Sure, He will comfort us when we turn to Him in the midst of our problems, but He doesn’t create the negative circumstances that hurt our lives. This fact is extremely important to keep in mind in order to avoid ‘Calvinistic-confusion* in matters such as predestination and free will. 1 Sovereignty of God; 2 Sovereignty Based on Free Will; 3 Objections to Sovereignty Based on Free Will. God is sovereign in the sense that He is paramount and supreme. On the contrary, it is very comforting to know that God only has good things in store for me. People virtually have to climb over the roadblocks that God puts in their way to continue on their course to hell. Question: "What does it mean that God is sovereign?" Deuteronomy, chapter 28, should forever settle this question for all who believe the Word of God. However, the Scriptures paint a picture of each of us being behind the wheel of our own lives. Call us at 833-843-2673. Our tragedies are never the judgment or correction of God. He was falsely accused by the Jewish, religious courts. No creature can tell him what to do, God does whatever he pleases. Would you like to know the answer to this question? That’s not so. It makes people totally passive. I know someone is thinking, What about the Old Testament instances where God smote people with sickness and plagues? We are supposed to take directions from the Lord, but He doesn’t do the driving for us. This is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity that must be understood properly if you want victory in your life. The Sovereignty Of God. God’s Sovereignty provides us with comfort. Human society is in a state of seething unrest. God's will is the final cause of all things. All of us have encountered the disastrous results of doing our own thing. If hardships and problems made us better, then everyone who has had problems would be better for them. 4. PO Box 3333 The Gospel, God’s Sovereignty and Suffering. Sovereignty of God vs. Man. The sovereignty of God is an expression that once was generally understood. He is all powerful, second to none. How Does God's Sovereignty Work with My Free Will? Remember Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, an act of incredible evil, hatred, and injustice. 30:19), but He doesn’t make those choices for us. Mailing Address: Let me illustrate this with a story about my son, Joshua. I KNOW that. God’s Sovereignty vs. Man’s Responsibility. In many instances, it is our wrong choices that bring disaster upon us. Jesus came to give us abundant life. Jesus Christ, truly divine and truly human, was the only man to ever live a life of perfect obedience to God. The word “sovereign” is not used in the King James Version of the Bible. On the surface that looks good. He doesn’t tell us why he allows the suffering, sickness, injustice, and death that we see and experience. We must submit to the things that are of God and resist the things that are from the devil. I told him to lie down and even gave him a spanking, but he didn’t take heed. 3 God’s sovereign control is illustrated by His role as Creator (Rev. The Thirty-Nine Articles of Anglicanism describe one aspect of the sovereignty of God viz. Independent: a sovereign state. Sickness is listed as a curse (Deut. Those who have the most trouble would be the best. God called sickness a curse. Contents. Let’s look at four points the Bible makes concerning the sovereignty of God. This is because the Lord gave us the freedom to choose. Episode 242 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer questions on if baptism is necessary for salvation, if Saturday is really the Sabbath, and how God's providence works with human free will. The wis - dom of this book stands forth like a kind friend, pointing us to the Crucified and Triumphant One, who says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Most of you reading this article have come to the Lord because of something in your life that overwhelmed you and caused you to turn to the Lord for help. God gave us the power to control our destinies. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His majesty He has the power to bring it about’. I used that situation which caused him pain, to teach him, but if Joshua would have been like the sovereignty teachers of today, he would have gone out and told all his friends that his father made him fall out of that truck to teach him to obey. The Lord woos every person to Him, but we have to cooperate. Perhaps something didn’t work out the way you wanted, and someone told you not to lose heart because God has a plan. C. God*s Sovereignty Is Harmonious. © 2020 Core Christianity. As if it wasn’t bad enough for man to try to run his affairs independently of God and His standards, it has been made even worse by religion teaching us that all our problems are actually blessings from God. There is a great divide amongst those who profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ and believers in God as to the very character and nature of God, and particularly in the matter of how He works and operates in relation to His Creation. I know that this is a shocking statement and is near blasphemy to some people, but the way sovereignty” is taught today is a real faith killer. I had to roll the windows down because it was hot, and Joshua was leaning out the windows and waving at me in the side view mirrors. Having supreme rank or power. I had Joshua with me, and he was having a big time playing in the lumber yard. Think about the implications of that promise. Email: info@awmi.net I could keep going. The Lord is the answer to all our problems. Typical teaching on the sovereignty of God puts Jesus in the driver’s seat with us as passengers. II, p. 571]. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Whether or not God is actually sovereign is usually not a topic of debate; all mainstream Christian sects agree that God is preeminent in power and authority. He is not the problem. It was a theme frequently expounded in the pulpit. The belief that God controls everything that happens to us is one of the devil’s biggest inroads into our lives. All Rights Reserved. It is assumed that since God is paramount or supreme that nothing can happen without His approval. God declares “the end from the beginning. He had been through some terrible things that nearly destroyed his faith. The Lord would no more put sickness on a New Testament believer than He would make us commit a sin. And he has received his crown. It’s the same today. Acknowledging God’s sovereign nature is vital for believers to serve Him wholeheartedly and to accomplish His purposes with confidence. Sovereignty of God – How is it seen? It is used 303 times in the Old Testament of the New International Version, but it is always used in association with the word “LORD” and is the equivalent of the King James Version’s “LORD God.” Not a single one of those times is the word “sovereign” used in the manner that it has come to be used in religion in our day and time. In some cases, natural forces of an imperfect world cause us pain. You don’t know. His dominion extends over all creatures, from the angels in heaven to the fish deep below the ocean’s surface and everything in between. In calling forth God’s sovereignty as a proof against the evil actions of men, evangelicals become unintentionally guilty of watering down and limiting God’s sovereignty at least as much as the open theist, and by doing so put forth a model of God’s sovereignty that seemingly can be grasped from him, (or at least temporarily diverted). Why did God plan for COVID-19 to sweep the globe taking lives and crushing economies? Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matt. An earlier article in this series showed that God is sovereign over whom He calls into His Family and to salvation. The sovereignty of God is one of those theological ideas that causes some significant challenges in the lives of believers. Typical teaching on the sovereignty of God puts Jesus in the driver’s seat with us as passengers. It is a concept that respects His relation to other beings and to all other being and existence. Secret Church 4: Who Is God? In 2 Peter 3:9, Peter said, “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This clearly states that it is not the Lord’s will for anyone to perish, but people are perishing. I would be very hurt if that’s the way Joshua thought I was. Romans 8:28 He has a plan for us. Psalm 115:3 says plainly, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” God speaks himself in Isaiah 46:10, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” Rather, they see the doctrine of God’s sovereignty as a means of comfort and assurance (cf. 4:10), but we must choose to put our faith in Christ and receive His salvation. Why does God’s plan include rioting, looting, and murders in cities around our country. God’s will for people concerning salvation is not being accomplished. 3:13). David Platt. May 1, 2008. In describing the sovereignty of God it has been said, ‘God in His love wills what is best for us. I believe this is the worst doctrine in the church today. The Confession famously asserts that God … God planned his life. 28:22, 27-28, 35, 59-61). 8:28–30), confident that evil will not triumph, and that God’s good plans for his people will be fulfilled. If it’s good, it’s God. As the glimmers of dawn break forth, Jackson calls out to God, asking for His will be done. ; 3.3 The Golden Chain; 3.4 Renowned theologian Wayne Grudem does ask some questions about these, which I’d like to answer. Nothing can happen but what He wills or allows. Answer: God’s sovereignty is one of the most important principles in Christian theology, as well as one of its most hotly debated. God is sovereign over all, but he is not the origin of evil. Rom. Nothing can stop God doing his will. I really believe that confusion on this subject is how Satan pushes his will off on most people. There is tremendous peace that accompanies trust in the sovereignty of God. It is through Christ’s death that salvation from sin and eternal life comes to people of every tribe tongue and nation. Throughout the picture, Jackson's dependence on God is shown, but never more strikingly that in the early morning hours of July 21st, 1861 prior to the First Battle of Bull Run. He doesn’t will anyone into hell. 3:14 +; Rev. Site by. 2. This is why He died on the cross; So that He could provide us with forgiveness and grace. God is sovereign. Kaleb did not live one day longer than God had chosen for him from the beginning of time. He became bitter and angry at God for the things that had happened. The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 list the blessings of God and the last 53 verses list the curses of God. in Historical Theology from Westminster Seminary California. Jesus was the only truly innocent human being, the only person to deserve eternal life and not death. Healing is listed as a blessing (Deut. If I thought it was God who killed my father when I was twelve, and some of my best friends before I was 20, if it was God who had people kidnap me, slander me, threaten to kill me, and turn loved ones against me, then I would have a hard time trusting God, if He was like that. When he was only a year old, I was loading lumber on a large truck in the heat of a Texas summer. That simply is not so. We have made a mess of this world by rejecting God’s plan and design in the quest to be sovereign over ourselves, rather than submitting to God’s sovereignty. That is absurd. Because God is sovereign, he does what he wants and achieves all his purposes. Paramount; supreme. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. We are free moral agents with the ability to choose. Whether one will go to God for forgiveness regarding a specific sin is foreknown by God. God is the "sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right creator... owner and possessor of heaven and earth." They were curses. He had been wanting to get into that truck all day, and when I put him in there, he revived. We need to resist sickness and, by faith, submit ourselves to healing, which is from God through the atonement of Christ. Or, as you grieve a loss somebody said, �God has a plan.”, In my experience they often don’t. The condition of our world is such today that many are questioning whether the classical doctrine of the Absolute Sovereignty of Almighty God can still have any meaning. There are two points to consider about confronting our fears in the light of God’s sovereignty. Praise the Lord! If God can bring such incredible blessings out of the crucifixion of his only begotten Son, how much more can he, in his sovereign power, bring good out of the sufferings and evils we see and experience? from the University of Maryland in Philosophy and Classics and an M.A. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Acts 10:38 says that Jesus healed all those who were oppressed OF THE DEVIL. There is a scene in the Civil War motion picture Gods and Generals that is telling. ‘Of Predestination and Election” as ‘full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort”. Consider the following passages where God decreed, but changed it. I suggest that after you listen to it that you share it with someone else. https://www.desiringgod.org/topics/the-sovereignty-of-god/articles That would be resisting God’s plans. It is awkward to think that God would have had anything to do with the tragedy I now see or experience. I ran up to him, prayed over him, and held him until he quit crying. When I heard him, he had humbled himself and was again loving the Lord and excited about the future. I attended a meeting where an old friend of mine was ministering. The sovereignty of God means that as ruler of the Universe, God is free and has the right to do whatever he wants. That situation was not from God regardless of the results. God has a perfect plan for every person’s life (Jer. Fear can do this to people, even Christians. Excellent.” None of these definitions means that God controls everything. Yet, what happened to Jesus? 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