Untitled Sermon (5)

GRACE

The Spirit and Common Grace

Common grace is God’s general favor by which he restrains sin and its consequences, maintains human life and culture, and bestows a variety of gifts and blessings to all people indiscriminately.

Common grace is the grace by which God cares for creation and fallen humanity by upholding and providentially guiding creation despite the devastating effects of the fall. Left to itself, sin would have destroyed and decimated creation. But God did not leave creation or humanity alone and allow sin to wreak complete havoc. Thus, after the fall, by the work of the Holy Spirit, God sustains creation by interposing his grace. In distinction from special grace, by which God renews and redeems his people, common grace restrains sin, maintains human life and culture, and bestows gifts to all people indiscriminately. This common favor is not salvific. It cannot renew or redeem; it can only restrain and compel. But it is, nonetheless, an aspect of God’s providence and is rightly considered grace because it refers to the unmerited, gracious upholding of the created order by God and the general benevolence of God to humanity after the fall.

In Scripture God’s gracious upholding of creation after the fall is closely connected with the Noahic covenant (Gen 9:8–17), in which God not only vows never to destroy the world by a flood again but also promises to sustain, uphold, and maintain the created order despite human sin. While connected to the Noahic covenant, God’s upholding of creation and general benevolence to all humanity after the fall is evident throughout Scripture. God is present with his creatures, revealing himself to humanity by the works of his hands in a general (not special or saving) way (Acts 17:24–28; Rom 1–2; Ps 19). Grace is shown to the wicked (Isa 26:10). Creation runs according to its design (Ps 104). Rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matt 5:45). Abilities, powers, and virtues are considered to be gifts from God (Jas 1:17). Culture, art, and social institutions are maintained and serve the good of humanity (Rom 13:4; Rev 21:24–6). In sum, Scripture shows that everything good and beautiful has its source in God. He is the one who upholds and guides his creation.

Yet common grace is not enough to bring salvation. It may restrain the effects of sin and enable good and beautiful things within culture and society, thereby enabling cultural development and a measure of human flourishing, but it cannot renew the soul nor remove the guilt of sin and redeem fallen humanity. Thus, common grace is only an aspect of God’s providence; it restrains but does not solve the problem of sin. As common grace maintains creation and humanity, it is the foundation for special grace. In this way, common grace can also be viewed as God’s long-suffering patience—the withholding of his judgment—so that he can work through Christ to redeem his people (2 Pet 3:9), and, in Christ, the whole of creation is truly restored.

The doctrine of common grace is theologically significant because it allows Christians to affirm and to delight in the goodness, beauty, and worth of creation and culture while still acknowledging the seriousness of sin. Even after the fall, there is inherent worth in God’s creation. Grace is not opposed to or in conflict with nature; it is opposed to sin. The doctrine of common grace, then, provides the basis for a theology of culture that is neither world-denying (asceticism) nor world-affirming (worldliness). Christians can appreciate and delight in when they observe truth, morality, acts of civic good, and beauty (etc.) in culture and society as gifts from God. They can utilize these gifts often as they work alongside nonbelievers. Nevertheless, the reality of sin and its consequences remain. Common grace does not redeem. None of the good actions of fallen creatures, none of the beautiful elements within culture, can redeem or renew the heart; this requires God’s special grace. This means that the doctrine of common grace also orients our worship. In the doctrine, Christians are reminded that they should direct their eyes to the Giver rather than focus on his gifts. The doctrine of common grace not only affirms the goodness of creation but, more importantly, directs the Christian to worship the God who upholds his creation and directs it after the fall.1

1 Doornbos, G. (2018). The Spirit and Common Grace. In M. Ward, J. Parks, B. Ellis, & T. Hains (Eds.), Lexham Survey of Theology. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.