A Word from Bob
Recently Sean Perron responded to Nate Brooks’s response to Keith Evans’s RTS Convocation speech, which was a response to how some biblical counselor’s respond to Herman Bavinck’s teaching. That’s a lot of responses!
In my post today, I continue the response-chain. My response focuses on two common misconceptions about God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace:
- Misconception #1: Common grace is limited to certain domains of knowledge.
- Misconception #2: Common grace equates to and glorifies “the wisdom of the world.”
The Context for Sean Perron’s Tweet
Dr. Nate Brooks’s thread on X (Twitter) focused on common grace and biblical counseling methods.
- Brooks was clear that, “secular psychology is woefully incomplete and does not transform the heart.”
- Brooks was clear that any potential method must be assessed theologically and reframed biblically.
- Brooks was clear that, “the Christian has a different fundamental aim (glorify and please God), different content (Scripture), and different power (Holy Spirit).”
Sean Perron’s Tweet Reply
It was in this context of common grace and biblical counseling methods, that Sean tweeted:
“Everyone agrees about grammar and math. But those aren’t the issues when it comes to ‘the method of thought change’ in counseling. Counseling is a ministry about spiritual matters. The methods of spiritual change aren’t neutral, common, or found in the wisdom of the world.”
Notice that Sean twin contentions:
- Contention #1: Common grace is limited to areas like “math and grammar.” Common grace does not cover “spiritual matters.”
- Contention #2: Common grace insights reflect “the wisdom of the world.”
My Response: God’s Sovereign, Christ-Glorifying Common Grace—Over Every Square Inch
My response covers those twin misconceptions about common grace. I address them in two ways. First, I’ll provide some theological summaries of what common grace is biblically.
Second, I’ll provide sampler quotes from Reformed theologians regarding what common grace is biblically. For a much longer collation of Reformed thinking on common grace, see: Common Grace and Biblical Counseling: Wisdom from Reformed Theologians.
Response #1: Twin Theological Convictions
The title of this post (God’s Sovereign, Christ-Glorifying Common Grace: Over Every Square Inch!) more than hints at two primary theological convictions about common grace.
- Theological Conviction #1: God’s Sovereign Common Grace—The biblical doctrine of common grace is not limited to certain domains of knowledge, but covers every square inch of God’s creation (Psalm 19:4-6; Psalm 103:19; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:16-17).
- Theological Conviction #2: Christ-Glorifying Common Grace—The biblical doctrine of common grace does not glorify the wisdom of the world; it glorifies the wisdom of Christ (Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Colossians 2:2-3).
Response #2: No Dichotomy Between the Sacred and the Secular
The biblical doctrine of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace does not dichotomize between the sacred and secular—everything is sacred in God’s Word (1 Corinthians 10:31). This is what Kuyper meant by his famous quote about God’s sovereignty over “every square inch.”
Response #3: The Noetic Effect of Common Grace
Don’t be intimidated by the theological term “noetic.” Let’s define it practically and step-by-step.
- “Noetic” comes from the New Testament Greek word for the mind, knowledge, and understanding—the nous.
- We often hear the theological phrase: “the noetic effect of total depravity.” This means that sin has corrupted humanity’s intellect—our mind, our understanding is darkened.
- There is another factor impacting the mind of the unregenerate person: common grace. This is “the noetic effect of common grace.”
The biblical doctrine of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace teaches that the noetic effect of common grace impacts every area of life and thinking. The Bible does not make a divide between the noetic effect of common grace on hard science versus soft science.
It is the noetic effect of God’s common grace that sovereignly enlightens the unregenerate person to understand any truth, to make any contribution to culture, to observe any fact accurately (though imperfectly and finitely), and to interpret any fact correctly (though imperfectly and finitely).
The Bible teaches that there are no brute facts, but rather interpreted observations. In other words, when our eyes look at created reality, our minds interpret what we see and observe.
This is true of mathematical facts, hard science facts, and soft science facts (philosophy, psychology, sociology). In every sphere of knowledge every person interprets their observations—observations derived from a fallen, groaning creation (Romans 8:17-27).
It is the noetic effect of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace that counters, mitigates, and interacts with the noetic effect of total depravity. God, in His sovereignty, for His glory, opens the eyes of unregenerate persons to observe and interpret facts with a degree of finite human accurately.
Response #4: The Wisdom of God and Common Grace
No facts anywhere in the universe about any topic are neutral, common, or found in the wisdom of the world. All facts about all topics are found only through the wisdom of God.
God reveals His wisdom through His inspired special revelation. God also reveals His wisdom through His merciful, sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace—which God uses providentially to continually advance His kingdom so that His will is accomplished.
The biblical doctrine of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace teaches that when God sovereignly enlightens the unregenerate mind, those truths are not “the wisdom of the world.” Instead, they reveal the wisdom of God for the glory of God.
Just as special grace (saving grace) does not glorify regenerate humanity, so common grace does not glorify unregenerate humanity. Common grace glorifies the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Bavinck says it well in The Wonderful Works of God:
“All of the works of God in nature and grace, in creation and in regeneration, in the world and in history teach us something of the incomprehensible and worshipful being of God” (19).
Response #5: The Sufficiency of Scripture and God’s Sovereign, Christ-Glorifying Common Grace
God’s Word does not pit special revelation against common grace. Instead, it is from God’s Word that we learn about God’s common grace—God’s sovereign, providential, Christ-glorifying noetic influence over every creature and all of creation.
To be clear, stating the biblical importance of common grace is not the same as arguing that special revelation and common grace are of equal authority. God’s special revelation is the authoritative norm against which all other knowledge claims must be tested.
God’s all-sufficient Word is His perfect, authoritative, inerrant, and inspired special revelation. Therefore, the Word is our all-sufficient guide for assessing and evaluating any common grace interpreted observations. The Bible provides us with the wisdom to know how to engage with and evaluate extra-biblical information.
Scripture has authoritative primacy. God’s Word gives us a fixed, divinely-inspired interpretation of reality. The Bible provides the “spectacles” (Calvin) and the “new eyes” (Powlison) through which we can properly interpret reality. For a comparison between how the wise person and the fool observes and interprets reality, see, What Does Ecclesiastes Teach Us About How We View Traumatic-Suffering?
Response #6: Church History-Informed Understandings of God’s Sovereign, Christ-Glorifying Common Grace
I’ll supplement my brief summary of common grace with a sampler from church history. The following quotes from Reformed theologians document the twin themes concerning: a. the extent of common grace—as far as the human race is found, and b. the purpose of common grace—to glorify the wisdom of God.
You’ll read samplers from Cornelius Van Til, John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, and Augustine. Again, for a much larger collation (over 100 pages and over 43,000 words), see: Common Grace and Biblical Counseling: Wisdom from Reformed Theologians.
Church History Sampler #1: Van Til
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Van Til could say, in his lectures on the Psychology of Religion (1-3):
“Ministers of the gospel should have a knowledge of a sound psychological approach to men. . . . We see then that as Christian ministers we can no doubt learn something from the technique of the modern school of psychology of religion. We should always be thankful for any improvement in the technique of handling men that any one offers us.”
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Van Til could say, in A Christian Theory of Knowledge (43-44) about how those who are dead in sin can discover truth about people and problems—the content of psychology:
“Thus the Christian apologist should, to be sure, look sympathetically into the efforts of men in general when they seek to analyze themselves and their problems. There will be no doubt elements of truth in such an analysis….” “Just now we spoke of elements of truth that may be found in the non-Christian diagnosis of sin and evil…. Reformed theologians speak of this restraint upon mankind in general as due to common grace. The restraint of God upon fallen mankind enables it to help build the culture of the race….” “In spite of what he does against God, he yet can and must work for God; thus he is able to make a positive contribution to human culture. Thus it comes to pass that they of whom Scripture says that their minds are darkened can yet discover much truth….” “But in spite of being dead in sins, they can, because of God’s common grace, discover truth…. Fallen man knows truth and does morally good things in spite of the fact that in principle he is set against God.”
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Van Til could say:
“The case is similar with respect to the knowledge of unbelievers and their ability to do that which is relatively good. The fact that they are in principle opposed to God and would destroy the very foundation of knowledge and ethics, yet, in spite of this, because of God’s common grace, they can discover much truth and do much good” (Common Grace and the Gospel, 190).
“We are well aware of the fact that non-Christians have a great deal of knowledge about this world which is true as far as it goes. That is, there is a sense in which we can and must allow for the value of knowledge of non-Christians. We do not make this point as a concession but rather as a fact taught directly by Scripture itself and as such observed in daily experience” (Common Grace and the Gospel, 195).
“God releases the natural man’s creatural powers so that he can make positive contributions to the field of knowledge and art” (Common Grace and the Gospel, 200).
“The covenant keepers will make use of the works of the covenant breakers which these have been able and compelled to perform in spite of themselves. As Solomon used the cedars of Lebanon (1 Kings 5:8-10), the products of the rain and the sunshine that had come to the covenant breakers, and as he used the skill of these very covenant breakers for the building of the temple of God, so also those who through the Spirit of God have believed in Christ may and must use all the gifts of all men everywhere in order by means of them to perform the cultural task of mankind” (Common Grace and the Gospel, 138).
Common grace “enables man to do many positive things which he would otherwise not be able to do. And the principle of continuity presupposed in all this is the idea of the image of God as itself revelational of God. The Holy Spirit testifies to man through his own constitution as well as through the facts of the universe around him, that he is God’s offspring and should act as such (see Acts 17:28). The sinner seeks to suppress this revelation within himself and around him. He cannot do so fully. He continues to be an image bearer of God; even the lost hereafter will be image bearers of God. They will continue to receive the revelation of God within their own constitution; they cannot be devoid of ethical reaction…. Common grace is therefore a favor to sinners by which they are kept from working out to the full the principle of sin within them and thereby are enabled to show some measure of involuntary respect and appreciation for the law of God that speaks to them even through their own constitution as well as through the facts of the world outside” (Common Grace and the Gospel, 238).
Church History Sampler #2: Calvin
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say:
“Plato, in some passages, talks nobly of the faculties of the soul; and Aristotle, in discoursing of it, has surpassed all in acuteness…. They certainly thought more purely and wisely on the subject than some amongst ourselves, who boast that they are the disciples of Christ” (Calvin, Psychopannychia, in Selected Works, 3:420).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say:
“But if the Lord has willed that we be helped in physics, dialectic, mathematics, and other like disciplines, by the work and ministry of the ungodly, let us use this assistance. For if we neglect God’s gift freely offered in these arts, we ought to suffer just punishment for our sloths” (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, II.2.16).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say:
“Whenever we come upon these matters in secular writers, let that admirable light of truth shining in them teach us that the mind of man through fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God’s excellent gifts…. Shall we deny that the truth shone upon the ancient jurists who established civic order and discipline with such great equity? Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observations and artful descriptions of nature? Shall we say that those men were devoid of understanding who conceived the art of disputation and taught us to speak reasonably? Shall we say that they are insane who developed medicine, devoting their labor to our benefit? What shall we say of all the mathematical sciences? Shall we consider them the ravings of madmen? No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration” (Calvin, Institutes, II: 2.15, 273-275).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say:
“We shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it wherever it appears, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God. If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole foundation of truth, we shall not despise it wherever it shall appear” (Calvin, Institutes, II: 2.14).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say:
“When we so condemn human understanding for its perpetual blindness as to leave it no perception of any object whatever, we not only go against God’s Word, but also run counter to the experience of common sense” (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, II.ii.12).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Calvin could say, in his Commentary on Titus, speaking of Paul’s positive use of a non-Christian philosopher in Titus 1:12,
“From this passage we may infer that those persons are superstitious, who do not venture to borrow anything from heathen authors. All truth is from God; and consequently, if wicked men have said anything that is true and just, we ought not to reject it; for it has come from God. Besides, all things are of God; and, therefore, why should it not be lawful to dedicate to his glory everything that can properly be employed for such a purpose?”
Church History Sampler #3: Kuyper
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Kuyper could say:
“The doctrine of common grace is an idea deduced directly from the sovereignty of the Lord, a doctrine that is and remains the root conviction of all Reformed people. If God is sovereign, then his lordship must extend over all of life, and it cannot be restricted to the walls of the church or within the Christian orbit. The non-Christian world has not been handed over to Satan, nor surrendered to fallen humanity, nor consigned to fate. God’s sovereignty is great and all-dominating in the life of that unbaptized world as well” (Common Grace, Vol. 1, xxxvii).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Kuyper could say:
“Common grace extends over our entire human life, in all its manifestations. There is a common grace that manifests itself in order and law; there is a common grace that manifests itself in prosperity and affluence; there is a common grace that becomes visible in the healthy development of strength and heroic courage of a nation; there is a common grace that shines in the development of science and art; there is a common grace that enriches a nation through inventiveness in enterprise and commerce; there is a common grace that strengthens the domestic and moral life; and finally there is a common grace that protects the religious life against an excessive degeneration. As for the latter, we only have to compare Islam with the service of Baal Peor (see Numbers 25) to sense immediately what a powerful functioning of common grace is active in the religious realm in Islamic counties. And if we want to get a clear picture of the difference in the effect of common grace in another area, compare then, for example, what we are told of the Egyptians in the days of Moses and the Batavians in the days of Claudis Civilis. Among the Egyptians we see a high development of wisdom, as well as skill in various areas of art and business enterprise” (Common Grace, Vol. 1, 497-498).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Kuyper could say:
“The names of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle have always been esteemed among Christian thinkers. It is no exaggeration to insist that the thinking of Aristotle has been one of the most powerful instruments leading themselves to still deeper reflection. In modern times as well, no one can deny that in the disciplines of astronomy, botany, zoology, physics, and so on, a rich science is blossoming. Although being conducted almost exclusively by people who are stranger to the fear of the Lord, this science has nevertheless produced a treasury of knowledge that we as Christians admire and gratefully use” (Wisdom and Wonder, 52-53).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Kuyper could say:
“The doctrine of common grace expresses that it has pleased God in general—that is, among humanity as a whole, and in each human being individually—not to allow the unholy working of these powers that have turned into their opposite to continue unhindered, but to temper and restrain them. And it is in this sense that we teach, on the one hand, the total corruption of our nature by sin; this means that in its corruption, our nature, if left to itself, would immediately surrender itself as prey to eternal death. And we teach, on the other hand, that in the actual life of humanity we have our eyes open to the continuing rich development of which humanity proved capable and to so many beautiful things in humanity that come to manifestation” (Common Grace: God’s Gift for a Fallen World, Vol. 2, 95).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Kuyper could say:
“Common grace and all its treasures extend as far as the human race extends. And in order to make us understand this better, and to preclude any misunderstanding on this point, we must emphasize the fact that it is by no means a rare occurrence when, in the case of cultural developments, God opens the eyes, not of one of his servants, but of unbelievers who reject him. In their own generation the children of the world often are richer in inventiveness than the children of light. Indeed, it is not at all unusual for the children of the world to be the first to use various inventions and discoveries to their own superior advantage, and for the disciples of the Lord to bring up the rear only much later to enjoy these same benefits…. The people of God almost never take the lead in such things” (Common Grace, Vol. 2, 587).
Church History Sampler #4: Bavinck
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“There is thus a rich revelation of God even among the heathen—not only in nature but also in their heart and conscience, in their life and history, among their statesmen and artists, their philosophers and reformers. There exists no reason at all to denigrate or diminish this divine revelation. Nor is it to be limited to a so-called natural revelation…. The working of supernatural forces in the world of the heathen is neither impossible nor improbable” (Herman Bavinck’s Common Grace, 41).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“The entirety of the rich life of nature and society exists thanks to God’s common grace. But why should he continue to preserve such a sinful world by a special action of his grace? Does he squander his gifts? Is he acting purposelessly? Is it not because natural life, in all its forms has value in his eyes in spite of sin’s corruption? The love of family and kin, societal and political life, art and science are all in themselves objects of his divine good pleasure…. Contempt for this divine order of creation is thus illegitimate; it flies in the face of experience and conflicts with Scripture. Here all separatism or asceticism is cut off at the roots. All world-flight is a repudiation of the first article of our Apostolic Creed. Christ indeed came to destroy the works of the devil. But more than that, he came to restore the works of the Father and so to renew man according to the image of him who first created man” (Herman Bavinck’s Common Grace, 60).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“The arts and sciences have their principium not in the special grace of regeneration and conversion but in the natural gifts and talents that God in his common grace has also given to nonbelievers. Therefore, Christian theologians of all times have also profited from pagan art and learning and have insisted upon a classical education for every man of learning, including the theologian. They were not blind to the dangers of such an education, and desired that it take place under Christian leadership. But they nevertheless maintained the right and independence of the arts and sciences, requiring only that they be sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Scripture itself, they maintained, gave them freedom to this end. For Moses was reared in all the wisdom of Egypt, the children of Israel decorated the house of the Lord with the gold and silver of Egypt, Solomon used the services of Hiram to build the temple, Daniel was trained in the science of the Chaldeans, and the wisemen from the East laid their gifts at the feet of the baby in Bethlehem” (Herman Bavinck’s Common Grace, 64).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“Knowledge of earthly things is possible, and there is a yearning to find out the truth about them. This is the basis of science and scholarship (law, medicine, mathematics, literature, and the liberal arts). These are the natural sciences, with philosophy as their crown. These gifts of the Spirit should not be rejected or despised, for that would be to despise God himself. Pagans themselves admit that philosophy, the arts, sciences, and laws were gifts from the gods. We cannot read the writings of the ancients without great admiration. If by the Lord’s will we can be helped by the activities of evil persons in the study of nature, in logic, in mathematics, let us then use these things. Zwingli said that whatever the pagans said that is good and beautiful, we accept and convert to the glory of our God. We decorate the temple of the true God with the spoils of the Egyptians.” (Reformed Ethics, vol. 1, Created, Fallen, and Converted Humanity, ed. John Bolt, 2019, 162).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“Augustine already urged believers not too quickly to consider a theory to be in conflict with Scripture, to enter the discussion on these difficult subjects only after serious study, and not to make themselves ridiculous by their ignorance in the eyes of unbelieving science. This warning has not always been faithfully taken to heart by theologians” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 2:496).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“…it would not do to deny the true, the good, and the beautiful that one can see in mankind outside of Christ. That would not only be in conflict with experience but would also entail a denial of God’s gifts and hence constitute ingratitude toward him…. All that is good and true has its origin in this grace, including the good we see in fallen man. The light still does shine in the darkness. The Spirit of God makes its home and works in all the creation” (Herman Bavinck’s Common Grace, 51).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“Consequently, traces of the image of God continue in mankind. Understanding and reason remain, and he possesses all sorts of natural gifts. In him dwells a feeling, a notion of the Godhead, a seed of religion. Reason is a precious gift of God and philosophy a praeclarum Dei donum [splendid gift of God]. Music too is God’s gift. The arts and sciences are good, useful, and of great value” (Herman Bavinck’s Common Grace, 51).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“For not only is the Gospel not ascetic, but even the Christian Church, at least in its first period, never adopted this standpoint. However much it might be on its guard against paganism, it never despised or condemned natural life as in itself sinful. Marriage and family life, secular calling and military estate, the swearing of the oath and the waging of war, government and state, science and art and philosophy,—all these were recognized from the beginning as divine institutions and as divine gifts. Hence theology early began to form relations with philosophy; the art of painting, as practiced in the catacombs, attached itself to the symbols and figures of antiquity; architecture shaped the churches after pagan models; music availed itself of the tunes which Graeco-Roman art had produced. On every hand a strong effort is perceptible to bring the new religion into touch with all existing elements of culture” (Bavinck, Calvin and Common Grace, 2).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“It was possible for the first Christians to do this [engage with non-Christian thinking] because of their firm conviction that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, who in times past has never left Himself without witness to the heathen…. But in addition to this there existed in paganism a continued revelation through nature and the reason, in heart and conscience,—an illumination of the Logos, a speech from the wisdom of God through the hidden working of grace…. No doubt among the heathen this wisdom has in many respects become corrupted and falsified; they retain only fragments of truth, not the one, entire, full truth. But even such fragments are profitable and good. The three sisters, logic, physics and ethics, are like unto the three wise men from the east, who came to worship in Jesus the perfect wisdom. The good philosophical thoughts and ethical precepts found scattered through the pagan world receive in Christ their unity and center. They stand for the desire which in Christ finds its satisfaction; they represent the question to which Christ gives the answer; they are the idea of which Christ furnishes the reality. The pagan world, especially in its philosophy, is a pedagogy unto Christ; Aristotle, like John the Baptist, is the forerunner of Christ. It behooves the Christians to enrich their temple with the vessels of the Egyptians and to adorn the crown of Christ, their king, with the pearls brought up from the sea of paganism” (Bavinck, Calvin and Common Grace, 2-3).
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Bavinck could say:
“It is true the Holy Spirit as a spirit of sanctification dwells in believers only, but as a spirit of life, of wisdom and of power He works also in those who do not believe. No Christian, therefore, should despise these gifts; on the contrary, he should honor art and science, music and philosophy and various other products of the human mind as praestantissima Spiritus dona, and make the most of them for his own personal use” (Bavinck, Calvin and Common Grace, 10).
Church History Sampler #5: Augustine
The universal nature (covering all facts in all domains of knowledge) of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Augustine could say, while commenting on Exodus 3:21-22, 35-36 and “plundering the Egyptians”:
“If those who are called philosophers, and especially the Platonists, have said aught that is true and in harmony with our faith, we are not only not to shrink from it, but to claim it for our own use from those who have unlawful possession of it . . . all branches of heathen learning have not only false and superstitious fancies and heavy burdens of unnecessary toil, which every one of us, when going out under the leadership of Christ from the fellowship of the heathen, ought to abhor and avoid; but they contain also liberal instruction which is better adapted to the use of the truth, and some most excellent precepts of morality; and some truths in regard even to the worship of the One God are found among them… These, therefore, the Christian, when he separates himself in spirit from the miserable fellowship of these men, ought to take away from them, and to devote to their proper use in preaching the gospel.” (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 35-36).
The Bible, Church History, and the Modern Biblical Counseling Movement
This consistent biblical and church history testimony to the extent of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is why Francine Tan made the surprising suggestion that the modern biblical counseling movement should make a major reworking and significant minimization of the doctrine of common grace. Tan states:
Thus, I propose that biblical counselors ought to revisit how we define CG and make a few qualifications to the traditional Reformed view of CG…. CG should not be understood as the positive contributions made by unregenerate men through discoveries, insights, or ‘good deeds’” (Tan, “Common Grace in Debate,” Journal of Biblical Soul Care, Fall 2024, Vol 8 #2, 83).
I disagree.
I propose that biblical counselors revisit the Bible (being theologically-saturated) and revisit church history (being church history-informed) to understand common grace according to the Bible and with a humble awareness of how our predecessors in the faith understood and applied common grace to life and ministry.
I propose that we do not redefine common grace to suit our modern contention that common grace should be limited to “math and grammar.”
I propose that we do not redefine common grace insights as glorifying the wisdom of humanity. Instead, I propose that we recognize that common grace glorifies the wisdom of Christ.
I propose that biblical counselors follow the Bible and go where the Bible leads—recognizing the extent and the purpose of God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace.
Conclusion
God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace is not limited to certain domains of knowledge. It is extensive—as far as the human race is found.
God’s sovereign, Christ-glorifying common grace does not promote the wisdom of man. It displays the glories of the wisdom and knowledge of God in Christ—in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
