Crumbs from the Table: Judgment, Not "Common Grace"

I know that it puts me in the minority, even among Reformed folk, but I have a real problem with the doctrine of common grace. According to that doctrine, God gives some grace to every person in the world. However, it is insufficient grace, or the wrong kind of grace, to lead them to salvation. The biblical justification for that teaching is Matthew 5:45: "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

The problem I have with that interpretation is that it constitutes a bait-and-switch. Yes, the unbeliever experiences the goodness of God. However, that is not because the unbeliever has any claim on the goodness of God. Consider the remark of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:27: "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." The goodness of God is to His people, the elect. Yet that goodness is so great that it overflows, and the reprobate receive the benefits of the crumbs that fall from the table. Is this grace to them? "They did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21). No, it is not grace! Rather, by continuing in unbelief in the face of such goodness, the reprobate increase their judgment!

We also see this described in Psalm 73:3, 16-20: "I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when You rouse Yourself, You despise them as phantoms." Asaph is distressed when he witnesses the apparent prosperity of the wicked. However, when he witnesses their downfall, his sense of justice is restored. Thus, God's goodness to them is not of grace, but contributes to His retributive justice.