Human wisdom is not limited to one people or even to the elect. Our lives should be led by wisdom, which is from God, but which is spread abroad in the world, like so many other divine gifts, among both the elect and the nonelect. We may learn from human wisdom, but we must remind all mankind that whatever it has is a gift of God, for which he should be given the glory. We must assert that unbelief robs human wisdom of its foundation and substance. This line of thought validates our thinking about God s common grace.
Common grace is common, in that it is extended to the entire creation.
Common grace is grace, in that it is free and undeserved. It provides a foundation for God s ever-present work in history and for the continuing call of the gospel for all men to repent and come to Christ. Men may reject God in the face of his gracious sustaining of his creation, but his gracious upholding of their lives, indeed of the entire world, is what makes their rebellion possible in the first place. God s common grace is a testimony to his long-suffering with mankind and his desire that all men everywhere should repent. To use Cornelius Van Til s terminology, the unbeliever must be shown that he is living on borrowed capital.