The Problem of Good

When the World Seems Fine without God

D. Marion Clark

• Publisher: P Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781596388703
• eBook ISBN: 9781596388710
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

These essays tackle questions raised by God's common grace: Do moral non-Christians really need the gospel? How do we respond to impressive non-Christian contributions to culture and society?

Part One

An Exposition
of the Doctrine of
Common Grace

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Restraining Sin and Wrath

Steven J. Lawson

The doctrine of total depravity, which states that unconverted people are entirely plagued by sin, begs certain questions to be asked: Why are the unrepentant not as evil as they could be? Why are those who are dead in trespasses and sins not fully immersed in a life of complete iniquity? And why is society not more perverse than it is?

These questions raise another set of questions: Why does God allow unbelievers to continue to live? Did not God say that in the day man sins, he will surely die? Yet people do not immediately die after their first sin. Why does God not strike down every transgressor the very moment they break the Law?

Admittedly these are challenging questions that deserve careful thought. More importantly, they demand biblical answers. Mere philosophical speculations will not suffice. The issue is what God himself says in his inspired Word.

The answers to these thought-provoking questions concern a theological teaching in Scripture known as the doctrine of common grace. This truth expounds the fact that God’s goodness is extended to all, even to unbelievers. Though the term common grace is not found in the Bible, its teaching most certainly is. By way of comparison, the same could be said of the doctrine of the Trinity. Although this word is not used in Scripture, this biblical truth is clearly set forth throughout its pages. So it is with common grace.

In this chapter our investigation of common grace will address God’s universal kindness in restraining sin in the lives of unbelievers. Divine mercy holds back the unbelieving world from degenerating into a more corrupt depravity. By his common goodness, God refrains unregenerate people from becoming as wicked as they could possibly be. In his divine benevolence, he prevents further moral decay of the sinner and of society.

What is more, God temporarily withholds his just wrath from sinners. In so doing he chooses not to inflict immediate vengeance upon this world. Divine mercy stays the instant execution of his death sentence. Both of these spiritual realities—restraining man’s sin and restraining God’s wrath—will be the focus of this chapter.

God’s Restraint of Sin

In Scripture there are numerous passages that teach of the divine restraint of sin in the lives of unbelievers. Such a gracious hindrance by God prevents mankind from plunging deeper into a life of iniquity. The biblical testimony of this truth will be set forth under the following ten headings, each one drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. We will approach them consecutively as they appear in the biblical record.

Sin Restrained by God’s Spirit

First, sin is restrained in the lives of unbelievers by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the days before the flood God’s Spirit held back the unregenerate from a full pursuit of wickedness. The book of Genesis states,

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (Gen. 6:1–3)

This passage states that as the human race increased in number, illicit sexual acts were committed between the daughters of men and the sons of God. This likely refers to the ungodly daughters of Cain cohabitating with the godly line of Seth.1 These grievous acts were carried out despite the resistance of the Holy Spirit. By this, God was holding them back from the full practice of their evil passions. Ultimately there came a point at which God withdrew the restraining influence of his Spirit, turning this generation over to their own sinful lusts.

So it is in this present hour. There remains the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, who strives with unconverted men in order to restrain them from being as sinful as their immoral imaginations would lead them to be. This is a general restraint upon their lives, impeding them from being fully engrossed in their sins. This work of the Spirit does not necessarily bring about the regeneration of sinful men, only their restraint in sin.

Sin Restrained by Capital Punishment

Second, sin is restrained in society by the establishment of capital punishment. After the flood in the days of Noah, God sought to protect human life in the face of man’s gross violence against fellow human beings. Consequently, God instituted the practice of capital punishment as a restraint against such sinful acts of aggression. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image”(Gen. 9:6).

Following the flood, God established the basic principle of equitable justice that the punishment must fit the crime. If anyone deliberately takes the life of another person, the life of the evil aggressor must be taken. This presupposes that the person charged is justly tried and found guilty and that the death penalty is executed by established authorities. Such retribution was established by God to restrain evil men from committing further acts of murder. This was an act of common grace intended for the protection and preservation of human life.

The same is true today. Civil laws requiring the death penalty in the case of homicide are an extension of God’s common grace. Established by the government, these laws serve to restrain the evil acts of sinful men. By this retribution all citizens are hindered in their pursuit of evil. But if these laws are removed, the restraining grace of God is likewise withdrawn.

Sin Restrained by Divine Providence

Third, sin is restrained by divine intervention in the affairs of men. In the days of Abraham, God restrained the unconverted king of Gerar, Abimelech, from the sin that he intended to do against Sarah. God hindered the king from fulfilling the lustful intentions of his depraved heart. He said to Abimelech, “It was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her” (Gen. 20:6).

Because God providentially prevented Abimelech from lying with Sarah, the king was kept from committing adultery. If God had not intervened, Abimelech could have also fathered a child by Sarah. Although the Bible doesn’t give an explicit explanation of how God restrained the king from pursuing his lustful intention, God did restrain the sin of this unconverted man in an act of common grace.

This same preventative providence is active today as the Holy Spirit hinders evil people from committing sinful acts. This general mercy of God often holds back those controlled by lustful passions from spiraling downward into yet deeper moral filth. For example, there may be the providential cancellation of an airplane flight that prevents an individual from traveling to pursue an adulterous affair. This divine mercy may present itself through the loss of a job, which then restrains someone from having the purchasing power to participate in gross sin. It may be that one’s lustful intentions are discovered by another person, forcing the sin to be abandoned. Countless other scenarios can be described in which God providentially restrains evil men from the pursuit of their sin.

Sin Restrained by Limiting Satan

Fourth, sin is restrained by God’s sovereign control over Satan. The Devil is a finite being, limited by divine authority. The evil one can attack individuals only to the extent that God allows. In the days of Job, God restricted Satan and the evil that he purposed to do. God and Satan had the following exchange concerning Job:

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:8–12)

By his own sovereign prerogative, God initiated this conversation with Satan that led to Job being tested in the furnace of affliction. With sinister design, the Devil attempted to turn Job against God. But God set the boundaries for the Devil’s intended fury. The serpent of old could bring against the protagonist Job only a tribulation that was divinely limited.

To this hour, Satan continuously seeks to tempt and lure people into sin. Scripture testifies, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But the enemy is restrained by God to act only as far as God permits and no further. All the evil attacks of Satan are under the complete control of God. Though these acts are evil in themselves, God overrules them for good. What is true of believers is also true of unbelievers. By common grace Satan is restrained in his attacks against those made in God’s image.

Sin Restrained by Godly Lives

Fifth, Jesus Christ taught that sin is retrained in an evil world by the preserving influence of believers. Christians are to have a powerful influence in this world, much like salt acts as a preservative agent. Speaking to his disciples, Jesus asserted, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matt. 5:13). Jesus makes the point that his disciples are like salt in the world. Salt is a preservative that retards spoilage and withholds corruption. So it is that all followers of Christ are a preservative influence in this world, slowing down moral decay and spiritual spoilage. Their godly character acts as a purifying power that restrains the wasting away of the world.

Concerning this truth, the apostle Paul added, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:6). This is to say that a believer’s speech should act as a purifying influence in the world. As Christians carry on their daily conversations, they expose sin in the world. This has a restraining effect upon unbelievers as they pursue their sinful practices. As Christ’s disciples bear witness of God, they exert a moral restraint, causing evil men’s participation in sin to be suppressed.

This is yet another example of common grace as God strategically places believers as restraining agents in the world. By this divine benevolence unbelievers are held back in their lustful desires for sin through the preserving influence of Christ’s disciples.

Sin Restrained by Family Relationships

Sixth, Scripture indicates that sin is divinely restrained through a love that God implants within family relationships. Jesus taught this when he reasoned,

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• The Problem of Good
• Part One: An Exposition of the Doctrine of Common Grace
• Part Two: Application of Common Grace for Worship and Life
• Conclusion: The Limits of Common Grace
• Notes
• Contributors