What Is Prevenient Grace?

Sermon Notes for 17 May 2026

Romans 8:29-30 (KJV)
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

SOTERIOLOGY: The study of how God saves people.

Soteriology is the branch of theology that studies the doctrine of salvation—how a person is saved, from what they are saved, and what salvation includes.

1. FOREKNEW — “GOD KNEW YOU BEFORE YOU RESPONDED TO HIS GRACE”

2. PREDESTINED — “DESTINED FOR A PURPOSE, NOT PRESELECTED WITHOUT CHOICE”

3. CALLED — “THE INVITATION OF GRACE GOES OUT TO ALL”

4. JUSTIFIED — “RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH, NOT BY DECREE”

5. GLORIFIED — “THE PROMISE IS CERTAIN, BUT THE PATH MUST BE CONTINUED”

It's not an unbreakable deterministic chain. It's entered by a grace-enabled process and continued by faith!

Here’s the flow: Foreknown (God sees believers); Predestined (their destiny in Christ); Called (invited by grace); Justified (by faith); Glorified (final salvation).

Key Truth: Every step assumes a faith response!

The Golden Chain (Reverse Order Logic)

1. To be Glorified - Must have been Justified
2. To be Justified - Must have Responded to the Call
3. To be Called - Must have been Predestined
4. To be Predestined - Must have been Foreknown
5. Foreknowledge comes first - God is omniscient

CALLED - “THE INVITATION OF GRACE GOES OUT TO ALL”

The “called” refers to: God’s gracious invitation to salvation that comes through the Gospel and is enabled by His grace but must be freely responded to by the individual.

John 6:44 (NKJV) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Definition:  The calling is God’s invitation to salvation through the Gospel, empowered by prevenient grace, but resistible.

1. The General Call (Universal Invitation)

This is the Gospel call that goes out to all people. It comes through your conscious, creation, preaching, Scripture, and witness. It is enabled by prevenient grace and it's resistible.

2. The Saving Call (Experienced by Believers)

This is the call as it is received. It becomes “effective” only when a person responds in faith. It is not a different kind of call—it is the same call, but only accepted.

There is one call (the Gospel), but two outcomes:
Resisted = no salvation
Received = salvation

The call of God is not selective in its offer—but it is selective in its outcome, because only those who respond are justified.

Prevenient grace is a key doctrine in Arminianism, especially emphasized by theologians like Jacobus Arminius and later John Wesley.

Prevenient Grace means “grace that comes before.”

Dr. Leroy Forlines calls this prevenient grace the “drawing power of the Holy Spirit.”

While the term "prevenient grace" isn’t directly used in Scripture, the concept is clearly present:

1. God Initiates the Process
John 6:44 (NKJV) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him...

2. Grace Is Extended Universally
Titus 2:11 (NKJV) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men...

3. Every Person Receives Some Measure of Divine Light
John 1:9 (NKJV) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

4. This Grace Can Be Resisted
Acts 7:51 (NKJV) …you always resist the Holy Spirit…

Key Characteristics of Prevenient Grace:

1. Universal
2. Enabling
3. Resistible
4. Restores Free Will

Think of prevenient grace like God knocking on your heart's door.

Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

The knock is real; the invitation is sincere, but the person on the inside must open the door.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

1. For the believer - evangelize with confidence
2. Take personal responsibility
3. Be humble in your salvation
4. For the unbeliever - have a sense of urgency

SUMMARY: 
Prevenient Grace is God’s universal, initiating, and enabling grace that restores a sinner’s ability to respond to the Gospel—but does not force the response.

“Lord Jesus, today I receive Your grace. I admit that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You died on the cross for my sins and rose again to give me new life. Today, I turn from my old ways and invite You into my heart. Be my Lord, be my Savior, and help me follow You all the days of my life. Right now, I trust you as my Savior and will follow you as my Lord. Thank You for loving me. Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer and meant it in your heart, you can be sure that you are saved.

Romans 10:13 (NLT) “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 10:28 (NLT) “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.”