Why does God bestow common grace on undeserving sinners who will never come to salvation? We can suggest at least four reasons.

1. To Redeem Those Who Will Be Saved. Peter says that the day of judgment and final execution of punishment is being delayed because there are yet more people who will be saved: “The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:9–10). In fact, this reason was true from the beginning of human history, for if God wanted to save any people out of the whole mass of sinful humanity, he could not have destroyed all sinners immediately (for then there would be no human race left). He chose rather to allow sinful humans to live for some time, so that they might have an opportunity to repent, and also so that they would bear children and enable subsequent generations to live and then hear the gospel and repent.

2. To Demonstrate God’s Goodness and Mercy. God’s goodness and mercy are not only seen in the salvation of believers, but also in the blessings he gives to undeserving sinners. When God “is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish” (Luke 6:35), his kindness is revealed in the universe, to his glory. David says, “The Lord is good to all and his compassion is over all that he has made” (Ps. 145:9). In the story of Jesus talking with the rich young ruler, we read, “And Jesus looking upon him loved him” (Mark 10:21), even though the man was an unbeliever and would in a moment turn away from Jesus because of his great possessions. Berkhof says that God “showers untold blessings upon all men and also clearly indicates that these are the expressions of a favourable disposition in God, which falls short, however, of the positive volition to pardon their sin, to lift their sentence, and to grant them salvation.” It is not unjust for God to delay the execution of punishment upon sin and to give temporary blessings to human beings, because the punishment is not forgotten, but just delayed. In delaying punishment, God clearly shows that He has no pleasure in executing final judgment, but rather delights in the salvation of men and women. “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn back from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). In all of this the delay of punishment gives clear evidence of God’s mercy and goodness and love.

3. To Demonstrate God’s Justice. When God repeatedly invites sinners to come to faith and when they repeatedly refuse his invitations, the justice of God in condemning them is seen much more clearly. Paul warns that those who persist in unbelief are simply storing up more wrath for themselves: “By your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:5). On the day of judgment “every mouth” will be “stopped” (Rom. 3:19) and no one will be able to object that God has been unjust.

4. To Demonstrate God’s Glory. Finally, God’s glory is shown in many ways by the activities of human beings in all the areas in which common grace is operative. In developing and exercising dominion over the earth, men and women demonstrate and reflect the wisdom of their Creator, demonstrate God-like qualities of skill and moral virtue and authority over the universe, and so forth. Though all of these activities are tainted by sinful motives, they nonetheless reflect the excellence of our Creator and therefore bring glory to God, not fully or perfectly, but nonetheless significantly.