Common Grace is from God, a gift to the world to function freely, with the application of freedom and truth to the context of mortal living in nature and applied equally, which is to say freely, to all people. It is idealistic in that it provides context for all creation to mortal survival, perhaps perceived wrongly as though there were no living God. It may be found in its fullness by what the wisest persons among mankind would desire for all persons, pagan or devout. Common grace, involving unearned benefit when incorporated and not violated, is universal law in creation. It is forceful in the survival of even imperfect mankind and our environment. It is highly valued as universal for creation even though it does not effectively address the main concerns of mankind – meaning, death and immortality. Some scientists believe that in the context of nature, which is an important factor of common grace, even that long-time enemy, death, can be addressed – at least to lengthening human life years. These researchers believe death comes too soon for us.
The sermon from which the text for today is taken is known as the Mars Hill Sermon of the Apostle Paul. It is remarkable. It is intellectual, biblical, spiritual, and direct to the questions of a non-Christian audience. What we have of the sermon in the Bible is spare, is reflective of a first rate theologian, and appeals not to differences, or superstition, except to start with uncertainty and then move through intellectual paths of persuasion, which, if sound and gaining acceptance of the speaker’s assumptions, becomes unassailable – perhaps. Granting the assumption of a living God it becomes virtually so.
In that context, the Apostle moves from common grace to divine grace. Divine grace means to make life under God, serving and righteous, relative to the issues that mankind, in common grace may not find, can’t untangle, or agree upon. By revelation there is provided enough information about divine grace that at least one may say that God exists and provides information beyond our parameters, addressing what we can’t know without revelation. So the apostle proceeds by referring to factors of divine grace touching life, leading to an award of immortality. The first one he refers to is repentance. One can touch and be touched by divine grace by repentance and forgiveness. The counterpart in common grace is law to define crime, and confinement to address punishment. Divine grace is owned by God. Common grace, also from God, is largely left to mankind for management. So it is that we legislate as persons, tribes, peoples. Mankind, when at natural best, may get on rather well. Persons find that they are lost in the larger scope.
Divine grace is shared with mankind because of the special (divine) love of God. That divine grace is made available through the new birth gained through the repentance of sin, forgiveness of sin, and enrollment of the penitent believer in God’s planned kingdom for redeemed persons. This addresses the main point, immortality. Overcoming death and providing immortality in God’s kingdom become the end result. Since the whole matter is far beyond human understanding we discover assurance of the new birth by growth in righteousness; confidence in Scripture; growing intensity of prayer; meaning in service to mankind; interpretations of evidence for truth and courage; and, faith to fulfilling hope. Within common grace, for the Christian, there are declining carnal appeals; finding Christian culture; growing humility to worship; shifting to higher courses in values; and, ripening personality in the practices related to the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25) The Christian then relies on both self and God in the development of life under Scriptural teaching, and in the Holy Spirit preparing the self for life outlined for each of his children in the promise of faith. All this seems exotic. It is. It came to us from outside nature. Anything outside nature has a mystery about it that may stall us. It seems to belong to someone else, or it seems speculative, or superstitious so not to be welcome in serious concerns. We stumble with doubt, especially related to assurance of revelation, of doubt that sin can be so bad as to determine God’s relationship, or lack of it, with nature and mankind. One factor of Christ’s Advent was that it took the miracle of Jesus Christ to make possible a visible representation of God and redemption. Even that seems beyond common parameters of acceptance. It is obvious that the simple gospel is other worldly. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020