching and preaching”. viii

Volume 1 of the Statements of Reports of the Methodist [British] Church of Faith and Order 1933-1983
says this:ix

“Grace should never be understood as a mere quantity or disposition but as the redeeming
activity of God in Jesus Christ our Lord through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit… It’s not what
we do but what God does …Grace is the love of God spontaneous and unearned, active in
Christ and therefore in His church, for the redemption of all man from the habit and bondage
of sin “x

The Book of Discipline 2016 of the United Methodist Church also captures this emphasis and importance
of the doctrine to Methodism neatly:

“Grace pervades our understanding of Christian faith and life. By grace we mean the
undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present
Holy Spirit. While the grace of God is undivided, it precedes salvation as “pre-venient grace,”
continues in “justifying grace” and is brought to fruition in “sanctifying grace.”xi

I shall explore these ‘graces’ further:

Prevenient Grace

Prevenient Grace means “the grace that comes before”. Simply, it is a “collective term for all the ways
in which God’s grace comes into our lives prior to conversion”.xii It is what facilitates persons not yet
saved to recognize their need for a savior. God works on people’s lives even before they are aware of
his grace.

John Wesley refers to Prevenient Grace in several of his sermons but his Sermon 85 on “On Working out
Our Own Salvation”xiii is often credited as his clearest explanation of the concept. He says:

“Salvation begins with … preventing [prevenient] grace; including the first wish to please God,
the first dawn of light concerning his will, and the first slight transient conviction of having
sinned against him. All these imply some tendency toward life; some degree of salvation; the
beginning of a deliverance from a blind unfeeling heart, quite insensible of God and the things
of God”

In Sermon 43 – The Scripture Way of Salvationxiv Wesley says this:

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"[P]reventing grace; --all the drawings of the Father; the desires after God, which, if we yield
to them, increase more and more; --all that light wherewith the Son of God "enlighteneth
every one that cometh into the world;" showing every man "to do justly, to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with his God"; --all the convictions which His Spirit, from time to time, works in
every child of man --although it is true, the generality of men stifle them as soon as possible,
and after a while forget, or at least deny, that they ever had them at all.”

The final part of the above statement is sobering and reiterates that prevenient grace does not always
advance to salvation of souls.

Timothy Tennent in his article, Prevenient Grace: Why I am a Methodist and an Evangelical captures
clearly how Prevenient Grace provides that neat link between human depravity, universal call and
freewill which are also important doctrines to Methodism. He says that Prevenient Grace
“demonstrates how we can be totally depraved, yet given grace to respond and if we do not respond,
can be held fully accountable for our disbelief….Prevenient grace lifts the human race out of its
depravity and grants us the capacity to respond further to God’s grace.”xv

This doctrine of Prevenient Grace also helps to justify the acceptance of infant baptism in the Methodist
Church. In Volume 1 of the Statements of Reports of the [British] Methodist Church of Faith and Order
1933-1983 it says:

“Grace comes before faith, and awakens faith…The practice of Infant Baptism is in itself an
impressive witness of the truth that the Grace of God comes before our response, and is
wholly apart from our deserts.”xvi

Though it has been criticised that the Doctrine of Prevenient Grace is not biblical, my view is that the
Gospels contain many examples of it. One of my favourite examples is the story of the Woman at the
Well in John 4:4-26. Jesus’ presence at the well was His gift of grace to the woman. Jesus’ willingness to
engage this Samaritan woman in banter and serious conversation in breach of societal conventions was
His gift of grace to the woman. We, as readers, are able to witness the development of the effect of this
Encounter with Jesus on the sassy woman as she receives Him into her life. But she would never have
had this beautiful gift but for His gift of grace that was extended to her even before she fully understood
it and received it. Today we hear countless stories of providences which lead toward salvation of many
souls– a gift of God’s beautiful Prevenient Grace.

But let us never forget that Prevenient Grace is only the ‘porch’ of Salvation and does not occur until the
‘door’ is opened. Wesley says in his Sermon 85 On Working out Our Own Salvation:

“Salvation is carried on by convincing grace, usually in Scripture termed repentance; which

brings a larger measure of self-knowledge, and a farther deliverance from the heart of stone.
Afterwards we experience the proper Christian salvation; whereby, "through grace," we "are
saved by faith;" consisting of those two grand branches, justification and sanctification.” xvii

Justifying Grace

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Margaret Armstrong – Providence Circuit, Jamaica District

Contained within the Methodist doctrinal standards is that God reaches out to the repentant in
justifying Grace. Though it is not set out specifically in the Constitution of the Methodist Church in the
Caribbean and the Americas, it is very clearly articulated in the Book of Discipline of the United
Methodist as follows:

“We believe God reaches out to the repentant believer in justifying grace with accepting and
pardoning love... In justification we are, through faith, forgiven our sin and restored to God’s
favor. This righting of relationships by God through Christ calls forth our faith and trust as we
experience regeneration, by which we are made new creatures in Christ. This process of
justification and new birth is often referred to as conversion. Such a change may be sudden
and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. It marks a new beginning, yet it is part of an
ongoing process…”xviii

The basis of that doctrine comes from scripture for example Romans 3:23 where Paul speaks of
believers - “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God: they are now justified by his grace
as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” xix

John Wesley states in ‘Principles of Methodists Farther Explained’:xx

“Justification is the act of God, pardoning our sins and receiving us again to his favour. This
was free in him because undeserved by us; undeserved, because we had transgressed his law,
and could not, nor even can now, perfectly fulfill it.”

In his sermon Sermon 43 – The Scripture Way of Salvation, Wesley says this:

Justification is another word for pardon. It is the forgiveness of all our sins; and , what is
necessarily implied therein, our acceptance with God. The price whereby this hath been
procured for us (commonly termed "the meritorious cause of our justification"), is the blood
and righteousness of Christ; or, to express it a little more clearly, all that Christ hath done and
suffered for us, till He "poured out His soul for the transgressors." The immediate effects of
justification are, the peace of God, a "peace that passeth all understanding," and a "rejoicing
in hope of the glory of God" "with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

This point of grace can be thought of as ‘the doorway’ of salvation. “At the moment of justification, we
cross the threshold from unbelief to belief”xxi but this is not because of what we deserve. This is God’s
Grace, his Justifying Grace.

In our Methodist order of services, an opportunity is always given for persons to confess their sins. Then
there is the “Assurance of Pardon” where the leader says: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners. Here then the words of grace: Your sins are forgiven.”xxii

As Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, salvation is a gift offered to us by our gracious (i.e. grace-filled) God. We do
not earn it. Not one of us is worthy of it. We simply receive it in faith.

We see an example of Jesus demonstrating this “Justifying Grace” when he told the woman who had
kissed and anointed his feet, “Your sins are forgiven…Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus had

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also told his disciples concerning her: “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been
forgiven.”xxiii

We got to the door of Justifying Grace because of Prevenient Grace and now we need to grow on the
other side of the door – also by God’s grace which is Sanctifying Grace.

Sanctifying Grace

The Grace of God does not stop at our salvation but continues. It is this Grace that allows us to mature
as Christians and be disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s this grace that allows us to shape more and more like
Christ.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline says it this way:

“We hold that the wonder of God’s acceptance and pardon does not end God’s saving work,
which continues to nurture our growth in grace. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are
enabled to increase in the knowledge and love of God and in love for our neighbor. New birth
is the first step in this process of sanctification. Sanctifying grace draws us toward the gift of
Christian perfection” (my emphasis).xxiv

What is this Christian perfection that God’s sanctifying grace is drawing us towards? John Wesley
articulates it beautifully in Sermon 43 – The Scripture Way of Salvation:

“But what is perfection? The word has various senses: here it means perfect love. It is love
excluding sin; love filling the heart, taking up the whole capacity of the soul. It is love
‘rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, in everything giving thanks’.” xxv

When a person has been confirmed as member of the Methodist Church, the “Right Hand of Fellowship”
is extended in the words of this prayer found on page 109 of the Prayer Book of the Methodist Church
(MCCA) which captures the matter of Sanctifying Grace beautifully:

“In the name of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we recognize you as a responsible
member of Christ’s Church. May He who knows all our thoughts and desires bless and sanctify
you and give you grace to rejoice daily in his salvation and to grow into that maturity in Christ
which is prefect Love. Amen.”xxvi

Conclusion – Means of Grace

John Wesley in his Sermon Means of Grace explains that God channels his grace ordinarily through:

1) prayer,

2) searching scriptures (hearing, reading, meditating); and

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3)receiving the Lord’s Supper

“whereby he might convey to men preventing, justifying and sanctifying grace.” xxvii He cautions that one
should not mistake these ‘means’ of grace for the end and that there is no power in the ‘means’ alone.
He also makes the point that God is above all ‘means’ and is therefore not limited by those channels
alone.

The importance of the Doctrine of Grace to Methodism is obvious and is demonstrated by its various
statements of faith, prayer books and hymns. Charles Wesley captures its beauty in the final verse of the
Hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”.

“Finish then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be

Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee;
Changed from glory into glory, til in heaven we take our place.
Til’ we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.”xxviii

It is I think fitting to end this assignment quoting from 2Corinthians 13:13 which is said many times in
our Methodist services as a benediction:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be
with …you.”xxix

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i
Bible Project Watch: Grace - Character of God Word Study Video | BibleProject™
ii
Ibid
iii
Ibid
iv
New Revised Standard Version
v
New Revised Standard Version
vi
Charles C Ryrie The Grace of God (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 10-11).
vii
Divine grace - Wikipedia
viii
A Wesleyan understanding of grace (resourceumc.org)
ix
faith_and_order_statements_vol1_0409.pdf (methodist.org.uk)
x
Ibid, page 40
xi
9781501833229_WEB.pdf (ctcumc.org) page 51
xii
Timothy Tennent on Prevenient Grace: Why I am a Methodist and a Evangelist
xiii
file://C:\CCEL\W\WESLEY\SERMONS\SERMONSH\SERM085.HTM (biblesnet.com)
xiv
The Wesley Center Online: Sermon 43 - The Scripture Way Of Salvation (nnu.edu)
xv
Timothy Tennent on Prevenient Grace: Why I am a Methodist and a Evangelist
xvi
faith_and_order_statements_vol1_0409.pdf (methodist.org.uk) page 40
xvii
file://C:\CCEL\W\WESLEY\SERMONS\SERMONSH\SERM085.HTM (biblesnet.com)
xviii
9781501833229_WEB.pdf (ctcumc.org)
xix
Romans 3:23-24 New Revised Standard Version
xx
PRINCIPLES OF A METHODIST FARTHER EXPLAINED (godrules.net)
xxi
By grace we are forgiven: Justifying grace (umc.org)
xxii
Prayer Book of the Methodist Church (MCCA) page 94
xxiii
Luke 7:47,48,50 New Revised Standard Version
xxiv
9781501833229_WEB.pdf (ctcumc.org) page 53

xxv
The Wesley Center Online: Sermon 43 - The Scripture Way Of Salvation (nnu.edu)
xxvi
Prayer Book of the Methodist Church page 109
xxvii
The Wesley Center Online: Sermon 16 - The Means Of Grace (nnu.edu)
xxviii
Voices in Praise A Hymnal for the Caribbean and the Americas No. 254
xxix
New Revised Standard Version