Common Grace

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, so we are in kind of a new section. We'll talk about that in a second. And then we'll kind of flip through like we normally do. We finished our discussion of the Holy Spirit last week. But I want to ask a really important question for you guys today. I want to ask, what is your favorite kind of art? Your favorite kind? Yes. Music. Music. That is a kind of art. Yes. [00:00:30] Speaker B: The art of turning play. [00:00:32] Speaker A: Okay. A double play. You can make the argument that's kind of artistic, maybe more athletic, but. [00:00:40] Speaker B: Yeah, the art of getting a math question. [00:00:46] Speaker A: Okay, guys, we're maybe stretching the word art a little bit too far. But, hey, you know, that's a fine thing. Yes. I've heard it said before that film. [00:00:54] Speaker B: Is man's ultimate art form because it's all the other art forms combined. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that sounds. It's a good argument. I mean, films definitely are a wonderful kind of art. Yes. You were going to say movies. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there are other kinds. And no one said paintings. That's okay. Or sculptures or poems. All of those are art forms as well. Does anyone have a favorite piece of art? Like a favorite band or favorite movie or. Yes. [00:01:22] Speaker B: Well, I have multiple categories. [00:01:25] Speaker A: Just pick one or two. [00:01:27] Speaker B: Favorite music. The Beatles. [00:01:30] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Very artistic. Yes. Okay. [00:01:39] Speaker B: Either One direction or zombies 4. Because that has Malachi Barton in it. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Zombies 4 is a movie. Right. No, I know. I was just trying to follow. She said a band. A band. Okay. Okay. It does. Kinsler, Starry Night. Famous painting. That's great. [00:01:59] Speaker B: So I like a bunch of different things. [00:02:01] Speaker A: No, you only get to pick one right now. [00:02:03] Speaker B: I'm in, like, a phase of Reliant. [00:02:04] Speaker A: K. Reliant K. Okay. You were going to say that. Keep doing this, David. I haven't called on you. [00:02:12] Speaker B: I gotta say that. [00:02:13] Speaker A: One banana just duct taped to the wall. I know. That speaks to the soul, doesn't it? The Beatles. You're all saying the Beatles for Jin Le. Okay, cool. Was that a museum here? Okay. That's awesome. Yeah. Pink Floyd. Okay, great. Those are all great. I was trying to think of some that are. That are at least famous. What? No, I know you guys are assuming that I was saying that you Yalls were bad answers. I've never said that. You seem a little defensive, though, about your One Direction band. You know, no one said the Mona Lisa. That's really famous. That's a really great painting. It's historic. When I was thinking, I thought of Interstellar. I love that movie. It's a movie. It's a Movie. And then I thought of. No one had said anything about architecture. So I thought of Big Ben. And I remember seeing that in London. And really, I mean, I could go on and on just with London and architecture, but there are all sorts of wonderful artistic things in the world. And all of this art is an example of today's topic, Common grace. That's the doctrine we're going to learn. Common grace. Now, before we define what that means, let's review real quick. What is theology? Yes. [00:04:03] Speaker B: Study of God and how to be more like Him. [00:04:07] Speaker A: Exactly. No, that's right. Study of God and how to be more like Him. So we want to know and live according to what we know about Him. We don't want to just know. We want to do. What are some of the topics we've studied so far, like the big ones. Does anyone remember? I know some of you are newer, so you missed a lot of them. Maybe someone else might know. We can think of what's first. The first topic we covered helps us to know all of the others because it helps us to know the guide, we might call it. Well, the Holy Spirit is one. We just did Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, that was the easy one you guys could have done. We all just did that. You look like you were about to answer. [00:04:51] Speaker B: Wait, wait, how far does this go back? [00:04:54] Speaker A: Oh, like a year ago. I know this is really hard, but. [00:04:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember the response very distinctly. I always remember the, like, attributes of God that we don't have. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Yes. [00:05:04] Speaker B: And then there's also, like, attributes of God that we do have. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Yeah, Incommunicable. Just for God, communicable. They're communicated to us. That's right. Yeah. We have them in a lesser degree, but yeah. So we talked about the doctrine of God. So just kind of who he is. The first one was doctrine of the Word. So you start there because the Word is how we know all of the others. So we started there. We did doctrine of God. We talked about the Trinity. We talked about God the Son and who he is and what he does. We also talked about creation and created things. So even talking about angels and demons. So we've. We've studied all those things. We got to the Holy Spirit, and now that we've all of that, we are in a new category. So we have these big categories and then lessons underneath. So this next big category has 10 lessons, so it's pretty big. And it's the doctrine of salvation. So again, just the word doctrine just means kind of a set of teachings. So this is what the Bible teaches about salvation categorized into 10 lessons now today is common grace. You might think at different points, it doesn't seem to have a lot to do with salvation because we'll learn that common grace is not saving grace. But it does have some overlap that I think we'll see. Importantly, I think it pushes people towards saving grace. Common grace is. And this is the summary, so you kind of have at least part of it written out at the top of your page. Common grace is the universal, that means for everyone, Universal favor that God grants to all people. So it's the universal favor that God grants to all people, both believers and unbelievers. Universal. All people, both believers and unbelievers. It is a grace that is not restricted to Christians only. That is why it's called common. It is common grace. Can you guys name some of the ways that God grants grace to all people, even unbelievers? Yeah. Yeah, right. So even though Adam and Eve sinned and the punishment was death, they did not immediately die. Just like we don't immediately die typically when we sin. But we have a life to live. We have opportunities to see and know God and to turn from our sins. That's a great example. Any others? Creation. Creation, yeah. Creation is common grace. Both believers and unbelievers enjoy creation and have the same responsibilities to creation. And it points us all to the Lord. You know, Arts is another one. We see beautiful things. God is a God of beauty. So he gives talent and skill to people, whether they're unbelievers or believers. And it reflects really his intention and his design. So those are some common grace examples. Let's go to our first category, the major affirmations. These are the kind of the basic truths we want to affirm about this. So the first one is this. God gives his image to all people. God gives his image to all people. So turn in your Bibles to the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1. It's where we learn this. Genesis 1. You're probably really familiar with these, but we're going to turn and read them anyway. So Genesis chapter one. So big number one, little number 26, Genesis 1, 26, 27. Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image and the image of God. He created him, male and female. He created them. So what about common grace? Does this passage teach us everyone's created in God's. I'm sorry, what? Believers and unbelievers. Yeah, Everybody's created in God's image. Sorry to interrupt. Levi, were you gonna say something different? Yeah, same thing. Yeah. Everyone is given this image, this stamp of God on their being. Does anyone remember what the image of God means or entails? We did talk about this a long time ago. Does anyone know what it means? Oh, Henry. Yeah. You said not one of many primates. That's right. We are a special creation that God made. We're not a blend of other creations. He made man special. That's right. Anything else that it entails? Yeah. [00:10:04] Speaker B: Featherless biped. [00:10:06] Speaker A: A featherless bipad. [00:10:08] Speaker B: Biped. [00:10:09] Speaker A: Biped. I don't know what that means. Are you going to. You can explain? [00:10:13] Speaker B: Well, feather's B is a creature that walks on two legs and does not fold. [00:10:19] Speaker A: Oh. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Those words make sense together. Okay. Yeah. We are not just a. We are not just a creation. There is something special. You know, the image of God means we reflect his beauty. We can reflect his character. Other than when we sin, you know, the sin coming into the world kind of blurs this and mars it. So we don't reflect the image as we were intended to. It gives human life dignity and value that is especially above all other created things and created beings. So the image of God is really important to understanding the rest of the Bible. Who we are, we don't know who we are. We definitely can't know who God is. So it's really important for us to know this. And God gives this to all people. So it is good to remember, because our duty is to treat all people as if they are made in God's image. So even those, you know, we prayed that psalm, even those who hate the Lord in all that they do, they speak against him. We must love them and treat them with dignity and respect just as we would other people in our own church. Now, related to this first one, that God gives his image to all people is our second affirmation. God gives all people the ability to obey the cultural mandate. So God gives all people the ability to obey the cultural mandate. I know that's a weird phrase you probably don't use a lot. So let's read another verse and maybe we can figure out. This is what I mean by it. Genesis 1:28. So we just look one verse down. You know, we don't have to turn the page. God blessed them and God said To them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So this mandate, this is what I mean by it, is to marry, to have children. Now, do only Christians do that? No others, Mary, have children. This is not just for Christians. It also says to have dominion over creation. Do only Christians do this? No, all people must do this. All people do this by taming animals, eating them, farming, inventing things, and just living on the earth. These are ways that we have dominion and subdue the earth. And this is something that all humans do. So God gives that ability to obey that to all humans. Our third affirmation is God provides physical conditions to sustain human life. So that just sustain human life means give the environment necessary for humans to live. And he gives and provides all the conditions that allow us to actually live and not just die and go extinct. Now, in what ways does God do this? How does God give us the physical conditions to live life? What are some things that he does or gives? [00:13:20] Speaker B: Yeah, well, like, not like too far away from the sun or too, like, close to it. [00:13:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's right. So the earth is in the perfect place and it doesn't just, like, move out of place. Yeah. And also. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Maybe this falls into a category, but, like, we're, like, smarter than most animals, so we could, like, kill them. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Or even, like, just inventing and farming. Doing those sorts of things takes a special sort of intelligence that God has given. That's right. Yeah. What else? Did I see another hand? Yeah. Oxygen. Oxygen. Yeah, that's right. There are all sorts of them. I mean, we just talked about having kids. Reproduction is another one that allows us to continue to live. We could go on and on and on. But even, like, those simple things we don't want to take for granted. Oxygen, our placement in the solar system, those sorts of things God does intentionally. Now let's go to the New Testament, to Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, Matthew 5. We're going to be towards the end of Matthew 5. So Matthew 5:45, Matthew 5:45. Jesus is speaking here, and he says, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. So we see the sun rises, he provides rain. But Jesus even adds in something interesting. Is the rain for Christians only? No, he says the rain is for the just and the unjust, those who are justified by grace, those who are not. The rain is provided for all human life. God sustains life on earth. He is a good God. Now, as a side note, I think this, even just this simple little verse and this idea can be encouraging for us because it means that we do not need to fear the end of the world. We don't need to fear that we're going to burn up with us on it because of climate change. I think this can give us peace and trust God to bring to end when he wants to end, to sustain life, when he wants to sustain life because he is in control. He brings the rain, he raises the sun. And so I bring this up because I know this can be a point of anxiety for a lot of people, but I think we can have confidence and peace in the God, the good God, who sustains life. Now, I don't say this to say that we should do bad things to the earth, you know, litter and not take care of it. You know, God gave us the earth to have dominion, to care for it. And that's part of what we've talked about before. But God ultimately has the power in his hands to sustain life, and he will do it as long as he pleases. Now let's go to Acts 14, just a little bit to the right from here. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 14. And we're going to look at verse 17. Acts 14:17 says, yet he talking about God 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. So what does the first phrase of that verse mean? Acts 14:17. Yet he did not leave himself without witness. What does he mean by that? [00:17:41] Speaker B: There were witnesses before he left. [00:17:47] Speaker A: That's a good guess. Not quite. I think what he's saying is the rains, the fruitful seasons are acting as the witness of God's goodness. So he is saying he did not just leave the earth and leave us to wander about, but he gave signs and good things to all people that they would turn to God. God provides for all of creation. He provides for all people as a witness to his power and his divinity. So, as if you're a Christian, as a Christian, you can look even to creation. You can look to a tree or a giraffe, something in creation, and you can see evidence of a creator. And it seems apparent and obvious that an intelligent and good God created this. For non Christians, this provides evidence that they must be punished as they look at These obvious signs of God providing rain and food and planting trees and giving us oxygen and providing all of these common grace things, yet rejecting him because God is evident, yet they continue to deny and reject Him. They enjoy the rain and refuse Him. They eat food from the ground and yet still reject and trample on Him. So it's this kind of double edged sword that God provides through his providence, his providing for the world. And so that brings to our attention one of the main purposes of common grace. So this is really important for you to know. I would even say write down. One of the main purposes of common grace is to point people to God. That's why he has provided grace commonly to all people, not just to Christians. That people may be pointed to God. Those who will believe are pointed and they turn and trust Him. Those who will not believe are condemned by their rejection of him and their disbelief. So that's the main purpose of common grace. And that's where it overlaps with teachings about salvation. It points us to God, it gives evidence against the guilty, and it gives a path forward for those who will trust in Him. Now the fourth affirmation. God gives all people a conscience. God gives all people a conscience. Conscience. C O N Science C O N S C I E N C E I thought that might be a little hard to spell, maybe, but God gives all people a conscience. Conscience. That's an easy way to remember how to spell that word. We're going to go to Romans chapter two for this. So Romans is right after Acts, so you don't have to go too far to the right. Romans 2, we're going to look at verses 14 and 15, Romans 2, 14, 15. Paul writes, 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. So here we see that non believers, he calls them Gentiles, they don't have the law. Talking about the law of Moses. So this would have been referring to non Jews. But kind of easier way for us to understand in this context is these non Christians, those without the law, these Gentiles, they have the law, which is another way of saying they have morality. They have a sense of right and wrong written on their hearts. So even without the law, without revelation, they have some idea that there is good and evil, there is right and wrong. So it says that they have consciences and their consciences, what do they do? They accuse them of sin. They are a law to themselves. Even though they don't have the law, their conscience bears witness. Their conflicting thoughts accuse them. So these consciences accuse them of wrongdoing. Even when they don't know the word. They don't know the law of God because it's in some way imprinted on them. You might even say stamped, like an image. This comes from our being created in God's image as well. Now we see over time, because this could be a little confusing. Do people have consciences? We've seen people do some really evil things in the world. You don't even have to go very far back in history. I mean, days, weeks, months past, you see lots of evil things. If you listen to the news at all, you'll see them day in and day out. So how can we say that all these people have consciences? I think what we can see is that someone's conscience can erode, get weaker over time. You can think of like a rock in a river. Now, that gets really smooth because of. Because of erosion. I think maybe the grippy parts of our conscience kind of wear down over time. As one of the dangers of sin, it's one of the consequences of sin is over time we can lose our ability to feel guilty. We can lose that conscience. We can kind of smooth it over and kind of get used to the feeling of being convicted of sin. And then it gets easier and easier and easier to go back. This is how really addictive sins really get a grip in someone's life as they go time and again into their sin and lose the guilty feeling within. So God gives all people a conscience. The next affirmation. God designed family and government structures. This is a common grace. God gave us families and governments. You know, the first person of the Trinity which we've talked about, the Father. He is called Father, and he has a son. So even in God's very being, there's this at least an idea of a family. It's not exactly like our families, but we understand that something about that relationship is special to God. And he has given it to man. And it was one of the first things he gave to men and women to do was to be fruitful. That means to have children, to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. So God mandates this and teaches parents to train up their children. You see that in the Book of Proverbs and Deuteronomy 6, some really important passages of God saying, train your children so he's got this whole plan and idea of a family structure, how a man and woman be wed, they have children, they train up those children, they become adults and they do the same. And that repeats. So God gave us families and that's a good thing and that's for all people. And again, it reflects God's character. God also, according to Romans 13:1, which I guess we can flip there, we're really close. In Romans 13:1, he says, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God. So that's why he says no authority except from God. And those that exist have been instituted by God. So God gave us government, he gives us even laws that kind of establish government. Even as far back as Genesis 9 with the noic covenant telling them how to have justice. He says, you know, if someone murders, they should have their bloodshed as well. So, and that is a kind of a public governmental task. So government also, and you know, government can be criticized rightly so many times. But in general, the idea of government comes from God. Its primary purpose, when it's operated correctly, is to restrain evil with its authority, the authority that God delegates to it. So this too helps create an environment where the gospel can spread. That's what government should do. So government should grant freedoms, I think ideally especially freedoms of religion. And I would say, you know, that's a very distinctly Baptist idea. I know many other faithful Christians don't, don't think that they're maybe more in favor of state instituted churches. And I, you know, again, faithful Christians can believe that. But I think when governments do this, when they think about publicly promoting good, restraining evil and giving freedom of conscience to people, it allows Christians to operate freely so that we can operate freely and we can call people to repent and believe in the gospel and God can convict them of sin. We don't need governments convicting people of sin. We want God to work that in their hearts. And so he gave us government for the purpose even of evangelism and church planting and missions. So God gives family and government and that's a wonderful thing. The last affirmation. God gives common grace in different measures. So differently. Maybe you've thought this before, maybe you've thought, well, it doesn't seem like everyone does have the same. Some people do have all they need to eat and drink, and some people starve and dehydrate and die. Some people have a lot of money where they can do a lot of things. Some people have none. Some people are really talented and artistic and some People just aren't. So there are different measures of this. And it's not necessarily that Christians have more of those things or less. It's a mix. It's given in different measures. But regardless of what measure God has given to us, for Christian believers, God's common grace should prompt us to thank Him. Whether it's common grace shown to you or even when you see it shown to others. You know, like we were talking about art, you're listening to a band, you're looking at that painting you love, you're watching a movie you enjoy, and you can thank God that there are beautiful things that can even point us, even in like, very minor ways sometimes to Him. We can thank him for those things. But for non believers here, Romans 2:4 says, or 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? So again, this common grace is convicting for non believers. We see in Romans 2. 4 that his common grace to you should lead you to repentance. So do you see God's order and beauty in the world? And have you not believed in His Son, Jesus Christ? You must turn from your sins and believe in Him. If his common grace doesn't lead you to repentance, then you're condemned. And that's the point of this. Common grace is kind of the kickstarter towards salvation for those who would believe. So those are the affirmations I wanted to cover. Let's talk about some of the affirmations. Errors to avoid. You know, common grace isn't talked about a lot or taught very often. And so there aren't a bunch of historic, you know, with, you know, like heresies and stuff like that about it. But there's still some errors that we can avoid. So the first one, we must not neglect or dismiss common grace. I think it's an important doctrine for us to talk about. That's why I have a whole lesson for it. Because, you know, not giving thanks to God for what he has done is wrong and it's sin. We should give thanks to God for what he has done. So that means you all should look for ways to appreciate God's grace and thank him for it. Even for his common grace to other people, we can marvel at his grace to other people. We can, and we can thank him for that. A second error to avoid, we must not confuse common with saving grace. So those are kind of the two main types of grace we'll usually talk about there's common to all. Saving is not to all. Common grace does not contribute to or even indicate saving grace. Right? Someone can have a lot of common grace, A lot of these artistic abilities, physical resources, fame, all of these things that could be good for them in many ways on the world. But it doesn't necessarily indicate that they are Christian, that they are better off eternally. So there's a sharp separation there, you know, even when a non believer does something good. So that's another example of common grace, a nonbeliever doing something good, like a non Christian citizen risking his life to save someone else's on the subway or something. That does not prove that they're Christian, but it does prove that God is real. That there is this reaction for a lot of people to do the right thing. And we can praise God for that even in people who, in their words, deny God. But we don't want to confuse it. We don't want to think, I'm poor and lonely, I have no skills, which probably isn't totally true. You don't want to think that and think God does not love me. Because God sent his son Christ to die. If you turn and believe in him, you will be saved from your sins. He does love you. And so we shouldn't indicate that as God loving some people more than others. So those are the two errors I'd say we should avoid. Now let's talk about enacting the doctrine. How do we live this in our lives? We've talked about a couple of these here and there, but first, just to repeat is give thanks to God. You should thank God. You know, this week. I think this would be a good practice for you guys. So I highly encourage you to write this down and try to do this journal. You know, write down several ways that God shares grace with you, shares grace with others. Write those things down and pray to him and thank Him. Thanksgiving is so important. At the beginning of Romans we see there's this issue for mankind. And I'm trying to find the verse. What can be known about God is plain to men, all people, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power, divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. So they're without excuse for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking. Their foolish hearts were darkened. So there we see kind of the erosion of conscience, but we're talking about sinful people that devolve into sin. And one of the key things Paul points out is the they did not honor or give thanks to God. So we must give thanks to God for the things he has given us. The second application is respond with approval and praise for God's gifts to all people. I think this can be a good exercise. Try to identify ways that others prove God's existence by their good actions and thank him for those too. Thank God that he has a sovereign and powerful hand that provides good things, even as simple as oxygen, all the way to good deeds, that people do good things, that even, you know, someone, even a governmental figure that you might understand as being incredibly wicked, maybe sometimes does something really good for the world even while denying God. And we can be thankful that even in those situations, God's in control and that he is providing for us. Let's pray and then we can head over. Father, thank you for your grace that you have shared with mankind, Lord, the wonderful things we can see, whether it's your creation or the art that other peoples make, whether it's good things done or just simple little providences that you have put in our lives or in the lives of others. Lord, we want to take this moment and thank you for those. God, we pray and ask that in doing these things and looking around and seeing your common grace shared to all of mankind, that you would draw some people here even to yourself through that, that they would see that you are a good God and a loving God and that there truly is evidence of you all around us. Lord, we pray that that would bring some of these people in here and even in our lives outside of church to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, we pray all of this in his name. Amen.