1) DOES COMMON GRACE DENY THE DOCTRINE OF REPROBATION?
As we saw outlined in Part 5, Herman Hoeksema, the PRC and others like them objected to the doctrine of common grace. This was chiefly because they saw in this teaching an outright refutation of the Reformed doctrine of reprobation; viz. that some people are actively not chosen by God for salvation in Christ and will thus face his judgement. If the doctrine of Common Grace actually did state this, it would make it untenable for a Reformed believer to hold to and remain thus. With specific regard to the argument that the doctrine of reprobation necessarily precludes the doctrine of common grace, John Murray writes: “The decree of reprobation is of course undeniable. But denial of the reality of temporal goodness and kindness, goodness and kindness as expressions of the mind and will of God, is to put the decree of reprobation so much out of focus that it eclipses the straightforward testimony of Scripture to other truths.” (Murray : 1942)
REFERENCE
Murray, John. 1942. Common grace . Westminster Theological Journal 5 (1): 1-28.