Prevenient Grace

Psalm 25:8 (BES) (24:8) Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he instruct sinners in the way.

(Proverbs 25 also read)

There is a theological concept called prevenient grace.  It tends to be believed in and taught more in non-Calvinist circles.  The idea is that God extends His grace towards you while you’re yet a sinner and allows you to move toward Him.  This overcomes the concept that we are helpless and unable to respond to God without His specific input.  It means that even though we are not in any contact with spiritual sources of this world, the Holy Spirit is still preparing us and moving us.

Notice what this says.  It says that God is going to be working with sinners.  They may not be aware of it.  They may refuse to respond.  God is still working.

So?  God works in our lives.  We understand that.  We need to also understand that the person we are sitting across from in the cafeteria has God working in his life.  That brings it down to how each individual responds to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  You may claim that people haven’t had a chance to respond.  God knows otherwise.