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No Temporal Blessings for the Unregenerate
For the devious are an abomination to the Lord; But He is intimate with the upright. The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted. The wise will inherit honor, But fools display dishonor. – Proverbs 3:32-35 (NASB)
In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20, we are told a magnificent thing with many implications. It states:
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
Think about this for a moment. In Christ, every promise God has made in all ages find their yes and amen in Him. In other words, all God’s promises are fulfilled exclusively in Him. Every promise of blessing and favor of God to men can only be realized in Christ.
Outside of, and apart from, Christ Jesus, no promise, no blessing, no favor of God applies to the unbeliever. Ever. Apart from the cross of Jesus, they are out of favor with God – no mercies, no favors, no blessings.
In fact, Scripture is clear that those outside of Christ Jesus are objects of His wrath – objects without hope, refuge or common blessing of any kind from God. They are His enemies. Look at Proverbs 3:32-35 again (quoted at the beginning of this post). The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, they are an abomination to Him. This passage agrees elsewhere in proverbs where we are told that God hates, with a perfect hatred, every sinner who abides apart from Christ:
The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. – Psalm 5:5
Note, it does not say that God loves the sinner but hates the sin. No, it says He hates the sinner. He does not give favor, blessing nor mercies upon any outside of Christ. What a humbling truth to dwell on! There, but for the grace of God, go you and I!
Some will say, “Ah, but the rain and sunshine falls on the just and the unjust! Is that not a temporal blessing to the wicked?”
No, it is not. It’s a good thing, yes, but it cannot be considered a blessing in the biblical sense – especially since all promises of God concerning blessings are found only in Christ! Brethren, the only way one can declare that the wicked enjoy temporal or ‘common’ blessings or grace is if we redefine them in ways other than found in Scripture, and that is nothing less than modernism.
There is no such thing as a common gratitude to God. The unregenerate will not truly give thanks to God for the rain, the sunshine or even a good ham sandwich.
Look at James 5:5:
You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Keeping the above in mind, Jeremiah, in chapter 12 verse 1 ask a question I’m sure many of us have asked at some point in life:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
And here is the answer regarding unregenerates in the next verses (vs. 2 and 3) – take especial note!
You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. (emphasis mine)
Brethren, I can feed a hog on my farm, and he’ll think it’s a blessing, no question. Other pigs might even be ‘dispensational’ and tell him he’s being blessed. What he doesn’t know, regardless of what the other hogs are telling him, is that it may be a good thing now, but it sure isn’t a blessing from the farmer. When the time comes, that hog will realize what he saw as a blessing was for the sole purpose of him being slaughtered to the benefit and the glory – of the one who fed him.
There’s no such thing as a temporal blessing of God to the unregenerate, at least, not in Scripture. Blessings are particular to those in Christ alone.
AMEN….I am sick of hearing unbelievers say things like, “I am sooooooo blessed!”
Reminded me of another quote…
“Watch out when you’re getting all you want. Fattening hogs ain’t in luck.”
–Joel Chandler Harris
We’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus so what’s wrong with saying it?
“Outside of, and apart from, Christ Jesus, no promise, no blessing, no favor of God applies to the unbeliever. Ever. Apart from the cross of Jesus, they are out of favor with God – no mercies, no favors, no blessings.”
An interesting thesis. How do you understand Gen 8:21 in light of this viewpoint? Is that not at the very least a “promise?” Matthew 4:45 – is not the sunrise and rain a blessing on all men? Seems so in the context of 44-46.
And what of Psalm 114: 14,15. Are these things not “blessings” for all of mankind? Pslam 36:6 – is this preservation not a blessing of God?
I could go on, but you get the point.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post.
Gen 8:21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
God has kept His promise. Doesn’t have any bearing on the issue. It’s a good gift from Him that the ground has not been cursed again, but there is no blessing here on the unbeliever.
Matthew 5:44-46 is instructions for the believer. Again, it’s a good thing for those unbelievers who receive such treatment, but it is in no way a biblical blessing of God to them. Heaping coals on their heads? Absolutely, but not a blessing. Again, fattening of hogs.
Psalm 114 only has 8 verses, so maybe this is a typo?
Regardless, none of the passages you give as examples demonstrate a blessing of God on unbelievers. Besides, there are so many Scriptures that teach us otherwise that to consider these examples as ‘blessings’ would pit Scripture against Scripture, and Scripture never contradicts itself. The curse of the Lord abides on the wicked.
Joel – A little story, if you will.
Once, there was a man named Sam who said all Christians must be 6 foot tall exactly, have red hair, one leg and be left handed. When others said something to him like, “But consider THIS fellow named Jack – a godly man if if there was one, and he has brown hair and both legs and is right handed.He is 5’6″. His testimony is convincing, his doctrine is sound – is he not a Christian?”
Sam would answer something like: “No, no – don’t you see, he does not have red hair, is not 6 foot and is not left handed – and THAT is my definition of a Christian, so he CAN’T be one, because I have defined the parameters of the faith so as to exclude him.”
Our presuppositions always determine our destination. If you come to the Scripture with the definition of the word “blessing” as an experience ipso facto outside the experience of a non-believer, then obviously you will find no example of it. Thus, if you define God’s general and generic provision for all men as something less than, or not akin to “blessing,” then clearly your thesis remains secure.
So far, I am unconvinced that God’s general benevolence toward all His creation is a stepchild work of God unworthy of the description of “blessing.” Brother, if I am an unbeliever, and I am the recipient of a good life, good food, good shelter, good health – is it not yet an additional sin born of my hardness of heart to NOT see these good things from the hand of the Lord?? Do I not add to my condemnation by ascribing such benefits to “luck” or anything short of the blessings of God?
However, if you are determined to reserve the use of the word “blessing” as a description of God’s actions towards believers only, then some other similiar word must be found to describe God’s more general provision for unbelievers.
And finally, Psalm 114 was a typo, but my memory being what it is, I have absolutely no recollection of what verse I meant. But since it was certainly an example of God’s general blessing upon the world, I am sure you would have found cause to “de-bless” it, in the way you determined to call the Genesis passage “a good gitf” but not a “blessing.” And I would anticipate a list of 300 such Scriptures to elicit the same curious distinction. Perhaps you can take some time and with the careful skill of a surgeon, and a linguist of no mean ability – to describe to this simple fellow the finer nuanced differences between “good gift” and “blessing.”
All of God’s blessings (and good gifts) upon you Joel !!!
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That’s a blessing on the persecutors as God’s kindness is meant to bring them to repentance.
Heaping coals on one’s head was a cultural nicety in that it gave live coals to a visitor to take home in case their fire had burned out. It’s in the same verse as ‘feed him if he’s hungry’ and ‘give him a drink if he’s thirsty’.
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One more thing. I Cor 7:14 – irregardless of how you define “sanctified” in this verse, is it not fair to say that this process is a “blessing” to the unbelieving half of the marriage?
It is certainly not a blessing from God for that would indicate a favored status before God. The unbeliever may benefit from the believing spouse, and that is Paul’s whole point – that the power of Christ is more able to influence the unbeliever than the unbeliever to influence (negatively) the marriage. Blessing of God = favored status before Him brother. There is no blessing of God (favored status) outside of Christ, ever. That’s not a ‘presupposition’, that is what the Bible teaches. 2 Corinthians 1:20. All of God’s promises, including those of blessing, are made to and in Christ. Apart from Christ, there is no blessing. What you are attempting to do (it seems) is divide the promises of God between two groups, those in Christ, and those who are His enemies.
What I am trying to do is be true to the Scriptures (I trust) w/o any axe to grind. By the way, is 2 Corinthians 1:30 you reference above in the same Bible as Psalm 114:14,15?? (24 verses in 2 Cor 1 !!!)
More later when I have time….
Oops. meant 2 Cor. 1:20. Changed it.
When I was regenerated, I regretted all the “good” things I had in my “previous” life. The money, position, friends, creature comforts, education, etc……When I began to “loathe myself for my abominations”, I cursed all those “good” things because I suddenly realized they only promoted my pride, self-reliance and arrogant defiance of God. It was a terrifying realization, and I thank God for it. I tremble for those who will only come to realize this truth after their death.
The longer I am in Christ, the more I see that there is no true blessing or thing of any worth outside Christ.
“When I was regenerated, I regretted all the “good” things I had in my “previous” life. The money, position, friends, creature comforts, education, etc……When I began to “loathe myself for my abominations”, I cursed all those “good” things because I suddenly realized they only promoted my pride, self-reliance and arrogant defiance of God.”
Egads. I wonder Jonathan, if you were married with children at your regeneration, did you loathe your wife? children? How about your parents? Did you quit your job, burn your money, renounce your college degree?? I did not loathe my parents before or after salvation. Nor did I loathe ice cream. I like ice cream. Is it “outside Christ?” I still like it.
My mother never became a Christian. I never loathed, her I loved her till the day she died over a dozen years ago. Was my relationship with her of genuine worth “outside Christ?” I cannot fathom the loathing of one’s parents as “spiritual.” It astounds me. Do men sometimes have to “leave family” for Christ if family withstands the demands of Christ? Ofcfourse. But that is hardly the same as a reflexive separation from family based on some sort of esoteric made-up extra-biblical standard.
Sometimes these attempts to hyper-concentrate a sort of taste-not touch-not pirituality so as to crowd out the mundane, or those things we can’t hang a partiicular Bible verse from – or even worse, to paint the mundane with super-spiritual paint – makes me cringe.
I don’t loathe money. Frankly I could use a little more. Send me the money that you loathe, I will give it a good home. I don’t loathe or disdain my friends or my education either.
This sort of Watchman Nee spirituality makes me scratch my head.
Friends, if your faith in Christ makes you “loathe” every area of your life, past, preferences..etc, you may want to reconsider. It is appropriate to loathe your sin, but you are going to have to explain to me in great detail, and in simple language why you feel compelled to jettison every element of your past and life as though somehow you are now, or ought be, some blank slate.
Joel, do you loathe Robert E. Lee, the South, farming, blogs and Southern culture??
Of course not, and if you’re headed toward the Greek philosophy of dualism, it’s false. Material, inanimate things are not evil.
Not me Bro. Not me.
Not even one mention of God’s love for sinners? The elect were sinners, too. Did God hate us, too? “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all”.
It’s obvious in the Gospels that Christ loved sinners. He preferred being with them than to being with the religious.