Grace

(grās.) [Fr.; Gr. char is.] (Theol.) There are many shades of meaning which this word bears in Scripture. Applied to God in the New Testament, it denotes the free out coming of his love to man; and when man, on the other hand, is said to be in a state of grace, it implies that he is in the enjoyment of this divine love and favor. Among theologians, G. is spoken of as efficacious and irresistible; it is also distinguished into common or general, and special or particular. These and many other distinctions have given rise to long and warm controversies in the Church, respecting which the reader is referred to theological works bearing upon the subject. [s. 418]