In the theology of grace according to St. Augustine, grace is an outpouring of God’s love given to baptized Christians.  By becoming God’s elect one can receive God’s grace.  Understanding St. Augustine’s theology of grace needs to be examined in light of his earlier lifestyle and his conversion. He believed that he did not strive for union with God before his conversion because the Holy Spirit had not yet moved his heart to do so.  The bed rock and action of God’s grace is in the order of goodness and love that permeates all things.  Grace is found in God’s creation and in the center of the human person.  The human person is called by the Holy Spirit to turn his or her total self to God’s ordered love which is played out in time and space.  This is so because God sent His Son to us in time and space to live among us, as one of us, healing our separation we once had with God because we had turned from God by our own free choice.  The gift of grace is first found in the person of Jesus Christ and it is through Him, with Him, and in Him all things are.  We become adopted children by way of grace through Christ Jesus.  Grace is God’s self-bestowal and God’s loving kindness.  Grace accomplishes a real change within our very person hood.  In the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, one can find a passage from the old life into a new life in God.  We partake in the Divine energies which are love.  They are a gift of a new covenant and when the person responds to God’s grace he or she responds in love just as Christ Jesus had done.  The gift of the Holy Spirit is eternal residing in creation continuously.  Grace occupies the center of our being even if we are aware of it or not.  End of Part I