Judgment
When Adam and Eve
sinned, the penalty was
death. But the penalty was
not carried out
immediately. They were
banished from the garden,
there were other curses
upon them (and us) and
they had a life after,
different from the one
before (Genesis 3). But
they did not die
immediately. They had
time to reflect and repent.
If we were all "zapped" the
moment we first
committed a sin, there
would not be a human
race. This restraining of
God's wrath is an act of
grace - God's common
grace. We get a life we
don't deserve before we get
the judgment and wrath,
which we do deserve.
Part of the curse as a result
of the fall was a curse on
the earth. As a
consequence, there would
be floods, hurricanes,
earthquakes and tsunamis
(Luke 21:11). The fact
that these don't occur more
frequently and more
universally is a result of
God's grace. We deserve
to live in a world
surrounded by these things
but by God's grace we
don't experience them as
much as we might. He
gives us what we don't
deserve - God's common
grace.
When we hear of "natural
disasters" like these we
should;
- recognise that we all
deserve to
experience such
things
- praise God for his
grace
- pray for those
involved
- pray that we might
learn humility that
leads to repentance.
Common grace restrains
the wrath of God we all
deserve until a future
judgment and promotes a
life where there is
opportunity to repent and
give God the glory he
deserves.
Sin
The Bible is very clear
when it describes the state
of men and women's
hearts. The heart is
deceitful above all things
(Jeremiah 17:9) and full of
sin, from birth (even
conceived in sin). Yet
when we look at the world,
there are a couple of
concerns that we might
have with the Bible's
assessment of man.
Although we see a world in
which there is clearly sin,
it isn't as bad as it might
be. In other words the
extremes of the sinful
nature don't appear that
often, they are so rare that
society in general is
outraged when they do.
There are not that many
Hitlers, Jack the Rippers,
Attila the Huns etc, yes
there are people whose sin
becomes famously obvious
in its extreme but not that
many live down your
street. Yes, we are most
definitely all sinners,
however, if sin was to have
complete free reign in the
world, the world would be
pretty unbearable for all of
us, some people might say
it would be Hell (although
technically that's
something else even
worse). Just like God, in
his grace, holds back his
wrath at our sin, so also
God restrains sin in the
world. Again we don't get
the really sinful world we
deserve; God in his grace
restrains sin - God's
common grace.
The Bible clearly indicates
that God is long suffering
with men (2 Peter 3:9)
before he hands them over
to their sins (Romans
1:24).
When we hear of the
extremes of sin in our
society we should:
- recognise that we are
all sinners before a
Holy God, even
though some sins are
more socially
acceptable in man's
eyes
- praise God for his
grace in restraining
sin
- pray that the outrage
that people feel when
confronted with the
extremes of sin
would lead to
repentance
Good in the world
Not only does God, to a
certain extent, restrain sin,
He also promotes good in
the world. Society, even a
sinful one, can only
function because of good
in the world. Many things
that we take for granted,
even a mother's love, is as
a result of man's
continuing knowledge of
the good part of "the
knowledge of good and
evil" that Adam and Eve
knew.
The fact that a sinful
human judge can dispense
anything like justice (Luke
18:6), that men and women
can show compassion,
mercy and love or any
good thing, is because of
God's grace - God's
common grace. These
good things that men do
are in no way "good
works" sufficient to
achieve any redeeming of
our fallen character before
a Holy God.
Any society that has any
kind of functional stability,
and all human societies
are corrupted by sin, can
only exist because of
man's ability to carry out
what some theologians
call "civil righteousness".
Were it not for God's
common grace contending
with men to restrain sin
and prompting good, the
world in which we live
would be even worse.
The Bible clearly
demonstrates that there
are some blessings that
God pours out on all
people, the righteous and
the unrighteous. He
causes the sun and the rain
to nurture and feed the
crops of all nations. He
also gives gifts generally
within the world, he
stimulates different men
and women with interest
and ability in worthy tasks
of cultivating the arts and
sciences. These are things
that can occupy people's
time and energies and yet
benefit society and the
civilisation of the human
race as a whole.
God therefore prompts
good and gives good
things generally to
mankind. He doesn't give
us the full force of living
in a world of our own
desires. Once again we
don't get the world we
deserve - God's common
grace.
It would be easy to get
this doctrine out of
proportion and I have only
picked on three of the
more obvious aspects of
its outworking in the
world. It is important that
we reflect on the goodness
of God, not just in his
salvation of his people but
also in his continuing care
and provision for mankind
in general. This grace is
not incompatible with the
idea that, “The wrath of
God is being revealed
from heaven against all
the godlessness and
wickedness of men who
suppress the truth by their
wickedness” (Romans
1:18).
Theologians have always
distinguished between
"saving grace" or "special
grace" and "common
grace". Saving grace is
that act of God by which
we are saved, something
unique to God's church -
his "called out" people.
Common grace doesn't
save but it does exist in
creation and the people of
the world in general.
We have to be careful
here and typically in
theology we need to take
care not to be confused by
the words. Many of us
have been taught that
grace means, "God's
Riches At Christ's
Expense" – and this is true
when we talk about saving
grace. The definition that
works for both common
grace and saving grace is,
"when God freely gives us
what we don't deserve".
Also the word "common"
doesn't mean that it is
found in equal measure in
all cases. (Just like
"common sense" at times
appears an incredibly rare
thing.)
So, by God's common
grace the judgment of
God is delayed, giving
repentance a chance. The
effects of sin in the world
are moderated, and good
things provided and
promoted to give society
some semblance of order.
Many people will not
recognise God's grace in
granting time for
repentance, in holding
back our sinful extremes
and in promoting good
things in the world.
Do we?
- Tim Fisher
