Actual grace is, in Roman Catholic theology

Roman Catholic theology

Roman Catholic theology comprises the "Roman Catholic teachings" of the Catholic Church which bases its conclusions on Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as interpreted by the Magisterium. The Church teaches that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, keeping of the Ten commandments and...

, a share in God's life. It is contrasted with sanctifying grace, which is a state of being that can be permanent, in that it consists only in a passing influence of God on the soul.

For example: if a person has, by grace, developed the will to follow the teaching of Jesus, "turn the other cheek", then if in the moment of an assault they choose to turn the other cheek, they may hope for the grace to actually turn the other cheek. Hence the term, "actual" grace, because it is given for action, as opposed to altering a person's state (cp. Sanctifying Grace). However the distinction is not total since actual grace can lead to righteous action and good works. (Cp. justification by works

Justification (theology)

Rising out of the Protestant Reformation, Justification is the chief article of faith describing God's act of declaring or making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice....

.)

There is a biotheological

Biotheology

Biotheology is the synthetic application of understanding of biology to the understanding of God, synthesizing modern biology and traditional religious doctrines....

 analogy between spiritual growth and grace and plant growth and sunlight, in that sunlight provides the power to actually photosynthesize and grace provides the power to actually do good deeds.

See also

• Blaise Pascal
  Blaise Pascal
  Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
  
  's 4th Provincial Letter

Attribution