Posted on 02/09/2005 6:47:03 AM PST by HarleyD
God's Complete Control Over Creation
Let's observe what the Bible teaches about the complete control of God. We should begin at the beginning: God has complete control over creation because, after all, He created it. He made all that exists, the entire universe. Not only did He start it, He sustains it. And He continues to sustain every existent thing by His ever present, controlling power. My God ordains creation.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created by Him and for Him.
Heb 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Col 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
It is no wonder, then, that the apostolic word to the philosophers in ancient Greece was, "in Him we live and move and exist" (Act 17:28). Creation and the sustaining, upholding/holding-together power of God anchors the doctrine of God's sovereignty. If we are Biblical theists and not Enlightenment deists, then we know that every atom of every molecule of every entity was not only created by the Triune God, but is continually sustained and directed by Him! We could close the study at this point and conclude. God is in control to the most minute degree. We may strain to comprehend how a holy and righteous God could so intricately control the workings of a fallen and wicked world (without tainting Himself), but we need not ask whether He controls it.
God's Complete Control Over the Heavens
With 100 billion stars like our sun, it is a powerful tribute to assert that the whole host of all these flaming masses is "the work of Thy fingers" (Psa 8:3). The Lord "counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them" (Psa 147:4). The wonder of the variations, compositions, distances, histories, and futures of the stars is only surpassed by the majestic beauty of their testimony. According to those who study such things, every photon of light from our sun travels 93 million miles to the earth. Amazingly, if it produced only one percent more heat, or if our atmosphere were different, or even if our clouds did not do their job in releasing heat back into space, the earth would literally wither and die. If the sun produced one percent less heat, the earth would soon be unbearably cold. In fact, while earth's temperature is very constant, the moon's surface temperature varies 850 degrees each lunar day.(2) Is it not God who sets the thermostat? His sovereign control shines by day and twinkles by night. My God ordains the heavens.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power Not one of them is missing.
Job 9:5 "It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, when He overturns them in His anger; 6 who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; 7 who commands the sun not to shine, and sets a seal upon the stars; 8 who alone stretches out the heavens, and tramples down the waves of the sea; 9 who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; 10 who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.
Is not the case for God's complete control settled by the heavens? Surely "the heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Psa 19:1). Ponder whether those heavenly bodies, written into every civilization's art, literature, music, science, and religion--seen from every vantage point on this terrestrial ball--are not majestic in their persuasion. Their Maker is completely sovereign. Surely we must agree with Paul that "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made" (Rom 1:20).
God's Complete Control Over the Earth
Whether one visits the stars, or walks with two feet on solid ground, the testimony is in unison: God is the cosmic controller. In fact, in the mind of the Biblical writers, the modern scientific concepts such as "nature" and "natural law," seem to be absent. Rather, God is viewed as directly controlling the forces of nature. God's control over these "forces" is only a dim glimmer from the giant gem of God's sovereignty. It is a virtue of the Christian worldview that through an elaborate development and study of secondary causes, one can predict and give natural explanations in scientific and medical fields. This is true and glorious. In fact, the unbeliever has literally no reason to think the sun will come up tomorrow, whereas the Christian has the covenant keeping Maker of heaven and earth.(3) Let us never forget that according to Scripture, the ultimate cause of all things is God. My God ordains nature. Ultimately and finally, "All things come from Thee, and from Thy hand" (1Ch 29:14)!
Psa 65:6 Who dost establish the mountains by His strength, being girded with might; 7 who dost still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples. 8 And they who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of thy signs; thou dost make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. 9 Thou dost visit the earth, and cause it to overflow; Thou greatly enrich it; the stream of God is full of water; Thou dost prepare their grain, for thus Thou dost prepare the earth. 10 Thou dost water its furrows abundantly; Thou dost settle its ridges; Thou dost soften it with showers; Thou dost bless its growth.
Psa 104:10 He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains; 11 they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches. 13 He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. 14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, 15 and wine which makes man's heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man's heart. 16 The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted . .
Jer 14:22 Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not Thou, O LORD our God? Therefore we hope in Thee, for Thou art the one who hast done all these things.
Act 14:17 . . . and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
God's Complete Control Cannot Be Stopped
The Lord God rules in might and incomprehensible power. God's power is limited by nothing but His own nature. Since God is all-powerful, nothing can stop what God actually wills to do. The term theologians use for the ultimate will and purpose of God is decree. God's decrees are literally unstoppable. To say that God's decrees can be stopped is to deny that God is omnipotent. The verses below teach us that no one "frustrates" "His plan," "resists His will," or "can ward off His hand." He "will accomplish all" His "good pleasure" and "does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth." My God ordains!
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, "My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure."
Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, "What hast Thou done?"
Pro 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand.
Isa 14:27 For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?
Psa 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.
Psa 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
Rom 9:19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"
God's Complete Control Over "Chance Events"
From our perspective many things in our daily lives are routine and trivial. We often refer to things as "random" or "by chance." People commonly speak of "luck" or "coincidence." According to the Bible, however, all events, big or little, are controlled by the hand of God. Think about it: the very concept of "chance" is something we use when we do not know the real causes. Flip a coin and someone might say "by 'chance' it lands on 'heads' or 'tails.'" But if a complex machine could flip the coin--knowing the exact weight and properties of the coin, controlling the exact force applied to the coin to the highest degree--it would come out just as programmed: heads or tails. Who is behind all these (commonly unknown) forces when we flip coins or roll dice? God! These events are really not "by chance" at all. The controlling power of Almighty God is certainly not limited to those "big" events which, from our perspective, determine the course of men and nations. The Scriptures assert that God is Lord over the most "random" and unpredictable actions. It must be remembered, of course, that we never know the significance of the roll of the dice or the flipping a coin. No event in the universe of the Triune God is completely disconnected from every other event. There is simply no room for "chance" in a universe created, sustained, and ordained by an all-wise, all-powerful, personal God.
Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
1Ki 22:34 Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around, and take me out of the fight; for I am severely wounded." 35 and the battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot.
Job 36:32 He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
Jon 1:7 And each man said to his mate, "Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
God's Complete Control Over the Details
Not only are "chance" events under God's control, He governs and determines the most minute detail of reality. My God ordains things so small and so delicate who could know them? It was our Lord Jesus who taught us this to remind us of the Fatherly care of God. Birds, plants, hair, fish, and worms come forth to testify!
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Jon 1:17 And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Jon 4:6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."
God's Complete Control Over Nations
If God's sovereignty is manifest in creation and in the comprehensive sustaining and directing of creation, even to the level of the hairs on our head and sparrows in the sky, it should not be surprising that whole nations are under His complete control. Truly, God is the Lord of the nations. This is not only a demonstration of the sovereignty of God, but it is also the power source of the Great Commission, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Mat 28:19). My God ordains the nations. Because "He rules over the nations" (Psa 22:8), we can be assured of the victory of the gospel in all the earth. His word will not return void (Isa 55:11)!
Act 17:26 . . . and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation,
Psa 33:10 The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.
Dan 4:25 . . . that you be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.
Pro 21:1 The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Dan 2:21 And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding.
God's Complete Control Over Calamity and Evil
Of course, you may be less concerned about the sovereignty of God in the areas mentioned above, and more concerned about how God can be in control of evil and calamity. Before looking at specific texts which address this concern, it might be helpful to reflect on what has already been shown. God is creator, sustainer, director of nature and nations. Calamity and evil are often only subsets of these more broadly defined areas. How could God be controller of the nations and not control the king who makes war? Or how could God direct the earth, but not the earthquake? Or uphold the very fabric of the universe but be completely unconnected to the explosion of a terrorist's bomb? Many specific texts settle the question directly.
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6 that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, 7 the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
Amo 3:2 You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment? 4 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something? 5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it? Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all? 6 If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?
Job 1:21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."
Jer 15:2 And it shall be that when they say to you, "Where should we go?" then you are to tell them, "Thus says the LORD: Those destined for death, to death; and those destined for the sword, to the sword; and those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity. 3 And I shall appoint over them four kinds of doom, declares the LORD: the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 And I shall make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem."
Jer 18:11 So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, "Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."
Pro 16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Ecc 7:14 In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider--God has made the one as well as the other so that man may not discover anything that will be after him.
1Sa 16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. 15 Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well."
2Sa 17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, in order that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom.
Very personally this comes home to us all. It may sound pious to remove God from the woes of this world, but in the end it is utterly unbearable to think that calamities are futile--that they have literally no purpose. Only by asserting that God ordains even these things are we able to say with the hymn writer,(5)
God's Complete Control Over People
Again if God is creator, sustainer, director of the worlds, worms, nations, and even calamities, it surely follows that God controls individuals. My God ordains me and you. Many Biblical texts assert just this.
His Control of Our Abilities and Deformities
What do you think when you consider the way you were made? When you see someone with a birth "defect" what comes to mind? Do you strain to remove God from that or are you overcome with a deep sense of reverence for the mysterious work of God through that individual's life--even through such a dark and fearful work of His providence? Knowing that it is the Lord who makes the "hearing ear and the seeing eye," as well as the "dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind"--should cause us to be humbled in our acceptance of others and grateful for our gifts and abilities. And we have to trust Him since we do not know in what way these things will glorify God. Surely, though, we may not doubt that the blind may see the light of His countenance. The dumb speak words of testimony to God's power. The deaf hear His voice, perhaps even in a more profound way than others. If so, is not every deformity a display of the beauty of God on a more profound level? It shocks us out of the world of appearances we so often construct into ultimate reality. We dare not judge the Judge. "Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker--An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?" (Isa 45:9). Also, we cannot forget that God operates within His own covenantal framework, including the fact that sin brings death. The fall of Adam results in all of the ill effects we so commonly observe--yet God's glory will be revealed, though the eyes of unbelief are tightly closed.
Pro 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made both of them.
Exo 4:11 And the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"
Psa 139:13 For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. 14 I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well.
Joh 9:1 And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him."
God Controls the Free Actions of People
Men are free, but God is free-er. Men have a kind of control, but God is Controller. Biblical freedom and responsibility are dimensions of the dignity of man as a creature made in the image of God with covenantal obligations to his Maker. Even so, the "free" choices of individuals are determined by the sovereign will of God. Perhaps one will object that this is a contradiction. This must be discussed later, but I do not believe the idea that people freely choose what God sovereignly decrees can be shown to be a contradiction. At any rate, the following verses, as well as many of the foregoing verses, show the sovereign determination of God over the free actions of people.
Pro 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
Lam 2:17 The LORD has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down without sparing, and He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.
Gen 20: 6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her."
Gen 45:9 Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, "Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay."
Dan 1:9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials . . .
Neh 2:8 . . . and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go. And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.
Psa 110:3 Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew.
God Controls the Sinful Actions of People
There's more! God is in complete control of even the sinful acts of men. Since it has already been established that the Lord's power and control extend to worlds, nations, calamities, and the abilities and actions of individuals, it follows quite strictly that even sinful actions are under God's control. Somehow, God's holiness is not marred by the sinful acts which He controls.
Pro 16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Gen 50:20 And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Luk 22:22 For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!
Act 2:23 . . . this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Act 4:27 For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.
Deu 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.
Exo 9:12 And the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
Exo 10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them . . ."
Jos 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Isa 63:17 Why, O LORD, dost Thou cause us to stray from Thy ways, and harden our heart from fearing Thee? Return for the sake of Thy servants, the tribes of Thy heritage.
Joh 12:37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him; 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?" 39 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART; LEST THEY SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED, AND I HEAL THEM."
However objectionable the idea of God's predestination of evil may be to you on the surface, the specific texts above call us to revere God's power over even the sinful acts of men. Even more, if the most heinous of all acts, the murder of the spotless, sinless, Lamb of God, was "predestined to occur," then why should we object to God's sovereignty over other wicked acts which hardly compare to the sinfulness of killing Christ. The Bible is crystal clear in saying that when Herod, Pilate, the Romans, and Israel gathered together to murder Christ in that most torturous, wicked, and inhumane way, that it was what "Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur" (Act 4:27). We can now see the goodness of God in this evil act, our very salvation. We should also rest assured on God's unchangeable Word "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God"--even though, for now, we do not know the purpose for each act of evil in the world (Rom 8:28).
God Ordains the Days of Our Lives
Again, the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth completely controls worlds, nations, calamities, individuals, even sinful actions. Does it surprise us that all the days of our lives "were ordained" (Psa 139:16)? God wrote the script to our lives, from birth to death. Though we do not know what the future will hold, we should reflect on this in reverence and obey His revealed will, His law. Ultimately, God has decreed what will come to pass, even to the minutest detail. Because of this, the Word tells us that our plans should be guided by this truth, "If the Lord wills..." (Jam 4:15). This is illustrated when Paul left Ephesus. He said, "I will return to you again if God wills" (Act 18:21). The Latin phrase which translates "if God wills" is Deo volente. So, it is right to plan and we can hardly avoid it, but we must remember all we intend is Deo volente.
Psa 22:9 Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother's breasts. 10 Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother's womb.
Psa 71:6 By Thee I have been sustained from my birth; Thou art He who took me from my mother's womb; my praise is continually of Thee.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
Num 24:23 And he took up his discourse and said, "Alas, who can live except God has ordained it?"
Pro 20:24 Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, how then can man understand his way?
Job 14:1 Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. 2 Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. 3 Thou also dost open Thine eyes on him, and bring him into judgment with Thyself. 4 Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! 5 since his days are determined, the number of his months is with Thee, and his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass.
Jam 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that."
God's Complete Control Over Judgment
It is abundantly clear that God's sovereign determination extends from the course of the stars to the paths of fish in the seas, from the cradle to the grave. The Bible asserts that God controls even the judgment of the wicked. We are told that the wicked were "made" for "the day of evil," that their "doom" was "appointed," and they were "long beforehand marked out for this condemnation." My God ordains this too.
Pro 16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Rom 9:10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." 13 Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED." 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."
1Pe 2:8 . . . and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Act 1:16 Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
Act 1:25 . . . to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
God's Complete Control in Salvation
Given all that has been said, should it then come as any surprise that the Scripture teaches that salvation is also controlled by God? God's determining power extends not only to creation, sustaining the stars, directing heaven and earth, calamitous events, the days of our lives, free actions, sinful actions, and judgment--but especially salvation. Perhaps it is not out of order to say here that though God, of necessity, must be just as controlling in damnation as in salvation, He delights in the gracious deliverance of His children. The Bible says that those who know Him and are known of Him were "chosen before the foundation of the world," and it was "granted" that they "believe," that they were "made alive" by God, were "appointed to eternal life," and were "predestined to the adoption as sons." In short, it is "by His doing you are in Christ Jesus" (1Co 1:30). Praise Him! My God ordains salvation! If after reading this section, you still have a controversy in your heart, know that all I am saying can be summarized in one word, Grace!
God's Control of Who Will Be Saved
What Christian could say, "No, I chose Him first!" or "I would have come even apart from His grace." On the contrary, since the Fall resulted in depravity for every son of Adam and daughter of Eve, God must change the hearts of those who will be saved (Rom 3:10-20). We are powerless to change ourselves. As Jeremiah 13:23 says, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil." We are all, "by nature children of wrath" (Eph 2:3) and our hearts are "desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9, KJV). If we are to be saved, He must furnish us with all that necessarily brings us to salvation, including opening our ears to hear and embrace the gospel, changing our evil natures by regeneration, and granting us saving faith. In short, if we are to be saved, God must save us. Once this is believed, we rejoice in a truly "amazing grace." Our salvation is "to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph 1:6).
Eph 1:4 . . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
2Ti 1:9 . . . who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity . . .
2Th 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
1Th 1:4 . . . knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.
Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect?
1Co 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."
Mat 25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
1Th 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ . . .
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. . . .44 No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, "AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD." Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
Joh 6:65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father."
Joh 17:9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.
In the beautiful hymn, "How Sweet and Awful is the Place," Isaac Watts asked that grace-question the above verses answer, "Why was I made to hear Thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? 'Twas the same love that spread the feast That sweetly drew us in; Else we had still refused to taste, And perished in our sin."(7)
God's Control of Understanding and Knowledge
Even our knowledge of God is controlled by His sovereignty. It comes by the direct illumination of God by His grace. Surely our pride is crushed when we recognize that even our understanding of salvation has been granted to us. It does not come from ourselves, we have been shown it by grace. Of ourselves we could not muster one iota of saving truth without the mercy of the Spirit of truth. As I recently heard a new Christian proclaim, "People can't show you God, only God can show you God." To be sure, God uses people as instruments to reveal Himself, but what "graceling" would contest Jesus' own words, "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Mat 16:17)?
Joh 3:27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven."
Mat 13:11 And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted."
Luk 8:10 And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, in order that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND."
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."
Joh 12:39 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART; LEST THEY SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED, AND I HEAL THEM."
God's Control of Spiritual Birth
Not only does God determine who will be saved and open their ears to hear the glorious gospel, He resurrects them from the spiritual tomb by the work of regeneration. Believers are born again by the Wind of Heaven, the blessed Holy Spirit who blows over the stone-cold hearts of those who were "dead in their transgressions and sins." Those who receive Christ are not born "of the will of man, but of God." We didn't do it, God "caused us to be born again." Like Lazarus, stinking, wrapped with our sins, and sealed in the tomb of this world, we needed the power of God to make "us alive together with Christ."
Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Joh 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . .
Eph 2:5 . . . even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) . . .
Col 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions . . .
Tit 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit ...
God's Control of Repentance and Faith
Some who attack the doctrine of God's sovereignty in salvation only attack a "straw man" of an argument. "If God chooses who will be saved, why believe? Why repent?" Of course the Word teaches us that faith is a prerequisite for salvation. Saving faith in Christ is a conscious, wilful act, but the Bible says that God gives us faith. If God grants faith as a gift, then faith (with Christ as its object) does not originate in the person to be saved. A man must believe, a man must repent, but belief and repentance doesn't come from the man. Trust in Christ is alien to those who are "hostile toward God" (Rom 8:7). Put this to the test of Scripture: Does the Bible teach that faith is given by God or mustered by men?
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
Phi 1:29 For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake . . .
Act 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Act 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
2Ti 2:24 And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth . . .
Act 5:31 He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 11:18 And when they heard this, they quieted down, and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."
The conclusion is clear: God gives faith! God grants repentance! I wonder how many have unknowingly mouthed these very truths in the wonderful hymn, "I Know Whom I Have Believed."
God's Control of the Atonement
Salvation is God's plan from beginning to end. Those who will be saved are chosen by God, enlightened by God, made alive by God, and gifted by God with repentance and faith. Surely it is the world's greatest understatement to say that the cross of Christ, too, was planned by God. Redemptive history flows to Calvary and back again. That Christ's death was predetermined of God cannot be questioned (Act 2:23). But for what? Was it to make men merely able to save themselves? Many Biblical texts tell us that Christ's death accomplished redemption for a definite group of people. Bible-believing Christians would never deny that some will be lost for eternity. We all must admit, then, that Christ did not prevent the wrath of God from abiding on those who do not trust in Him. Therefore, His death, though sufficient to save a million worlds from the wrath of God, was actually efficient only for those that will be saved. To put it directly, according to the Bible, whose sins did Christ bear?
Mat 1:21 And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.
Isa 53:5-12 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. . . He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?. . . . He would render Himself as a guilt offering...By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities . . . . He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
Joh 11: 51 Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word . . .
1Pe 2:24 . . . and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
2Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Heb 9:12 . . . and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Tit 2:14 . . . who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The English hymn writer, William Cowper said it well,
God's Complete Control of All Things We've been looking, as it were, in a microscope at many specific areas of the sovereign control of God. Now we can look through the lens of the telescope at the sweeping statements asserting His sovereignty and rule. In the broadest possible terms--God is in complete control. The domain of His rule is, quite simply, everything. The Lord has decreed whatever happens. From the beginning to the end, from the creation to the consummation, from the heavens to the earth, from the sky to the sea, from conception to salvation--the sovereign Lord is the One in complete control. "His sovereignty rules over all" (Psa 103:19). My God ordains all things.
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, "My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure."
Eph 1:11 . . . also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will . . .
Rom 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
1Co 8:6 . . . yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Psa 103:19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all.
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Another bump for later read.
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