Trump, Cyrus and Common Grace

What is Common Grace? Read about Cyrus in Isaiah 45.


Ever wonder what keeps fallen man from total self-destruction? Common grace comes down upon a fallen world to keep in check the forces of anarchy. It stirs in man the ideals of virtue and justice. It is the grace that comes upon all (Christian and non-Christian) to help them affirm the good and resist the bad, personally and in institutions. It is the hidden hand of God that works to promote justice and order in a world where selfishness could produce societal collapse. "Saving grace" is what gets you saved and "common grace" is the special influence of God that comes upon man to keep society from imploding.


Common Grace Raises Up Unpredictable Vessels

Trump falls into a unique category of individuals. These are men and women served up by the hand of providence. They are people whose singular strengths and convictions match a certain test in history—a crucible. As Churchill said, "All my life was a preparation for this moment." Figures like Margaret Thatcher, Patton, Churchill and Lincoln do not step out of cathedrals onto the stage of history, yet we canonize them later as the instruments raised up by God to meet a singular crisis.

Curiously many of these leaders were not the darling or favorite of contemporary Christians. Preachers thought Lincoln to be a godless skeptic; they stumbled over Winston's cigars and scotch; and they balked at Reagan's divorce and children from two marriages. Likewise, today's leading evangelicals have made their rejection of Trump public!