What Do United Methodists Believe? - Prevenient Grace

Our United Methodist Church website includes excellent summaries of United Methodist beliefs. This blog series is meant to inform as well as encourage discussion and spiritual growth. Let's look at each set of beliefs one at a time and ask ourselves, "Does this describe my foundational beliefs as a follower of Jesus Christ?"

Prevenient Grace was John Wesley's way of marrying two theological doctrines; God's sovereignty (God's grace and not our works) and free will (our freedom to choose God's grace.)  Prevenient Grace protects God's sovereignty because God's grace is offered to everyone regardless of whether we want to receive it or not.  And it protects free will because we can either accept or not accept God's grace. 
While this might make sense theologically, the predestination proponents continued to disagree with Wesley that humans have any role in salvation at all.

Prevenient Grace helps us to appreciate infant baptism.  We United Methodists believe that God's grace is extended to every single person in any given moment whether we consciously recognize God's grace or not.  Because of this, we baptize infants to signify that God's grace has claimed that child with the hope that one day he/she will respond to God's Prevenient Grace and claim the name, "Christian." 

For me, the most exciting thing about Prevenient Grace is to know that right now as I type this sentence, God's grace is being extended to me whether I realize it or not.  The question for us is, "will we receive the grace that is being offered to us?"
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Prevenient Grace

Wesley understood grace as God’s active presence in our lives. This presence is not dependent on human actions or human response. It is a gift—a gift that is always available, but that can be refused.
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God’s grace stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God’s invitation to be in relationship with God. God’s grace enables us to discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to choose good….
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God takes the initiative in relating to humanity. We do not have to beg and plead for God’s love and grace. God actively seeks us!
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