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COMMENT: It is the Potter (YEHOVAH God) who fashions the vessels
from the raw materials before they have done either good or evil.
To those who say, all is now of grace to everyone of every race, listen to
the much-loved writings of the well known author Selwyn Hughes in the
February 17, 1994 issue of Every Day With Jesus:
"The word ‘grace’ is unquestionably the most significant single word in the
Bible, I agree. But it must be understood right away that grace is a charac-
teristic of God which is exercised only towards those who are seen as hav-
ing a special relationship with Him. Nowhere in the Bible is the grace of
God ever mentioned in connection with mankind generally, though some
theologians frequently use the term ‘common grace’ [a term not mentioned
in the Bible] -- the idea that God gives a special form of grace to the whole
of mankind, which restrains them from being as bad as they could be.
"The other day I came across a writer who said, The creation of the uni-
verse was an exercise of grace. I understand that he might have been us-
ing the word ‘grace’ as a synonym for love, [a mistake often made by Chris-
tian writers], but strictly speaking the exhibition of grace is reserved for the
elect."
Selwyn Hughes then quotes Arthur W. Pink as saying:
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