Grace, Sanctifying and Actual
Definitions:
Sanctifying grace is the means by which a person is included into the life and person of Jesus Christ. Sanctifying grace is infused into one’s soul, normally at baptism. Because of original sin, which makes selfish damage to our soul, we must first purge and perfect our soul before sanctifying grace may make its full divine indwelling. The Holy Spirit is the giver of sanctifying grace, and its major component. Cultivating the full divine infusion of sanctifying grace is the purpose of spiritual advancement.{15}
Justification is defined in CCC 2019, “Justification includes the remission of sins, sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man.” Anyone who may be identified as being a just person in Heaven or on earth has been justified by the efforts of himself and of the Trinity of God.
Sanctification, also called divinization in CCC 1999, is our full “participation in the divine nature” (2Pet 1:4), of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason a person is given created life, (CCC 398). Sanctification occurs by the full indwelling or infusion of sanctifying grace.
Actual graces are all other graces that support the sanctification or divinization of the student. Actual graces (think grace of action) may be given in any form, to assist us in our vocation or tasks in life.
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Catholic terminology uses the word “sanctification” where Protestants would use the term “salvation”.{16} Our divine inclusion (sanctification) was the original plan; there was no plan to save us from sin, death or Hell, because none of these were ever planned. No salvation from anything was required in the original plan. Our sanctification, divinization or divine union in this life, was the original plan, hence the term ‘sanctifying grace’.{17}
God’s original plan for each person was divinization, (CCC 398, 2Pet 1:4). Everyone was to have shared in the divinity and person of the Trinitarian Son of God; Jesus Christ, who is the human nature of the Son of God, was to have been our mediator from human to divine.{18} In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 398, we read, “Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully divinized by God in glory.”
This divinization or sanctification is the goal of spiritual advancement. It is what we work toward by purging selfishness and cultivating virtue and faith. Every person was intended to attain divinization in this life, and may still do it.
CCC 1988: “God gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature. For this reason, those in whom the Spirit [fully] dwells are divinized.”{19}
This participation was intended to occur in this life, and it still may. With the onset of sin however, our full divine participation may only occur after we free our soul of all traces of self. Self: pity, indulgence, dependence, destruction…they all must go. We cannot become Christ, if we remain self. We may do our purgatory in this life or the next, but it cannot be avoided.{20}
What we know as salvation ― incorporation into the body of Christ ― is simply God’s pre-planned communion with humanity from the beginning (CCC 398, Ep 1:4, Mt 25:34), with Christ now taking on the additional (unplanned) task of remediation of sin. Sanctification is our actual sharing in the life and person of Jesus Christ, who is the human nature of the Son of God. Because of the effects of sin, we usually begin our participation in the human nature of Jesus Christ, then after purging all selfishness, we may participate in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself makes this union, our task is to prepare ourselves for this participation.{21}
The Catechism of the Catholic Church does state that all persons are eligible for salvation (CCC 1260, 1281), and the saints have repeatedly testified of non-Catholic’s attaining salvation. St. Pio, who is the best documented saint in history, told many visiting people that their non-Catholic or non-Christian spouse/child/friend/etc. had attained salvation.
Baptism by desire is the term given to the salvation process of those who do not willfully exclude Christ, but have not received sacramental baptism.{22} CCC 1260 describes baptism by desire,
“Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity."{23}
Our initial entry into the body of Christ is participation in the human nature of Christ, (which explains why we do not walk around divine).{24} We retain this status so long as no deadly sin is made (1Jn 5:16-17). The final form is our participation in the very divine nature of Christ.
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In addition to the sanctifying graces, there exist actual graces, which are all graces that are of non-sanctifying nature. They help us on our path to sanctification or inclusion into Jesus Christ. They also assist us in many ways in our daily lives. Actual graces may also assist the Church and the entire world.
Actual graces are given in blessings, prayers, repeated sacraments (Eucharist, penance), application of holy water or oil, and more.
Actual graces help us to perfect the sanctifying grace which we obtained at baptism. Other sacraments, such as matrimony are given better form when we put to use our actual graces. Actual graces may be observed as our virtues. Patience, joy, reverence are all human or theological virtues which are perfected with the help of actual graces.
We may generate our own actual graces by practicing these same virtues. Christianity understands that a sort of exponential, self increasing growth in holiness is possible, due to the unlimited desire of Christ for communion with his creation.