Thursday, August 09, 2007

Common Grace

"Common grace is the grace of God by which he gives people innumerable blessings that are part of salvation."-Wayne Grudem's definition

I just finished chapter 31 in Wayne's book. The part I loved the most in this chapter is when he said that "Common Grace and Special Grace influence each other".

Common Grace is what God gives to believers and unbelievers alike. Such as Rain, Sun Light, Trees, Nature, etc...

Special Grace is the grace that God only grants to the believers. It's the grace to receive salvation.

It's Common grace that I am not burning in Hell this very instant. What grace that is! It's so miraculous that God receives glory by offering grace to every single person alive. All we can do is offer praise to God! Our God is good!

When unbelievers do something good, it's only by the Lord's common grace that the wicked do good. We, as believers, should focus on seeing Christ through their actions because of common grace!

Since we are believers of Christ, we need to be even more thankful for God's Common Grace and His Special Grace.

After reading this very very short post, think of at least 10 things that God has given you only because of His common grace...

In Prayers,

-AgapeTheologian

3 comments:

Cass said...

Hey There,

Thanks for stoppin' by my site...(akingslove.blogspot.com...) it's been great reading through what you have here.

Although I COMPLETELY and joyfully agree with you that God is in it all.. there's a lot left to that statement. God may be a part of it alll, but when we ignore him (which sadly, happens all the time) He doesn't force his presence on us. Yes, we'd have to be completely spiritually blind and sometimes even physically blind to not see Him, but that's just part of the fall of Adam.
But when that happens, when we leave God out of "it" (okay lets just say leave God out of life) and then try and "speak God" it's impossible to make sense. Because the message has to come from God, not us. I can't imphasize more just how crucial that is. When we try and play God, even though God remains on the sidelines and will never leave... He lets us do our own thing and come around back to him on our own time table.
Preaching... with this mindset, that I know enough about God that I don't need his help... is the hardest thing to over come in todays churches. That's what started me on that quote.

Come on by again and we'll talk some more.
Cass

Cass said...

Hi Brother,
I guess, as I read the opinion on my opinion (we could go around and around here) my very first question I have for you is, do you believe in a free will? That you can choose between right or wrong, God and Satan, life or death? Because that is where I am coming from. Although it is a concept very hard for us to understand... it is what God is giving us. And yet God knows everything; so? Is that really free will? Yes, I believe so. Because although God sees and handles everything on this earth, He allows us to come to every point in our life on our own. And whether or not we go down the road that is the best for us or what every one would deem "Godly" God still uses those circumstances. That is what makes God... God. Free will is what makes this relationship of a man and the almighty God so amazing.
It's crazy because thats not the way we think. We think in away that we have to know what is happening at all times and in all the possible ways... but God's love is, just like your name... agape... I guess the question above all questions is, DO you (do I?) know the meaning of that? And if you do, why is it so hard to let God use a sinful human's free will?
Just like you, Brother, this is my comment, and my hope to show you what I believe the Word is saying. I pray that you understand I am writing in love and not out of any other emotion.
Praying for you
Cass

Cass said...

Before I continue, do you believe man(You and I) are good enough that we can choose God on our own? Can Man's will overpower God? Why can't God do what He wants with His creation? He's God, we are not.

The first part of that question... can get tricky. Or rather, tricky isnt the right word, God is not a God of confusion. But it can get rather frustrating to make myself clear. The Bible talks about, in many instances where GOD makes the initiative of the relationship, and we follow. As much as we would love to say we stood up and made the decision... He lovingly makes the initiative to invite us first.
Man's will can never overpower God. If it could, Brother, you got yourself a pretty weak God don't you think? I believe though that there are times that God steps back and sort of says "you really want to try that? Thats not smart, but it's your life, you have to be burned before you learn not to play with fire."
And the last part of the question.... its the same thing. Yes, God can do anything, but He's not like that. What kind of God would you run to faster? A god that puts his commands out in front of you and then twists your life into being a robot so he can say "HEY LOOK! I've got me another worshipper!" Or a God that puts his commandments out in front of us and says "I love you so much I've done A, B, C and D for you, but I want you to come on your own and worship me." And in all reality, that IS the best timing. Which God would you choose? For more reasons than one... I pick the latter.
I think I've gone on enough for one night... I'll talk to you later
Because of Christ
Cass