Is God gracious to everyone or only to the saved?
Suggested Daily Readings: Psalm 145:8-9; Luke 6:35-36 and Ephesians 2:1-10
God is gracious to all, but in different ways, with different types of grace.
1. We can speak of God’s grace (sometimes called “common grace”) to all people by graciously giving to all:
Physical blessings – Physical life and health, food, shelter, clothing, etc.
Moral blessings – Man’s conscience and the desire to live morally upright lives
Societal blessings – Civil decency, law and order, health and welfare, etc.
Restraining blessings – Restraining man’s sin from breaking out into actions of personal and societal sin, and God restraining His punishment of sin
2. Grace can also refer to God’s grace to church-going people, those brought up under the teachings of God’s Word. What a gracious blessing it is to hear and know of God’s law and gospel!
3. We also think of God’s grace in a regenerating way (termed God’s “saving grace”). This heart-renewing, live-changing grace is worked by God the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the saved only. The fruits of saving grace include a person’s full salvation: saving call, regeneration, conversion, saving faith, union with Christ, justification, sanctification, assurance, perseverance and glorification.
Which type of grace is referred to in the following scriptural references?
Psalm 145:8-9?
Romans 3: 1-2?
Romans 3:23-26?
Ephesians 1:7?
Deuteronomy 7:6?
Luke 6:35-36?
If we disregard God’s common grace and despise the blessings of being raised under God’s Word, the results will be terrible. Despising greater degrees of gracious blessings will result in greater depths of righteous punishment. Therefore God’s blessings must direct us to Jesus, to repentance and faith, otherwise God’s temporal blessings will result in greater eternal punishment.
Read Luke 12:48, Matthew 11:22 and Mark 6:11. How do these verses clearly warn us not to despise any of God’s gracious blessings? Why do you need God’s saving grace in your life in order to not despise God’s common grace blessings?