Common Grace and the Restraint of Sin

DEFINITION

Common grace, as an expression of the goodness of God, is every favor, falling short of salvation, which this undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys at the hand of God; this includes the delay of wrath, the mitigation of our sin-natures, natural events that lead to prosperity, and all gifts that human use and enjoy naturally.

Consider, for example, the common grace of God as seen in Genesis 39:5 where God is said to have “blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” At Lystra, Paul declares that God “did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). Jesus himself said that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).

Common Grace and the Restraint of Sin

The goodness of God as seen in common grace is first found in the way it exerts a restraining influence on the expression of human depravity or sin. This preventative operation of God’s goodness is not comprehensive, or no sin at all would ever exist. Neither is it uniform, for if it were all men and women would be equally evil or equally good. What we mean, then, is that the manifestation and effects of man’s moral depravity is not permitted to reach the maximum of which it is capable.

The simple empirical fact is that if this were not the case, life on earth would be virtually impossible. There are several areas where the notion of common grace as restraint is operative. John Murray again explains God’s restraint on the personal sins of individual men and women:God places restraint upon the workings of human depravity and thus prevents the unholy affections and principles of men from manifesting all the potentialities inherent in them. He prevents depravity from bursting forth in all its vehemence and violence (“Common Grace,” II:98).

The “mark” that God placed on Cain, “lest any who found him should attack him” (Gen. 4:15) is one example. God told Abimelech, king of Gerar a Philistine, that “it was I who kept you from sinning” when the king considered having sexual relations with Sarah, Abraham’s wife (Gen. 20:6; see also 2 Kgs. 19:27–28). The apostle Paul refers to the one “who now restrains” the revelation of the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:7). In each of these cases, God (most likely the Holy Spirit) exerts a preventative influence on what would otherwise be acts of evil.

Thus, one of the purposes of the Spirit’s activity in our world is to impede or inhibit or curb the outward expression of the inward propensities of the sinful heart. Were he not to do so, were he completely to lift or withdraw or suspend this particular activity, our society would eventually be uninhabitable. The wickedness of mankind would engulf the world and bring it to the verge of utter chaos and corruption.This work of the Spirit in restraining human sin is called “grace” because no one deserves it. That God inhibits their sin is an expression of mercy to those who deserve judgment. It is called “common” because it is universal. Both saved and unsaved, regenerate and unregenerate, are the recipients of this divine favor. It is not restricted to any one group of people and it does not necessarily lead to salvation.