Common Grace And Free Offer Articles

 
There are some ideas that are being promoted in both reformed and free-will circles that you may wish to study further to see if they are truly biblical ideas. One has to do with the term “common grace”. The other has to do with the term “the free offer” or “the well meant offer” of the gospel. Wikipedia gives a brief overview of the idea of “common grace” here:
 
Common grace is a theological concept in Protestant Christianity, primarily in Reformed and Calvinistic circles, referring to the grace of God that is either common to all humankind, or common to everyone within a particular sphere of influence (limited only by unnecessary cultural factors). It is common because its benefits are experienced by, or intended for, the whole human race without distinction between one person and another. It is grace because it is undeserved and sovereignly bestowed by God. In this sense, it is distinguished from the Calvinistic understanding of special or saving grace, which extends only to those whom God has chosen to redeem.
 
The question is, is there really such a thing in God’s economy as “common grace” and are examples that people provide of common grace, truly manifestations of God’s grace (i.e. His unmerited favor, of some kind)? Or are the examples people provide not really examples of grace but of something else?
 
The free offer of the Gospel, also known as the well-meant offer of the gospel, in Christian theology, is the offer of salvation in Jesus Christ to all people. The question is, is the Gospel truly an “offer” or is it a declaration, or perhaps something else? Hopefully, the following articles will help shed some light on these subjects.

• Common Grace: Deliberations – A.W. Pink
• Common Grace – by TestAllThings
• The Call of God and The Error of the Well Meant Offer
• The Free Offer of the Gospel – Rejected By The Canons of Dordt
• The Historical Denial of the Free Offer
• The Well-meant Offer and Reprobation
• Common Grace: a Critical Assessment of the Doctrine – By Dr. John Barber
• John Owen on Common Grace
• Common Grace (from Dictionary Of Theology at CARM)
• What is common grace? (from gotquestions.org)
• Definition Of Common Grace from theopedia.org
• Calvinists And The Free Offer Of The Gospel
• Common Grace Considered – Election and Reprobation Denied

The hearing of the gospel by the reprobate could not be called grace, because it only adds to their condemnation.

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