A lot has been written on our blog about common grace, so today I thought I’d let others do the talking. Here are seven solid quotes concerning common grace and co-belligerence.

Common Grace

[Common grace is] every favour of whatever kind or degree, falling short of salvation, which this undeserving and sin-cursed world enjoys at the hand of God.

– John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray, Vol. 2

God is glorified in the total development toward which human life and power over nature gradually march on under the guardianship of “common grace.”

– Abraham Kuyper, Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader

Common grace helps us to acknowledge that there are times to embrace culture warmly, and times to be in stark opposition to it. And the only durable, biblical way to do both is to see culture through the lens of common grace.

– Scott Kauffmann, The Problem of Good

Unbelievers are able to do things that look good to us. They don’t look good to God, for God knows the heart. But they look good to us, and they often bring benefits to society. So non-Christians often improve society through their skills and ideas. They make scientific discoveries, produce labor-saving inventions, develop businesses that supply jobs, produce works of art and entertainment.

– John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life

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 punishment for our sloths.

– John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

Co-Belligerence

Christians must realize that there is a difference between being a co-belligerent and being an ally. At times we will seem to be saying exactly the same things as those without a Christian base are saying…. We must say what the Bible says when it causes us to seem to be saying what others are saying…. But we must never forget that this is only a passing co-belligerency and not an alliance.

– Francis Schaeffer, Complete Works

We must be careful though that we do not become a stumbling block for other Christians, and that our co-belligerence does not communicate to a watching world the possibility of neutrality and the dilution of the exclusivity of Christ and the gospel.

– Daniel Strange, Co-belligerence and Common Grace