141. Can we know that we are in the state of grace?
141. CAN WE KNOW THAT WE ARE IN THE STATE OF GRACE?
Some (most Catholics) say that outside of special personal supernatural divine revelations, we can never know whether or not we are in a state of grace, since it would make us presumptuous and proud if we knew we were, and if we knew we were not, it would make us despairing and hopeless, or else resentful and hateful toward God. Others (mainly Protestants) say we are supposed to know, and that that is the point of 1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” What does St. Thomas say?
Whether man can know that he has grace?
There are three ways of knowing a thing: first, by revelation, and thus any one might know that he has grace, for God by a special providence reveals this at times to some. . . .
Secondly, a man may of himself know something, and with certainty; and in this way no one can know that he has grace. . . . And hence man cannot judge with certainty that he has grace, according to First Corinthians 4:3-4: But neither do I judge my own self . . . but He that judgeth me is the Lord.
Thirdly, things are known conjecturally (fallibly and without certainty) by signs; and thus anyone may know that he has grace when he is conscious of delighting in God and of despising worldly things, and inasmuch as a man is not conscious of any mortal sin. . . . Yet this knowledge is imperfect; hence the Apostle says (1 Cor 4:4): I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified, since, according to Psalms 28:13: Who can understand sins? From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord (I-II,112,5).
Much of what we call knowledge is only probable opinion, or what St. Thomas calls “conjecture” through “signs” (evidence, clues). This is the case here. We must judge whether or not we are in a state of grace before presenting ourselves for Holy Communion; but that judgment, like all merely human judgment, is fallible. It is at best an honest, sincere, thoughtful opinion.
God can grant the special grace of certain knowledge that one is in the state of grace. But this is a special grace, not given automatically or universally. (The obvious reason for this is that it would tend to make us proud and lazy, as the knowledge that our teacher has already given us an A on a test we are about to take would quite naturally make most of us lazy in preparing for that test.)
If we cannot even know with certainty that we are presently in a state of grace, all the less can we know that we will persevere until the end and die in that state. So even the rare soul to whom God grants this supernatural knowledge with infallible divine certainty cannot be sure that he is guaranteed Heaven.
We do not have what most Protestant Fundamentalists and Calvinists, for different reasons, claim we do and should and must have, namely, “eternal security”. God has this certainty, in His mind; but we cannot because we do not have this eternal, divine point of view. We cannot infallibly foresee the future.
The most serious aspect of this error is that it assumes a kind of 180-degree twist in faith, for it turns our faith away from its proper object, God, and back to itself. We do not have, and should not try to have, total faith in our own faith, only in God and His mercy. The greatest practical and personal danger of this theological error is its natural tendency to make us self-satisfied and comfortable, or even self-righteous and “holier than thou.” This is often camouflaged by protestations about how terribly sinful we are: this is why the two apparently opposite self-images are often found in the same people.
We can be sure God will never abandon us. We cannot be sure we will not abandon Him. Our faith is in Him, not in ourselves.