God’s Sovereignty
As I sat and listened to the comments on Paltalk last night, I could not help but thing upon the following, from some of the comments made by some very ignorant people and some that know nothing about God.
“It’s all in the hands of god. He is still on the throne; He is in control” On the face of it such a statement seems to indicate a deep faith. But on careful consideration it presents serious problems.
Was God in control of the planes that slammed into the WTC towers on 9/11/2001? Was God in control when the Jews murdered over 50 million Christians from when they took over in 1917 to the present day? Was God in control when World War I started? Was God in control when World War II started?
No absolutely not, that was done by evil men, antichrists, the children of the devil and their proselytes, for the love of murder of innocents, for money, for power, for influence. That is the main reason behind the HoloHoax: money, power, and political and religious influence.
Indeed, this is the case according to the devout followers of Calvinism. Arthur Pink argues, “God foreordains everything which comes to pass. His sovereign rule extends throughout the entire Universe and is over every creature...God initiates all things regulates all things...” (The Sovereignty of God)
Another advocate of Calvin’s doctrine argues, “Even the fall of Adam, and through him the fall of the race, was not by chance or accident, but was so ordained in the secret counsels of God.” (The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by Loraine Boettner)
Another Calvinist, Edwin H. Palmer, writes that ever act is according to the sovereign decree of God. “...even sin; the fall of the devil from heaven, the fall of Adam, and every evil thought, word, and deed in all of history, including the worst sin of all, Judas’ betrayal of Christ, is included in the eternal decree of our Holy God.” (The Five Points of Calvinism)
The above quotes from What Love Is This? Dave Hunt, Loyal Pub. Co.
This mistaken, yes false, concept of God’s sovereignty negates the possibility of any of God’s created beings to act spontaneously of their own free will. If God controls every event, every thought, and every act, it follows that:
1). We live in a system that is preprogrammed, and we can do nothing about anything. Like the song says, Que Sera Sera. “What will be will be.”
2). God Himself is shackled by His eternal decrees, since He has already predetermined the outcome of every event.
3). All praise and all prayers are preprogrammed. When a sinner repents it is all preprogrammed. This makes his tears of sorrow phony, as God is controlling his emotions.
4). Adam and Eve’s sin was not due to their rebellion, but to God’s clockwork control. In fact, if sinners have no free will; as Calvinism declared, then God is responsible for their failure to receive the gift of salvation. Then in judgment God punishes them fro something they had no control over, since it was totally in the hands of God! If God is in control of all events, and if He determines every action, then to sin is to do His will, for which one is then condemned to death. This is not the God of the Bible, the Father of Christ.
One verse that is thought by many to prove that God initiates every action in the world is Paul’s expression, that God “works all things after the counsel of his will...” (Ephesians 1:11) This does not say that everything that happens is according to God’s will, but according to “the counsel” of His will and not from any other motivation.
It has reference to God working in the lives of His Israel people according to the counsel of His will. In no way can it be forced to mean that everything that is done is the work of God, and it says nothing of all the things that man may do on his own initiative.
It is obvious that the counsel of His will has given man freedom to disobey Him, as is shown by many examples in scripture. Luke records that “the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God.” (Luke 7:30)
Jesus understood that not everyone always does the will of God: “Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in haven.” (Matthew 7:21) Clearly, it is one’s own personal choice as to whether or not he will do God’s will.
The very fact that there are some things that God cannot do for the very reason that He is God. God cannot do that which is evil nor cause anyone else to do evil. He does not even tempt anyone to do evil. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted, neither tempts he any man, but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.” (Jasher 1:13-14)
But what of scriptures that say that God tempted someone or that He was tempted “god did not tempt Abraham.” (Genesis 22:1) The Hebrew word is nacah, which means to test or prove, and in no way implies a temptation to sin. God was testing Abraham’s faith and willingness to obey. This is the same word in Deuteronomy 6:16 and Exodus 17:7 where the Israelites “tested” the Lord to see if he would bow to their wills or punish them for disobedience.
God cannot act contrary to His word, “for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13) This means that god cannot forgive sin without the penalty being paid. His justice is absolute, and requires the penalty of death for sin.
“For the wages (penalty) of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
This is why the death of Jesus, His son, is of the greatest importance to every Israelite, as through Christ’s death God is able to be both “just and the justifier of him that has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)
God cannot force anyone to love Him. God’s love for His Israel people is emphasized throughout the Bible, and so is the exhortation that we are to love Him. The first and greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all they soul (being) and all thy mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
It is clear that God desires that Israel voluntarily return His love. Surely if God, by sovereign power, could cause every person to love Him with all their being He would do so, but such love cannot be coerced. Instead God in His sovereign power has created us as free spirits and not as puppets. Therefore, He does not control our emotions, or our minds. Rather we are free to return His love or reject it.
Some as why does God allow evil to exist at all? Well when Satan rebelled and was cast out of heaven, he took 1/3 of the angels with him because they thought he was right. Well there are many beings in heaven and God wanted those left to live Him because THEY WANTED TO not because they feared Him. So if he simply destroyed Satan and his angels then the other beings would fear God, and fear is the proving grounds for rebellion. So God has let Satan play out his string, to show the other beings that He, God, was right and Satan was wrong. Then when God does destroy Satan the other beings will agree with the decision, thus loving Him because THEY WANT TO NOT BECAUSE THEY HAD TO.
This in no way diminishes God’s sovereignty. Rather it emphasizes the fact that God can give to man the power of genuine choice. This places a responsibility upon man, a responsibility that is taught throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation; a responsibility to choose to obey. “Thou Shalt” is a command to free people, not to robots. This is the answer to the question often heard, “If God is all-powerful, why does He allow such suffering to plague mankind?”
Man has a moral responsibility to God, but by his own free will, not by God’s will. God, in love, has given the solution to sin and evil in the gospel of Christ.
Of course, every event, whether thought or action, is made possible by the power of God, in that he gives life and breath to all, and continues to sustain and maintain all the natural laws that He set in order at creation. He gives life to all, including the rebellious and evil ones, but in His sovereign power He gives them freedom to act according to their own individual choices.