When you look at the world around you do you ever stop to think how incredible the place is where you live? I grew up in Las Vegas, and even though the 110 degree summers aren’t awesome, there are a ton of amazing things about the city. When you go up on the High Roller, which is the world’s largest observation wheel, and look over the Vegas Strip it is an incredible sight. Or where I live now in Reno, snowboarding or hiking on the mountains overlooking Lake Tahoe is breath taking.
Common grace is all the undeserved blessings in this life that we do not deserve that does not have to do with salvation. There are a plethora of examples in our lives where this is evident. Think of the fun times that you have on the beach or on vacation at at the lake with your family. The Bible says that God created all of this, with one word, and he makes the sun rise and the rain fall on both the just and the unjust. Pretty much everything that we have around us is there because of God’s common grace on our lives through the wisdom and strength that he gives us every day. This includes education, non-profits, friendships that we have and businesses and the products that are made in their walls that we use every single day.
Romans also says that God has given the knowledge that he exists to each person as an instinct of common grace as well. This is why when agnostics or even atheists are in a terrible tragedy the fist thing to come out of their mouth is “God help me.” And an awesome thing is that even though they are not Christians and are not God’s children, many times he chooses to deliver them out of unbelievable circumstances anyways. Even though they seemingly may not intellectually believe in God.
A final thing that this includes is not sending us to hell once we sin. The Bible says that each sin or wrong that we commit is punishable by an eternal punishment, if we are looking for fairness. For God, it would be completely just for him to damn us when we sin and are not Christians, but out of his common grace he chooses not to. 2 Peter 3.9 states, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He cares for each and every person on this earth, and has given us amazing blessings to show it.
Purposeful Theology 