AMAZED BY COMMON GRACE!

Hudson Taylor once said that he was immortal until his work on earth was done. He understood how the strong hand of God was in protecting and preserving him to complete his God-ordained task. I wonder what would happen if evil was allowed to run rampant on this earth? What if every intention the devil had against you would happen? What if you had made that left turn instead of the right turn? What if that burglar hadn’t passed by your home and chosen another to rob? Why have we not seen weapons of mass destruction unleashed in all their horror upon our nation? It is a part of what I spoke of as “God’s common grace”. Part of common grace is as Sam Storms writes, “that God holds in check the destructive tendencies that are part of the curse of sin upon nature.”

The second aspect of common grace is more positive in thrust. Storms writes, “God not only restrains the sinful operations and effects of the human heart, he also bestows upon both nature and humanity manifold blessings both physical and spiritual. Although these blessings fall short of redemption itself, the grace of God displayed throughout the created order is marvelous indeed."

Think about all the ways God’s grace blesses mankind. If you look at the world around you and contrasts it with the judgments it deserves we can see all around us abundant evidence of God’s common grace in thousands of examples in daily life. Look at what David said about God’s preserving and sustaining grace in Psalm 65:5-13,

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.”
(Psalm 65:9-13; similar descriptions may be found in Psalm 104:10-30; 145:1-16; and 136:25).

Storms writes, “God endows unsaved men and women with gifts, talents, and aptitudes; he stimulates them with interest and purpose to the practice of moral virtues, the pursuance of worthy tasks, and the cultivation of arts and sciences that occupy the time, activity and energy of men and that make for the benefit and civilization of the human race. He ordains institutions for the pro­tection and promotion of right, the preservation of liberty, the advance of knowl­edge and the improvement of physical and moral conditions.”

God’s common grace is manifested in the physical realm, the intellectual realm, the moral realm, the creative and artistic realm, and the societal realm of life. We read about this manifestation of common grace in Genesis 39:5; Matthew 5:44-45; Luke 6:35-36; 16:25; Acts 14:16-17. It is because of such operations of common grace that the unregenerate may be said to perform "good" (cf. 2 Kings 10:30; 12:2; Matt. 5:46; Luke 6:33; Rom. 2:14-15).

However, John Murray reminds us that "the good attributed to unregenerate men is after all only relative good. It is not good in the sense of meeting in motiva­tion, principle and aim the requirements of God's law and the demands of his holiness" and thus can in no way commend them to the righteousness of the Father.

This really helps to understand the radical corruption or total depravity of man. Man in his corrupt, wrath inducing, damnation leading sinfulness does not always manifest itself the same way or same magnitude at all times. What this means in terms of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that, if left to him-self, a person will invariably, inevitably, and without pause reject the truth. Total depravity means that no matter how "civil" or "compassionate" or "industrious" or "law-abiding" a person might otherwise be in his dealings with other people, he is utterly and willfully indisposed to all that Christ is and says.

In spite of all the manifestations of common grace we must realize that common grace is different from saving grace. We must never lose sight of the fact that all such operations of common grace (Remember, it is called grace because it is given freely by God to undeserved sinners) are non-saving. None of these manifestations of grace are not able nor intended in themselves to produce new life in Christ. It does not change the heart or bring people to genuine repentance and faith. Common grace restrains sin but it does not change mankind’s disposition to sin.

Sometimes we will see unbelievers receive more common grace than believers. They may be brighter, harder working, more skillful, more creative, and enjoy more material benefits of this life to enjoy. This in no way signifies that God loves them more or that they are saved. It simply reveals that God chooses to bless in different degrees and in various ways, often times to unbelievers. In all of this, unbelievers should acknowledge God’s goodness (Acts 14:17) and recognize that God’s gracious goodness and kindness should eventually lead them to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Why does God bestow common grace on undeserving sinners who will never come to salvation?
Wayne Grudem suggests four reasons:

1. To Redeem Those Who Will Be Saved- 2 Peter 3:9-10, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient 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, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

2. To Demonstrate God’s Goodness and Mercy- Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Psalm 145:9, “T he LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

3. To Demonstrate God’s Justice- Romans 2:4-6, “do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of 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. 6 He will render to each one according to his works.” Romans 3:19, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”

4. To Demonstrate God’s Glory- Every good, beautiful, creative, moral wise, skillful act of unregenerate men and women reflect in spite of their sinful motives the beauty and excellence of their creator, and therefore bring glory to God.

May God open our eyes to see all around us the evidences of God’s common grace. Oh, that God has graciously granted us all so much more than we ever deserve. May our hearts be overwhelmed with gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise for such amazing common grace in every aspect of life!

Standing in awe and amazement of grace,
Pastor Bill