Getting Grace (@pastorjoei, #UMC)

I very much enjoyed the recent opportunity to be interviewed by Joe Iovino for a series of articles on grace for UMC.org. Joe did a great job articulating the Wesleyan understandings of prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. In particular, he made it clear that we are talking more about different seasons of grace than different kinds of grace. There’s only one grace. The distinction is more of chronology than substance. Here they are:

1. God at work before we know it: Prevenient grace

2. By grace we are forgiven: Justifying grace

3. God’s power over sin: Sanctifying grace

These are the kind of resources you could share with a friend as an intro to Wesleyan theology. Pastors and others will find them very useful.

Dr. Matt O’Reilly is pastor of St. Mark Church in Mobile, Alabama, a fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians, and an adjunct member of the faculties of Asbury Theological Seminary and Wesley Biblical Seminary. Hear him on the So What? Podcast, connect on Facebook, or follow @mporeilly.

#UnitedMethodistChurch #WesleyandWesleyanism