21 September, 2018

Genesis 8:21-22—“I will not again curse the ground any more … neither will I again smite any more every living thing”


And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Gen. 8:21-22).



COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:
“God said He would not destroy the earth even though man was wicked, even from his youth. Surely this is a blessing to all human beings? Do not the reprobate benefit from this, as they are permitted to live on; their judgment is postponed; God will not bring judgment until the day when Christ returns …”


(I)

Rev. James Laning

[Source: The Standard Bearer, vol. 92, no. 1 (Oct. 1, 2015), p. 14]

Unbelievers do not benefit from God's promise not to send another flood. The longer that an unbeliever lives, the greater the punishment that he receives, both in this life and at the final judgment.

Consider, for example, Judas Iscariot. Christ said about him: “but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matt. 26:24b). Every day that Judas Iscariot lived, the worse it was for him. With each day he became more hardened in his sins, and the punishment he would receive at the final judgment became worse.

This is true not only of Judas Iscariot, but also of all those who hate God and His Son. Every day their judgment becomes heavier: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5). Therefore, it simply is not true that all human beings benefit from the fact that God does not send another flood.

When an unbeliever receives bodily health for another day, he is receiving from God something good, for which he should give thanks to God. But what he receives does not profit him, because he makes use of it only to sin more.

Believers, and believers only, profit from what God gives them each day. They alone are receiving the words that God speaks. And it is only when we receive God's Word along with His good gifts that we benefit from what He gives to us.


[For more on this text by Rev. Laning, check out the following explanation of this passage:


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(II)

Francis Turretin (1623-1687)

[Source: Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 3, p. 42]

[For] no other reason does he [i.e., God] sustain the world than to collect from it the number of the elect.


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(III)

Prof. Herman C. Hanko

[Source: Private Correspondence, 21/11/2016]

The reprobate are here for the purpose of the salvation of the elect. As the corn plant is necessary for the corn kernels, the reprobate are necessary for the salvation of the elect. The elect church is like a building that God builds throughout history; the reprobate are the scaffolding.


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(IV)

Dr. C. Matthew McMahon

[Source: The Two Wills of God Made Easy: Does God Really Have Two Wills? (2016), pp. 77-78]

The sustaining of their existence is not a gracious act. It is a decretive means by which they store up wrath and judgment against the Creator for the day of wrath. [cf. Gen. 15:16; I Thess. 2:16]. It is for these reasons that I think the term of common grace is ill founded and conveys a wrong impression of God’s will … God actively pursues His glory in the wicked by the coming judgment. In this way, they must live to fill up their sins and must also be left without excuse.


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(V)


More to come! (DV)








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