The Fundamental Difference Between Common and Saving Grace
When we talk about common grace and special or saving grace, we can mean two different things: either the different ways God's Spirit influences people's hearts, or the different results and effects of that influence. We know that God's Spirit sometimes affects the minds of people who aren't true Christians, and that the good attitudes, states of mind, and actions they share with believers are in some way due to the Spirit's influence or help. But since true Christians have something in their hearts that's unique to them, something more excellent than what we find in others, we assume there's a different kind of work by the Spirit of God happening. The quality that sets believers apart comes from a higher level of influence and help than what produces virtue in others.
So sometimes when people say "common grace," they mean the kind of action or influence of the Spirit that produces the religious or moral achievements shared by both believers and unbelievers. In other words, it means common assistance. Other times they mean the moral or religious achievements themselves that result from this assistance. Similarly, the phrase "special or saving grace" sometimes refers to that unique kind or degree of the Spirit's work that produces saving actions and achievements in godly people (in other words, special and saving assistance). Or it can mean the distinctive saving virtue itself that results from this assistance. These phrases are more often understood in the latter sense: not as common and special assistance, but as common and special (or saving) virtue, which is the fruit of that assistance. That's how I'll be using these phrases in this discussion.
What I need to demonstrate now is that special or saving grace, in this sense, differs from common grace not merely in degree but in its very nature and kind. Natural men don't just lack enough virtue to be saints; they have no degree whatsoever of the grace that exists in godly people.
1. This becomes clear from what Christ says in John 3:6, where He speaks about regeneration: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Whatever Christ means by the terms "flesh" and "spirit" here, this much is obvious and undeniable: Christ intends to show Nicodemus why a new birth is necessary, a birth different from his natural one. His argument is that a person who has experienced only the first birth has nothing in his heart that he needs to enter the kingdom. He has nothing at all of what Christ calls spirit, whatever that may be. Everything a person has who has experienced only natural birth doesn't go beyond what Christ calls flesh. However refined and elevated it may be, it can't be raised above flesh. It's clear that by flesh and spirit, Christ means two things entirely different in nature, which can't come from one another. A person who isn't born again can't have anything of a nature superior to flesh, and that's why we must be "born again."
That flesh and spirit refer to certain moral principles, natures, or qualities that are entirely different and opposite to each other becomes clear from other passages, particularly Gal 5:17: "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and they are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things which ye would." Verse 19 continues, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication," and so on. Verse 22 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace," and so on. Gal 6:8 adds, "For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Rom 8:6-9 states, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace," and so on. 1 Cor 3:1 says, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."
All this makes it clear that people who have experienced only the first birth have no degree of that moral principle or quality that those who are born again possess, which gives them a right to the kingdom of heaven. This principle or quality comes only through birth, and the birth it must come through isn't, and can't be, the first birth. It must be a new birth. If people who have no right to the kingdom of heaven could have something of the Spirit as well as flesh, then Christ's argument would be false. Christ's reasoning makes it plain that those who aren't in a state of salvation can't have these two opposite principles in their hearts together, some flesh and some spirit, fighting against each other as godly people do. Instead, they have flesh only.
2. We can further prove that the only principle in those who are truly converted, from which gracious acts flow (what Scripture calls the Spirit, in contrast to the flesh), is something that others not only lack in sufficient degree but lack entirely. Scripture makes this clear in two ways: negatively, it declares that those without the Spirit don't belong to Christ. "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Rom 8:9). Positively, it affirms that those who have the Spirit are His: "By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us" (1 John 3:24). The fact that we have the Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts is mentioned as a certain sign that people are entitled to heaven. It's called the down payment of our future inheritance (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14). This wouldn't be true if others who had no claim to the inheritance could also have some of it dwelling in them.
What's more, the fact that those who aren't true saints have nothing of the Spirit—no part or portion of Him—becomes even clearer when we consider that Scripture gives not just a particular motion of the Spirit, but being of the Spirit as a sure sign of being in Christ. First John 4:13 says, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." If those who aren't true saints possessed any degree of that spiritual principle, then even though they might not have as much, they would still have some of it, and therefore it couldn't serve as a sign that a person is in Christ. If those who lack a saving interest in Christ have nothing of the Spirit, then they truly have nothing: no degree of those graces that are the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." These fruits are listed there for the very purpose of helping us know whether we have the Spirit or not.
3. Those who aren't true saints and aren't in a state of salvation don't just have less of the holy nature and divine principle found in the hearts of the saints. They don't have any of it at all. We know this because being "partakers of the divine nature" is described as the unique privilege of true saints (2 Pet 1:4). It's clear the apostle is talking about genuine saints in this passage. The words in this verse, along with what comes before, read: "According as his Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
The "Divine nature" and "lust" are clearly presented here as two opposing principles in human beings. Those who belong to the world, who are worldly people, have only the latter principle. But sharing in the Divine nature is described as something unique to those who have been distinguished and separated from the world by God's free and sovereign grace. These are the ones to whom He gives all things that relate to life and godliness, grants the knowledge of Himself, calls to glory and virtue, and gives the exceedingly great and precious promises of the gospel. These are the ones who have escaped the corruption of the world of wicked people. And sharing in the Divine nature is presented not only as unique to the saints, but as one of their highest privileges.
4. Those who don't have a saving relationship with Christ possess no degree of the taste and awareness of spiritual things that a true saint has. This becomes clear in 1 Cor 2:14: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Here, the natural man stands in direct contrast to the spiritual person, someone who has the Spirit. This is obvious from the verses before and after this passage. As we've already shown, Scripture declares that all true saints are spiritual people, and no one else qualifies. Therefore, "natural men" refers to those who don't have the Spirit of Christ and don't belong to Him. They've experienced only natural birth, nothing more. But this passage teaches us plainly that a natural man is completely lacking any sense, perception, or awareness of these spiritual realities. The text tells us this through the words "he neither does nor can know them, or discern them." Far from understanding them, these things are "foolishness unto him." He's a complete stranger to them, unable to grasp what people even mean when they talk about such matters. The words carry no meaning for him. He knows nothing about it, any more than a blind man knows about colors.
From this it follows that whatever sense of religious things a natural person has, it's not just weaker than what a true saint has. It's entirely different in nature. Besides, if a natural person actually had the fruit of the Spirit in the same kind as a spiritual person has, then he would be experiencing the things of the Spirit of God within himself. How then could he be called such a stranger to them, with no perception or awareness of them at all?
The reason why people without God's Spirit have no knowledge of spiritual things is because they don't have the Spirit of God living in them. The context makes this clear: we're told that these things are taught by the Spirit (verses 10-12), and godly people in the next verse are called spiritual precisely because the Spirit lives in them. This confirms the meaning, since people without God's Spirit aren't spiritual at all. They have only their natural abilities and no Spirit. If they had even a small amount of the Spirit, though not as much as godly people, they would still be taught spiritual things, or things of the Spirit, in proportion to however much of the Spirit they had. The Spirit who searches all things would teach them to some degree. There wouldn't be such a vast difference that one person perceives nothing of these things and finds them foolish, while another sees them as divinely and remarkably wise and excellent, as they're described in the context (verses 6-9), and as the apostle spoke of discerning them here.
The reason why people without God's Spirit have no knowledge or perception of spiritual things is because they don't have any of the anointing mentioned in 1 John 2:27: "The anointing which you have received of him, abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you." This anointing is clearly spoken of here as something unique to true saints. Ungodly people have never had any degree of that holy oil poured on them, and therefore they have no discernment of spiritual things. This means that none of the sense that people without God's Spirit have about religious matters is the same in nature as what godly people have. To these things they are totally blind. That's why in conversion the eyes of the blind are opened. The world is completely unacquainted with the Spirit of God, as John 14:17 shows, where we read about "the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it knows him not."
5. Those who claim to be religious but aren't true saints and aren't in a state of salvation have no charity, as is clearly implied at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13. This means they don't have any degree of that kind of grace, disposition, or affection that goes by that name. Christ makes the same point elsewhere when He rebukes the Pharisees, those who claimed to be the most religious among the Jews, saying they didn't have the love of God in them (John 5:42).
6. The fact that those who aren't true saints have no degree of the grace that saints possess is evident because they have no communion or fellowship with Christ. If those who aren't true saints shared in any of that Spirit, those holy inclinations and affections, and gracious movements of the soul that godly people receive from the indwelling of Christ's Spirit, then they would have communion with Christ. The communion of saints with Christ certainly consists largely in receiving from His fullness and partaking of His grace, as described in John 1:16: "Of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace," and in partaking of that Spirit which God gives without measure to Him. To partake of Christ's holiness and grace, His nature, inclinations, tendencies, love, and desires, comforts and delights, must be to have communion with Christ. In fact, a believer's communion with the Father and the Son consists mainly in his partaking of the Holy Spirit, as 2 Cor 13:14 shows: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost."
But unbelievers have no fellowship or communion with Christ. This becomes clear for several reasons.
First, they aren't united to Christ. They aren't in Christ. Scripture is completely clear on this point: those who are in Christ are actually in a state of salvation. They're justified, sanctified, accepted by Christ, and will be saved. Paul writes, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him" (Phil 3:8-9). He also says, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Cor 5:17). John adds, "But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him" (1 John 2:5), and "The one who keeps God's commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us" (1 John 3:24).
But those who aren't in Christ, who aren't united to Him, can't have any degree of communion with Him. There's no communion without union. The body's members can't have communion with the head or share in its life and health unless they're connected to it. A branch must be joined to the vine, or there can be no flow from the vine to it, no sharing in any measure of its sap, life, or influence. Without the union of a wife to her husband, she can't share in his possessions.
Second, Scripture teaches more directly that only true believers have communion with Christ. This is most clearly stated as something that belongs to believers alone in 1 John 1:3, 6-7: "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." Then in verse 6: "If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and don't live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." Paul also writes, "God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor 1:9).
7. Scripture tells us that having a truly holy and gracious principle actually present in the heart is incompatible with being a sinner or a wicked person. First John 3:9 says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." There's no need to debate what this "seed" means, whether it refers to a principle of true virtue and a holy nature in the soul, or whether it means the word of God as the cause of that virtue. Either way, it amounts to the same thing for our present argument. If by "seed" we mean the word of God, then when Scripture speaks of it remaining in someone who is born again, it must refer to its effect: a holy principle in that person's heart. After all, the word of God doesn't remain in a regenerate person any differently than in anyone else, except through its effect.
The word of God remains in the heart of a regenerate person as a holy seed, a divine principle there, even if it exists only as a seed, a small thing. The seed is a very small part of the plant and represents its first principle. It may be in the heart like a grain of mustard seed, hidden and seemingly buried deep in the earth. But even so, it's incompatible with wickedness. The smallest degrees and first principles of a divine and holy nature and disposition are incompatible with a state of sin. That's why the verse says "he cannot sin." We don't need to analyze that expression too carefully here, because at the very least it implies this much: "his seed being in him" is incompatible with his being a sinner or a wicked person. So this heavenly plant of true holiness cannot exist in the heart of a sinner, not even in its first principle.
8. Scripture confirms this through the images it uses to describe conversion, especially when it portrays conversion as a work of creation. When God creates, He doesn't simply refine or perfect what already exists. Instead, He makes something entirely new, either from nothing or from material that has none of the qualities of the finished product (like when He made man from the dust of the earth). "The things that are seen are not made of things that do appear." Saving grace in a person is called the new man or a new creature, while corrupt nature is called the old man. If the nature in a godly person's heart isn't fundamentally different in kind from everything that came before, then the person could have possessed the same qualities a year earlier, or at any point in his life, just not to the same degree. But if that's the case, how can grace in him be called the new man or the new creature?
Conversion is also frequently compared to a resurrection. Wicked people are described as dead, but when they're converted, they're portrayed as being raised from the dead by God's mighty and effective power. There's no middle ground between being dead and alive. Someone who is dead has no degree of life. Someone who has even the smallest degree of life is alive. When a person is raised from the dead, life isn't just present in greater measure: it's completely new.
The same truth becomes clear when conversion is represented as a new birth or regeneration. Generation isn't about perfecting something old. It's about bringing forth something new. The nature and life received at that moment has its beginning right then. It receives its first principles.
Again, Scripture describes conversion as opening the eyes of the blind. In such a work, people receive light who were completely without it before. Similarly, in conversion, stones are said to be raised up as children to Abraham: while they are stones, they are completely without all those qualities that later make them the living children of Abraham, not just lacking them to a lesser degree. Along these same lines, conversion is said to be a taking away of a heart of stone and a giving of a heart of flesh. The unconverted person has a heart of stone that possesses no degree of the life and awareness that the heart of flesh has, because it still remains a stone, and nothing is further from life and awareness than stone.
Inference 1. From what has been said, I would point out that conversion must necessarily happen all at once. The knowledge, reformation, and conviction that prepare for conversion may be gradual, and the work of grace after conversion may be carried on gradually, yet that work of grace on the soul by which a person is brought out of a state of total corruption and depravity into a state of grace, to an interest in Christ, and to actually being a child of God, happens in a moment.
This must be the consequence: if the grace or virtue that a person has when brought into a state of grace is entirely different in nature and kind from all that went before, then it follows that in the last instant before a person actually becomes a child of God and enters a state of grace, that person doesn't have the least degree of any real goodness or of that true virtue that exists in a child of God.
The biblical images of conversion all point to the same reality. In creation, something comes from nothing in an instant. God speaks and it happens. He commands and it stands firm. When the dead are raised, it happens in a moment. When Christ called Lazarus from his grave, it wasn't a gradual process. He said, "Lazarus, come out," and life came with the command. Lazarus heard His voice and lived. Christ said the same thing in John 5:25: "I tell you the truth, the hour is coming, and has now come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." These words must refer to the work of conversion. In creation, being is called out of nothing and instantly obeys the call. In resurrection, the dead are called into life. As soon as the call goes out, the dead obey.
