Prevenient Grace
As taught in the Methodist / Wesleyan tradition
The grace that 'goes before' and enables the human will to respond to God's call, restoring a measure of free agency.
In the Methodist tradition, the doctrine of Prevenient Grace answers the most fundamental question of the human condition: If humanity is truly "dead in trespasses and sins," as the Apostle Paul asserts, how is it possible for anyone to take even a single step toward God? This subtopic addresses the "grace that goes before" (from the Latin praevenire, meaning to come before or anticipate). Within the Wesleyan-Arminian framework, Prevenient Grace is the divine initiative that prevents the total moral collapse of the human race and restores enough "free agency" to the fallen individual that they might respond to the call of the Gospel. It is the theological bridge between the total depravity of the human heart and the possibility of justifying faith.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the definition and etymological origins of "prevenient" grace within the Wesleyan-Arminian tradition.
- **Distinguish** between prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace in the Methodist "Order of Salvation" (Via Salutis).
- **Explain** how prevenient grace restores "gracious ability" to the human will without denying the reality of original sin.
- **Articulate** the universal scope of prevenient grace as evidenced in the "light of conscience" given to all people.
- **Trace** the biblical foundation of God’s divine initiative in seeking the lost through specific Old and New Testament passages.
- **Defend** the doctrine of resistible grace, explaining why God’s "drawing" does not violate human agency.
- **Apply** the doctrine of prevenient grace to contemporary evangelism, pastoral care, and the pursuit of social justice.
- **Compare** the Methodist view of prevenient grace with the Reformed concept of "common grace" and the Roman Catholic concept of "actual grace."
Scripture
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