Goodness of GodSýnishorn

Common grace

On the idea of grace, we may think of God acting to bring us back to Himself through Jesus. We might call this special grace. But another sort of grace is common grace and describes God’s goodness to the world at large. Only those who trust in Jesus can know His special grace, but everyone can know something of His common grace. God is good irrespective of how people view Him.

Those who utterly reject Him can still marvel at a sunset, or delight in a rain shower. They can experience the love of friends and the kindness of strangers. It may be that, because of our out-of-shape world that has rebelled against God, they can’t always enjoy such things. The fact that God is good doesn’t mean all that happens to us and others in the world also happens to be good. Our world is bent in such a way that the goodness of God is at times frustrated by human evil, or we may be oblivious to it through our own spiritual blindness. But God has not withdrawn in a sulk and rationed out His goodness to a deserving few. His goodness extends to all, even if not all recognise or experience it, even though only those trusting in Jesus get to know the ultimate goodness of eternal life.

Jesus teaches that just as God is good in a non-discriminating way, so should we show goodness to others, and not just to those who do the right thing by us. When it comes to goodness, God has thrown away the ration book. So should we.

Written by DAVID REAY