Posts by Josh

What is “common grace”?

Posted by on Dec 6, 2011 | 1 comment

After this weekend’s sermon, many people have asked further questions about a doctrine we discussed called “common grace”.  The following is a helpful rundown on this doctrine by Bridger Heath Hollensbe.

What Is Common Grace?

STARTING POINT:

Yesterday, Pastor Josh made a reference in his sermon to a phrase called “Common Grace”. While it is not a phrase that is used often, it is definitely an idea that we should grow to appreciate, because in doing so, properly, it will increase our affections toward Christ.

Before unpacking this concept, I must explain that the concept of “common grace” must be viewed through a Biblical lens while keeping these two truths in mind:

  • The complete and faultless sovereignty of God over everything.
  • The complete depravity of every human being.

With those in mind, here we go….

DEFINITION:

The old British preacher Martyn Lloyd Jones described common grace in the best way I have found: “Common grace is the term applied to those general blessings which God imparts to all men and women indiscriminately as He pleases, not only to His own people (Christians), but to all men and women, according to His own will”.

THE NEED:

As humans (apart from Christ), we are completely corrupt, perverted and out of control in our wickedness. Scripture is not shy in making this abundantly clear. (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9, Titus 1:15-16, Isaiah 53:6, Mark 10:18, Matthew 15:19). Justice should have it that from the very first nano-second that we sin, we would be punished eternally, and our lives should stop. We should not be given another second. Therefore, anything given to us above and beyond that is grace. We are living in a constant state of grace. We are experiencing that grace every second of our lives. As we all know people who do not have a relationship with Christ, we see that even they are benefitting from the influence of this grace with every breath that they take.

There is so much more that is given to every human (above and beyond breathing) after we have sinned, that we all take for granted. Things like laughter, appreciating beauty, the ability to love, the ability to be happy, etc…

Common grace is God’s kindness shown to all of mankind, regardless of where our human nature should have left us. It is important that we recognize that this universal grace is the only thing that prohibits us from seeing the full result of our sin if the true motives and desires of our hearts would truly be played out.

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES:

Scripture gives us some great examples of God demonstrating common grace (as pointed out by John MacArthur):

  • Giving us a conscience, which enables us to know the difference between right and wrong, and to some degree placing moral constraints on evil behavior (Rom. 2:15)
  • Sovereignly maintaining order in human society through government (Rom. 13:1–5)
  • Enabling us to admire beauty and goodness (Ps. 50:2)
  • By imparting numerous advantages, blessings, and tokens of His kindness on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:45)

These are ways that everyone (believer or non-believer) benefits from the “common grace” of God.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES:

Here are some ways that we can see God demonstrating common grace in around us today:

  • by setting up governments and putting leaders in power so that we can live peaceful lives (1 Tim. 2:2)
  • by allowing everyone (in or out of Christ) to do good (Luke 6:33)
  • by putting authorities in our lives for our good (Romans 13:4)
  • by allowing us to experience the beauty of the seasons changing (Daniel 2:21)
  • by allowing us to experience a vast array of emotions (Ecc. 3:4)
  • by giving us the ability to truly love each other (1 John 4:7)
  • by allowing us to turn from evil (Job 1:1)
  • by protecting us from constant evil and torment (Job 1:8)
  • by giving us beautiful oceans, stars, planets, mountains, scenery and animals to marvel at (Gen 1)
  • by keeping the ocean within it’s borders (Job 38:11)
  • by allowing us to rest (Deut 5:12)
  • by providing us with the necessities we need to live (Matthew 6:30)
  • by constantly making plants grow so we can continue to eat (Psalm 104:14)

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO:

Common grace DOES NOT save sinners. Every human that has ever walked on this earth is part of the “offspring of God” (Acts

17:28). The Lord is good to ALL (this is referring to everyone on earth), and His mercies are over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:9). Everyone benefits from this grace, but Scripture is completely clear that God has a special grace for those whom he has predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29).

In fact, God’s common grace will not stand in the way of sinners ultimately getting what they truly desire. They will get the ultimate desire of their hearts. (Romans 1:24).  Nevertheless, He continues to allow His genuine kindness to temporarily benefit them until the day of judgement comes. (Revelation 20:12)

APPLICATION:

God’s common grace gives humans amazing abilities. Look at Steve Jobs. But we must recognize that he was not the main reason that we have the great gadgets that run most of our lives today. He only had what he was given. These things (and Steve himself) ultimately came from the genius of God. The author of all good things (James 1:17)

Unfortunately, the problem is that we all prone to deny common grace. We worship the icons, objects, leaders, that have produced the works with the talents that God has given. Yet tend to neglect the God who gave them every single thing they needed, and enabled them to do it. This gives Christians a reason to look around at creation, technology, cultures, arts, and have a reason to love Christ even more. He is the brilliant mind behind this all, and He is ours forever!

It is when we become aware of our fallenness, and how unworthy we are of any of God’s blessings that it gives us a better perspective on life. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail” (Lamentations. 3:22). And because of His great love, we can appreciate life, love each other, smile, have friendships, enjoy things, benefit from things, and ultimately God has given us the greatest treasure we could ever want, Himself.

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Monday morning linkage…

Posted by on Dec 5, 2011 | Comments Off

I’ve come across a bunch of helpful posts in the last couple weeks. The cup filled up and now it runneth over here. Some great links to start your week…

And dessert…
  • Want to know how many people in the US have your name? Your wife’s name? Your dog’s name? This one’s for you and it’s fun to pull up at parties: howmanyofme.com

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Heads up: last week of the “2011″ series…

Posted by on Nov 30, 2011 | Comments Off

This series has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve done since I started preaching.  What we’ve seen in our church body these last four weeks is a deep, gnawing need to develop the ability to see the world through God’s eyes – to see people, events, and things how He sees them so that we can react as He does with His heart.

This last week of the series is no different as we look back at the death of (arguably) the man that changed the way the normal American experiences the world more than any other person of this generation: Steve Jobs.  Before you balk at that statement, consider the following…

  • Personal computers were considered an impossible invention because of cost… until Steve Jobs chose to defy conventional wisdom and build the Apple II, the personal computer that almost every American over the age of 25 first experienced.
  • The development of a tiny little thing called “the world wide web” was made possible by Steve Job’s built technology at his second startup company, NeXT.
  • “Pixar” was a Steve Jobs brainchild, the company that pioneered an entire (and wildly successful) genre of computer animated movies like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, and Up.
  • Nearly half of you who read this blog post will read it on an iPhone, IPod touch, or Mac computer.  Jobs’ inventions at Apple have earned him the label of “this generation’s Thomas Edison”.
But more than all that – Steve Jobs became somewhat of a luminary to this generation.  His Stanford Commencement Address about the nature of life and entrepreneurship gets quoted (often unknowingly) in everyday conversation.  This week we’ll look back at the death of a man who did remarkable and indelible good to the world, but who was open in his rejection of a Christian worldview. In my experience, Christians seem to often do two things with people like this: inappropriately demonize them or unnecessarily Christianize them.  Christians seem to often wonder, “Do I need to discredit or downplay the good this person did for the world?” OR they’ll wonder, “Did the fact that this person did so much good reveal that they were secretly Christian?”
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For everyone who has ever wondered, “As a Christian, what kind of influence can a non-Christian, who is ‘darkened in his understanding’ according to The Bible, have on my life and thinking?” this week is for you. The 2011 series is going out with a bang…

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What we tell our kids about Santa

Posted by on Nov 28, 2011 | 2 comments

I’ll probably post this every year until I die (or am physically or mentally unable to be your pastor any longer).  If you – like me – are a parent that struggles with questions surrounding what you’ll tell your kids about Santa, this is an incredibly insightful and Biblical post from Mark Driscoll on this issue.

It’s so good, I’ve printed off a copy to come back to every year.  Here you go, parents…

What we tell our kids about Santa

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A few heads-ups for this Sunday…

Posted by on Nov 17, 2011 | Comments Off

I’ll be honest: of all the weeks in the 2011 series, this one has me more nervous than any other week.  Here’s the working sermon title…

A Nation Divided: Congress Narrowly Avoids Govt Shutdown

In case you don’t remember what was happening a few months ago, this might jog your memory…

 

I’m not nervous because this is hard to address, but because politics – probably more than any other issue in our culture – has the ability to polarize, incite anger, and divide.  As one person jokingly said to me last week, “You’re going to need your preaching helmet for that week.”

Here are three “heads-ups” for this week…

  • We’ll be talking about the elephant in the country’s room (no political pun intended) – that our nation is increasingly divided by politics with two fundamentally opposing views gaining strength both in political leadership and among the people.  Many people are now even saying that America is “two nations within one border” because the divide has become so deeply entrenched.
  • We’ll specifically be looking back at congress’ last-hour avoidance of a government shutdown by approving a spending bill in the wee hours of the morning on October 4, 2011. A brief synopsis can be seen on wikipedia HERE. (it is only listed under the “History of the Republican Party” article… this is not a party-alliance link :) )
  • If you’re already cringing 3 days in advance with flashbacks to the last “God hates Democrats” or “God hates Republicans” sermon you heard (depending on what church you were in), I’m BEGGING you to give this weekend a chance.  It will be… well, different.
  • If you’re a politically-oriented person or (like me) are increasingly disillusioned by what you’re seeing in national leadership structures, this one’s for you.

See you Sunday, preaching helmet on :)

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