God the Father is a loving, patient, and gracious God. He loves everyone in spite of everyone. God’s grace is the unmerited favor He shows us, and it consists of two types, common grace and saving grace.
Common grace is what God provides to everyone, even to the unbelievers. Common grace maintains the whole of creation, and every breath that anyone takes is due to it. God still loves His creation and, “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5: 44-45).
All people have a knowledge of God. There is in each person, even unbelievers, a sense of God’s existence and often a hunger to know God. God allows this to remain in the hearts of people, even in the atheists. Of course this is seen often in times of war. That is why we have the adage, “There are no atheists in the foxholes.”
Common grace is what allows science and technology to produce discoveries and inventions by non-Christians. Example of this are clearly seen in the works of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison, both unbelievers in Christ. I do not expect to see either of these gentlemen in heaven unless they saw the light before death. The Lord is good to all and even restrains the evil that people could do. However, He will eventually “give then up” to greater sin if they persist long enough in sin.
Saving grace is the grace that God imparts to His elect—those who receive Christ as Savior to become born-again. God chose some to be saved out of His sovereign good pleasure. Yet He also gives each person the freedom to choose Him or the world. This is a paradox quite incomprehensible to our limited human intellect. But we know it’s true because it’s in God’s Word (the Bible).
Salvation requires only belief and trust in Christ, though too many preachers insist on works salvation. It is true that Christians do perform good works, but these have absolutely nothing to do with salvation. Otherwise it would not involve grace (unmerited favor). Works on earth merely determine our rewards in heaven. So stop worrying about doing enough for the Lord on earth. Just do what you can and draw as close to God as you can. This of course involves prayer and Bible study.
If you believe in Christ, you are God’s child and will always be such. Heaven is guaranteed to all who believe on the Lord. The Philippian jailer was so impressed with Paul and Silas singing praises to God in the dungeon that he asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”They responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). I often cite the thief on the cross when anyone wants to defend works salvation. He could do absolutely nothing but call on Christ to save him.
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