SS - Common Grace

Intro

Adam & Eve in the Garden

Dont eat or you die

Genesis 2:17 “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Shows us the seriousness of sin and its worthy separation from God

Important to note God is Just

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The fair thing to do when someone sins is kill them and send them to hell immediately

This is what happened to fallen angels

2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;”

We see adam & eve didnt die immediately

Did God lie when he said you will surely die?

No, their sentence of death began when they sinned

we too don’t immediately die and go to hell when we sin

In fact, we get to enjoy our lives and have happiness and experiences and enjoy creation

HOW CAN THIS BE?

Common Grace

Def: Common grace is the grace of God by which he gives people innumerable blessings that are not part of salvation

It’s “common” because it is common to all people and is not restricted to the elect

Not to be confused with saving grace

The grace by which we are saved

There is not two different graces of god but different manifestations of it

Results

it doesnt bring salvation

Recipients

Believers & unbelievers

Source

Does not flow DIRECTLY from Christs atoning work

Examples of Common Grace

Physical

Unbelievers get to live in this world because of grace

the earth that we live in is not only thorns and thistles

Genesis 3:18 “thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”

It produces food and water

Material for clothing & shelter

Matthew 5:44–45 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Acts 14:16–17 “In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.””

In OT, God blessed Potiphars house because Joseph was a slave ther

Genesis 39:5 “From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.”

Beauty of creation

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Psalm 8:3–4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Intellectual

Although satan is the father of lies and there is no truth that is in him, Unbelievers are not totally given up to intellectual evil

Tell the truth

Rational

Knowledgeable

In fact, all people know God exists

Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Why there is often man made religions

Acts 17:22–23 “So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”

All science & technology is a result of common grace

Science

a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

Relies on reliable & honest observation, truthful measurement, relevant experiment…

Honesty, integrity, logic

Medicine, vaccines - common grace

Planes, cars - common grace

Ipad, cell phone, internet, facetime - common grace

Moral

People are not as evil as they could be

The bible talks about giving people over to greater and greater sin

Psalm 81:12 “So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.”

Romans 1:24 “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,”

The demonic realm is completely and totally devoted to evil & destruction. Humans are restrained

Hitler was not as evil as he could be

Conscience

Romans 2:14–15 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them”

Many unbelievers will agree with God’s moral laws but will have no basis for justifying them

In what ways do we see this

Honesty

Good deeds

Charity

Faithfullness

Accountability

Creative

Art

Music

Writing

Poems

Movies

Entertainment

AGT

Athletics

Cooking

Societal

Family structure

Adam & Eve didnt stop being married & had children after the fall

Their children had families

I would marry two unbelievers. The institution of marriage is a gift from God and points us to the gospel

Human Government

Romans 13:1–6 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.”

This is one of the primary ways in which God restrains evil

Laws

Prison

Police

Businesses

Charities

Corporations

Friendship

Religious

Common grace commends prayer toward unbelievers

Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

1 Timothy 2:1–2 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

Jesus healed all who came to him

Luke 4:40 “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.”

no reason to believe it was only believers

God may answer the “prayers” of unbelievers

We know God hears our prayers as a father hears his child

Unbelievers prayers are not in that way

“He may hear the unregenerate as a king hears a beggar at the gate, but he does not hear them as a father hears his child”

He may grant their request out of his kindness, not their worthiness

Common grace and special grace influence each other

Internal

Carpenters to build church buildings

Printing press

Bibles

Externally

Societies benefit from Churches

Prayers for others

Laws influenced by christianity

Abolition of slave trade

Hospitals

hospitals as we know it were created by christians

image of God

Caring for sick

Loving neighbor

Universities

Christian creation

Cambridge, oxford, harvard, yale, princeton. All christian

Common grace does not save people

Common grace cannot:

Bring someone to faith

Bring someone to repentence

Change disposition toward sin

The restraint of sin and intellectual or moral actions do not gain favor with God

They dont flow out of faith

Romans 14:23 “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

They arent for God

Matthew 22:37 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Ultimately they are for self

Unbelievers can receive more common grace than believers

More skill, intelligence, creativity, material wealth

Reasons for Common Grace

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.”

He could have wiped everyone out immediately if he wasn’t going to save any

Demonstrate Gods 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.”

His kindness is put on display to the world

Psalm 145:9 “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

Demonstrate Gods Justice

When unbelievers continually reject God’s invitation of salvation, there is a greater demonstration of justice

Romans 2:5 “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.”

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.”

Demonstrate Gods glory

Gods glory is put on display throughout his administration of common grace

Men & women demonstrate Gods qualities

Dominion over the earth reflects wisdom of God

Our response to the doctrine of common grace

It does not mean that those who receive it will be saved

The kindest, most generous, most intelligent, wealthiest, you name it does not mean they dont need the gospel

We can think those who are very gracious and self serving are “close enough” and don’t need the gospel

Remember they are still enemies with God

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

Against christ

Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Children of wrath

Ephesians 2:3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Be careful not to reject the good things that unbelievers do as totally evil

Yes, whatever is not from faith is sin, however, God works through humans and every good thing is from God.

Ex. Pharisees and Sadducees interpret the sky

Matthew 16:1–3 “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

Luke 6:33 “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.”

We ought to rejoice and thank God (and others) for kind words and good deeds

The doctrine of common grace ought to stir our affections and gratitude toward God

Medicine

Families

Technology

Justice

We deserve none of it yet God gives it to us out of his grace