state of grace
4
9.5
- noun
- /steɪt əv ɡreɪs/
- Formal
:
estado de gracia
- After confessing his sins, he felt he was finally in a state of grace.
- die in a state of grace
Examples
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How does a soul know she is in the state of grace and part of The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church?
Blog text (4) -
Malama kanakoa, having entered into a state of grace, seeks baptism into the holy church.
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I hope I die in a state of grace.
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I was in a state of grace.
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I'm in a state of grace.
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Confession put me back in a state of grace where I now receive God's grace.
Blog text (24) -
There is then a natural filtering for those in a state of grace.
Blog text (21) -
If I am in the state of grace, God is really present there in most profound silence and solitude.
Blog text (27) -
The task, to lead sinners toward a state of grace, is onerous.
Academic text (2003) -
He refers to his lost state and, through the metaphor of the labyrinth, his regained state of grace.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
236
3.9
Kindness and forgiveness shown to someone who has not earned it
34
6.8
Help from God that people do not earn
1
8.5
A gift from God that makes a person holy and helps them be saved
Antonyms
How Holy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is transparently built from 'state' (a condition) + 'grace' (compassionate forgiveness or unearned favor), so a learner who knows those words can infer it means a condition characterized by grace (i.e., being free from sin). The 'state of X' compositional pattern is common across languages, so while the exact theological nuance may be specialized, the basic meaning is predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
State of grace comes from old Christian ideas about being in God's favor. People often showed someone in a bright state of grace, surrounded by light to show they were free from sin, so today the phrase means 'free from sin' or 'in God's favor'.