Friday, September 3, 2010

If Not For God's Grace, We Would Starve Our Children

According to Louis Berkhof, common grace "curbs the destructive power of sin, maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe, thus making an orderly life possible, distributes in varying degrees gifts and talents among men, promotes the development of science and art, and showers untold blessings upon the children of men" (Systematic Theology, p. 434).

The grim flip-side of common grace is the fact that God does not owe this grace to anyone. Without the grace of God, even your average run of the mill pagan would behave like a brute beast, even towards their own children. I present exhibit A: Severely Malnourished Girl Found Dead, Tied to Bed. Such acts of neglect and abuse chill even the most hardened pagan, regardless of their worldview. Let us remember and be grateful to God, because even the simplest acts which all pagans agree must be done are gifts from God. Even something as commonsense as feeding your baby and not tying it to the bed is a gift from God, and apart from his grace, neither we nor any unbeliever would possess the desire to do any better.

We also have common grace to thank for this lady going to trial and receiving what she deserves (at least in temporal terms). Ultimately, we ought to pray for her salvation so that she doesn't receive what she deserves in the afterlife.

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