And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel
abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him (Num. 24:2 KJV).
He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High,
which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his
eyes open (Num. 24:16 KJV).
COMMON GRACE
ARGUMENT:
This passage of the Bible speaks of the
ungodly prophet Balaam (II Pet. 2:15-16) who is said to have experienced a
working of the Holy Spirit—as one can see from his four prophecies
concerning Israel (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 15-24) and especially certain
parts of them (e.g., 23:10, 23; 24:5, 9, 17, 23)—for he “knew the knowledge
of the most High” (24:16) and spoke by “the spirit of God” (v. 2). All this is
said to be proof of a “common grace.”
(I)
“Common Operations of the Spirit”
Rev. Angus Stewart
The erroneous notion of common grace is variously
understood. For most who hold this view, it means that Jehovah loves the
reprobate (those whom He has eternally ordained to destruction in the way of
their sins) and that by His love He makes them something less than totally
depraved, thus enabling them to do things ethically good in God’s sight in this
world.
Aside from the polemical aspect of the issue, it is
worthwhile to underscore that the Holy Spirit certainly does work upon unbelievers,
not just externally but also internally. This necessarily flows from the
universal scope of God’s providence and the truth of the Holy Trinity, that the
Father works all things through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
We can distinguish three ways in which the Spirit
works upon and in all men, including the reprobate. First, the Spirit (being
equal with the Father and the Son) gives all men (including reprobate
unbelievers) physical life and strength, for it is only in
God—the Triune God—that we, both elect and non-elect, “live, and move, and have
our being” (Acts 17:28). Second, God by His Spirit gives the reprobate intellectual understanding
of natural things, for the good gift of knowledge in all spheres (reading,
writing, cooking, farming, construction, medicine, etc.) comes from the God of
all wisdom through His Son, the Word or Logos, and by the all-knowing Spirit.
Third, the Spirit even gives the reprobate a natural understanding
of spiritual things (though not a spiritual understanding of
spiritual things). Those not elected who are brought up in covenant homes or
attend church services or read Christian literature may have some intellectual
understanding of biblical truths. This cannot be apart from the Holy Spirit,
for all knowledge comes by Him.
In the sphere of the visible church, the
understanding of some reprobate can even be said to be “enlightened” by the
Spirit, so that they have a clear natural understanding of
spiritual things (Heb. 6:4) and a sense or “taste” of the beauty of the
Scriptures, the glory of heaven and the power of God (vv. 4-5). The ungodly
prophet Balaam (II Pet. 2:15-16) certainly experienced this, as one can see
from his four prophecies concerning Israel (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 15-24)
and especially certain parts of them (e.g., 23:10, 23; 24:5, 9, 17, 23), for he
“knew the knowledge of the most High” (24:16) and spoke by “the spirit of God”
(v. 2). Through the preaching, the Spirit even gives some non-elect “joy” in
their natural understanding of spiritual things, before they fall away from
their (hypocritical) profession of faith (Matt. 13:20-21). After all, it is
only through the Spirit that unbelievers experience (an earthly) joy in the
pleasant things of God’s creation like a beautiful sunset or a good meal or
finally grasping a difficult concept. Even so, it is the Spirit who gives some
reprobate a natural understanding of spiritual things and a (temporary) natural
joy in spiritual things. Moreover, reprobate unbelievers, such as Judas
Iscariot, were given power to exorcise demons (7:22; 10:1, 4) of the Father,
through the Son and by the Holy Spirit (10:1; 12:28).
In connection with the three proof texts often
listed with Westminster Confession 10:4, we note, first, that
those who merely receive the “common operations of the Spirit,” such as, a
natural illumination in, and a natural taste of, spiritual things in Hebrews
6:4-5 are subject to God’s “cursing” (v. 8), which is His powerful, damning
wrath (Matt. 25:41). Second, sandwiched between the parable of the sower
(13:3-9) and its explanation (vv. 18-23), including its word about those who
experience natural joy over the mysteries of the kingdom for a time (vv. 20-21),
is Christ’s affirmation of God’s election and reprobation as determining man’s
response to the gospel (vv. 14-15; cf. Isa. 6:9-10; John 12:39-40). Third, to
those not elected to salvation who have uttered prophecies, exorcised demons
and performed miracles (Matt. 7:22), the Lord states that He will say, “I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (v. 23). Since Christ, the
incarnate Son of God, knows all men head for head intellectually, and must know
everybody in order to proclaim this judgment upon many at the last day, “I
never knew you” refers to His knowledge of love: “I never loved you, not now,
not before the foundation of the world, not during your life on earth, never!”
Thus all these good gifts to the reprobate come to them not in God’s love and
grace (Ps. 73; Prov. 3:33; Rom. 9:13; 11:7-10) but by His sovereign, all-controlling
providence, which is of the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
These “operations of the Spirit” are “common” to
the elect and the reprobate in that some elect and some reprobate have
performed miracles (Matt. 7:22) and all elect and some reprobate have been
enlightened and given joy in, and a taste of, the mysteries of the gospel by
the Spirit (13:20; Heb. 6:4-5). There are especially three differences,
however, with regard to the “operations of the Spirit” in the elect and the
non-elect. First, the Spirit gives to some reprobate a natural understanding,
joy and taste of or in spiritual things, whereas the elect receive a spiritual understanding,
joy and taste of or in spiritual things (John 17:13; I Cor. 2:14). Second, the “operations
of the Spirit” come to the two groups of people with a different divine
motivation and in a different way: the elect receive them in God’s grace but
the reprobate receive them in providence and not grace.
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(II)
More to come! (DV)
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