Thread: God's Sovereignty: Is God the Author of Sin?
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God's Sovereignty: Is God the Author of Sin?
Posted : 23 Aug, 2011 08:49 PM
The Sovereignty of God
Sam Storms
Nov 6, 2006
Series: Attributes of God
A. Over Nature and Weather
Psalms 104; 105:16; 135:7; 147:7-20; 148; Job 9:5-10; 26:5-14; 37:1-24; 38:8-38; Mark 4:39,41. Other texts:
"It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses" (Jer. 10:12-13).
"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" (Jer. 14:22).
"And furthermore [declares the Lord], I withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city and on another city I would not send rain; one part would be rained on, while the part not rained on would dry up" (Amos 4:7).
B. Over Kings and Nations
Daniel 1:2 (cf. Jer. 25:1-12; Isa. 10:5-14)
"the Lord gave" . . . Ultimately it was neither the sin and weakness of Jehoiakim nor the brilliance and strength of Nebuchadnezzar, not even the impotence or inactivity of God, but the sovereign good pleasure of Yahweh that determined the historical outcome (cf. Dan. 2:20-23). The Israelites "are not mere pawns on a political and geographical chessboard. To be in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar is not to be out of the control of God" (Goldingay, 22).
See also Daniel 2:37-38; 4:25,30,32; 5:18,20,21; Isaiah 10:5-13; 40:23-24
Genesis 50:20 (cf. Ps. 105:17); Exodus 4:11 (disease and disability); Job 2:10 (cf. James 5:11); 42:2; Ps. 115:3; Prov. 16:33; 21:31; Isa. 45:7 (virtually all of Isa. 42-48); Lam. 3:37-38; Daniel 4:32,35; Amos 3:6; Matthew 10:29-31; Acts 4:27-28; Eph. 1:11; 2 Cor. 12:7.
F. Over Life and Death
Deut. 32:39; 2 Samuel 12:15; James 4:14-15; 1 Samuel 2:6-7.
G. Over Destructive Animals
When the Assyrians populated Samaria with foreigners, 2 Kings 17:25 says, "Therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them."
And in Daniel 6:22, Daniel says to the king, "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths." Other Scriptures speak of God commanding birds and bears and donkeys and large fish to do his bidding. Which means that all calamities that are owing to animal life are ultimately in the control of God. He can see a pit bull break loose from his chain and attack a child; and he could, with one word, command that its mouth be shut. Similarly he controls the invisible animal and plant life that wreaks havoc in the world: bacteria and viruses and parasites and thousands of microscopic beings that destroy health and life. If God can shut the mouth of a ravenous lion, then he can shut the mouth of a malaria-carrying mosquito and nullify every other animal that kills.
H. Divine Sovereignty in Proverbs
1. over all our actions and words (16:1-3,9) - For all its emphasis on common sense, Proverbs exalts faith above wisdom; and for all its emphasis on prudence, man's ways are determined by divine providence.
Note esp. vv. 2,9. "God holds an even balance and critically tests the genuineness of the impulses which motivated the deed. Accordingly, man should not be guided by his own judgment but apply the criterion, how will it be judged by God?" (Cohen, 103).
In v. 3, "works" refers not to those already performed, but "projected actions" or "plans", as in vv. 1-2. See 19:21. "To confide one's projects to Yahweh implies an element of resignation to Yahweh's will, a willingness to give up anything which clashes with Yahweh's resolve and so a quest for attunement and harmony. This is the way for man to proceed if he wishes to ensure that his plans will not be nullified by Yahweh's veto and so fail of implementation" (McKane, 497).
As for v. 9, "a man may plan his road to the last detail, but he cannot implement his planning unless it coincides with Yahweh's plan for him. He is deluded if he supposes that he has unfettered control and can impose his will on every situation without limitation in order to make his plan a reality, for it is Yahweh who orders his steps" (McKane, 495-96).
2. over the destiny of the wicked (16:4) - There are no loose ends in God's providential rule of the world: even the wicked are under his oversight. Note well: there is a difference between making a person to condemn him/her, and appointing a person to condemnation for his/her wickedness. God has appointed all things and all people to their proper end that he might receive all the glory.
3. over the casting of the lot (16:33) - The casting of lots was often used in the OT to determine God's will. See Lev. 16:7-10,21,22; Joshua 7:14 (cf. 1 Sam. 14:42); 14:2; 18:6; 1 Chron. 6:54ff.; 25:7,8; 26:13ff; Neh. 10:34ff. See also Matt. 27:35; Acts 1:26. Although the decision is reached by a seemingly arbitrary process, God is in absolute control. As someone said, "Man throws the dice, but God makes the spots turn up!"
4. over the heart of the king (21:1) - In much the same way that an irrigator might cut a watercourse in any direction he desires, so God sways the heart of a king, even an unbelieving one. See Gen.. 20:6; Exod. 4:21; 7:3; 9:16; 10:1-2; 14:4-5; Isaiah 10:5-19; 45:1-13; Ezra 1:1,5 (Cyrus, king of Persia); Jer. 25:3-14; Hab. 1:5-11; Acts 4:25-28; Rev. 17:16-17.
5. over the battle and its outcome (21:30-31) - See also Ps. 20:7; 33:13-17; Isa. 31:1-3.
6. over our souls (24:12c; 18:10; 30:5b)
This is why Charles Spurgeon, the London pastor from 100 years ago said,
"I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes - that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens - that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence - the fall of . . . leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche."
When Spurgeon was challenged that this is nothing but fatalism and stoicism, he replied,
"What is fate? Fate is this - Whatever is, must be. But there is a difference between that and Providence. Providence says, Whatever God ordains, must be; but the wisdom of God never ordains anything without a purpose. Everything in this world is working for some great end. Fate does not say that. . . . There is all the difference between fate and Providence that there is between a man with good eyes and a blind man."
Is God the Author of Sin?
Jonathan Edwards answers, "If by 'the author of sin,' be meant the sinner, the agent, or the actor of sin, or the doer of a wicked thing . . . it would be a reproach and blasphemy, to suppose God to be the author of sin. In this sense, I utterly deny God to be the author of sin." But, he argues, willing that sin exist in the world is not the same as sinning. God does not commit sin in willing that there be sin. God has established a world in which sin will indeed necessarily come to pass by God's permission, but not by his "positive agency."
God is, Edwards says, "the permitter . . . of sin; and at the same time, a disposer of the state of events, in such a manner, for wise, holy and most excellent ends and purposes, that sin, if it be permitted . . . will most certainly and infallibly follow."
He uses the analogy of the way the sun brings about light and warmth by its essential nature, but brings about dark and cold by dropping below the horizon. "If the sun were the proper cause of cold and darkness," he says, "it would be the fountain of these things, as it is the fountain of light and heat: and then something might be argued from the nature of cold and darkness, to a likeness of nature in the sun." In other words, "sin is not the fruit of any positive agency or influence of the most High, but on the contrary, arises from the withholding of his action and energy, and under certain circumstances, necessarily follows on the want of his influence."
Thus in one sense God wills that what he hates come to pass, as well as what he loves. Edwards says,
"God may hate a thing as it is in itself, and considered simply as evil, and yet . . . it may be his will it should come to pass, considering all consequences. . . . God doesn't will sin as sin or for the sake of anything evil; though it be his pleasure so to order things, that he permitting, sin will come to pass; for the sake of the great good that by his disposal shall be the consequence. His willing to order things so that evil should come to pass, for the sake of the contrary good, is no argument that he doesn't hate evil, as evil: and if so, then it is no reason why he many not reasonably forbid evil as evil, and punish it as such."
Why Does God Ordain that there Be Evil?
It is evident from what has been said that it is not because he delights in evil as evil. Rather he "wills that evil come to pass . . . that good may come of it." What good? And how does the existence of evil serve this good end? Here is Edwards' stunning answer:
"It is a proper and excellent thing for infinite glory to shine forth; and for the same reason, it is proper that the shining forth of God's glory should be complete; that is, that all parts of his glory should shine forth, that every beauty should be proportionably effulgent, that the beholder may have a proper notion of God. It is not proper that one glory should be exceedingly manifested, and another not at all. . . ."
Thus it is necessary, that God's awful majesty, his authority and dreadful greatness, justice, and holiness, should be manifested. But this could not be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth of God's glory would be very imperfect, both because these parts of divine glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his goodness, love, and holiness would be faint without them; nay, they could scarcely shine forth at all.
If it were not right that God should decree and permit and punish sin, there could be no manifestation of God's holiness in hatred of sin, or in showing any preference, in his providence, of godliness before it. There would be no manifestation of God's grace or true goodness, if there was no sin to be pardoned, no misery to be saved from. How much happiness soever he bestowed, his goodness would not be so much prized and admired. . . .
So evil is necessary, in order to the highest happiness of the creature, and the completeness of that communication of God, for which he made the world; because the creature's happiness consists in the knowledge of God, and the sense of his love. And if the knowledge of him be imperfect, the happiness of the creature must be proportionably imperfect.'
Romans 8:28-39: "We know that all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who:rolleyes: have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us:rolleyes:, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also , along with him, graciously give us all things?Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...
No in all these things we:rolleyes: are more then conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 6:39,44: Jesus says, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall ****LOSE NONE**** of all that He has given Me, but raise them up on the Last Day...No one can come to Me **UNLESS* the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the Last Day!"
John 1:13,14: To all who received Him {Jesus}..He gave the right to became children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of *HUMAN DECISION** or of a husband's will, but BORN OF GOD!":applause:
Ephesians 2:6-10: And God {The Father} raised us up with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is be *GRACE* {Unmerited favor} you have been saved, through faith--and this **NOT FROM YOURSELVES**, it is the {100%} *GIFT* of God--**NOT BY WORKS**, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do!"
There will be two comings of Jesus on the same Last Day. The first will be **FOR** His saints and the second will be **WITH** His saints just after the Marriage Feast of the Lamb as per Revelation 19:8-20 and Revelation 17:14 "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings-- and **WITH HIM*:rolleyes: will be His **CALLED **, **CHOSEN** and **FAITHFUL** followers!!":applause:
God only *CALLS** and CHOOSES** those He knows will be **FAITHFUL**.
Matthew 13:18-23: Jesus says, "Listen to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it {Such as all Roman Catholics}, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy: But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution {See Matt 24:9-13} comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away.
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth {The Prosperity Gospel} choke it making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the Word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown!":applause:
He is one of the **CALLED**, **CHOSEN** and **FAITHFUL**!! It is interesting that ONLY the **CALLED**, **CHOSEN** and **FAITHFUL** will be WITH Jesus on the Last Day as per Revelation 17:14!!:angel:
The Question: "God's Sovereignty: Is God the Author of Sin?"
Is God the creator of heaven and earth and all therein?
Acts 17 >>
New American Standard Bible
24�The God who made the world and all things in it,..."
The Bible says so. So if sin exists in the world, God must have created it. Well I suppose you could argue that Lucifer brought sin into the world, and absolve God of Lucifer's bad behavior, but because He created Lucifer with all his attributes and one of the attribute being his ability to rebel from Gods authority; God must bear responsibility for creating sin He created the evil seed. . So it is my opinion that God has big shoulders and He can shoulder the blame for sin in the world.
That is the Problem when you Deny God the Ability to Allow His Creations (even Angels) to Choose of their Own Free Will�whether to Love Him and Obey Him.
God did not Create SIN. God by His very NATURE cannot
Cause anything like Sin or Evil to Occur.
What has Happened is that God�Being All LOVE that God IS�has ALLOWED His Creations to
CHOOSE.
God gave All of His Creations FREE WILL�even His Angels.
The dark one brought evil and sin into this world on his Own. God only allowed it to happen�for His Glory! How simple and easy would it have been if there were nothing bad or evil in this life to
LOVE GOD?
We all would end up Loving God�what would that say about God. God allowed us a Choice. Earthly Pleasures�of Sensual Joy and Ecstasy (and Sin thrown in)�or
Obey God and do what God Desires of us and enjoy the Pleasures of this world as He shown us (in His Word) how to Enjoy them?
Eternal Damnation in hell�or an Eternity in Heaven?
That is the Problem when you Deny God the Ability to Allow His Creations (even Angels) to Choose of their Own Free Will�whether to Love Him and Obey Him.
James replies:
This is what the Roman Catholic church declared in 529AD about your comment above on freewill:
"If anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10). If anyone affirms that we can form any right opinion or make any right choice which relates to the salvation of eternal life, or that we can be saved by assent to the preaching of the gospel through our natural powers without the effectual work of the Holy Spirit, who makes all whom He calls gladly and willingly assent to and believe in the truth, he is led astray from the plain teaching of Scripture by exalting the natural ability of man, and does not understand the voice of God who says in the Gospel, "For apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), and the word of the Apostle, "Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5).
Adapted from The Council of Orange (529 AD)
So what about that Arch? Here we have you exalting the natural ability of man with your freewill talk, and we have the Roman Catholic church saying that you are contradicting Scripture when you say that.
Arch said:
God did not Create SIN. God by His very NATURE cannot
Cause anything like Sin or Evil to Occur.
James replies:
I agree. But God knew that Sin WOULD occur, and since He has allowed it, we know it is necessary to accomplish His perfect purposes.
Arch said:
What has Happened is that God�Being All LOVE that God IS�has ALLOWED His Creations to CHOOSE.
James replies:
That is NOT true. What is true is that God CHOSE Adam and Eve to represent the entire human race, and he gave THEM free will, and THEY CHOSE to disobey God, and plunged the entire human race into spiritual death. The Apostle Paul TEACHES this clearly in Romans.
Arch continues:
God has given us the Ability to Choose
James replies:
There is not ONE verse of Scripture that says this!
You have ZERO evidence for your claim!!
YOU say "anyone can come to Jesus, all you have to do is choose to do so."
Well Jesus says:
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
You say every has free will, but PAUL says that natural man does NOT HAVE THE ABILITY to choose to trust in Jesus:
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Got that? He CAN'T know them, because he is Spiritually DEAD!
You have ZERO Scripture to back up your claims, and I think it is about time you just looked at the scriptural evidence for what you are talking about:
And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Well you could believe the word of God, the bible says sin is of it's father, Satan, was satan created as sin, no when he rebelled he accepted the consequences of his action.
For those of you insisting on fallen mankind having a freewill, the ONLY time the Bible ever speaks of mans will, it says that salvation is NOT because of Man's will, but GOD'S WILL.
So, not only do you NOT have EVEN ONE verse of Scripture that supports the idea of fallen mankind having a free will, but you have many verses that say that fallen mankind's will is ENSLAVED to sin.
And then you add that the ONLY TIME man's will is ever mentioned is when the Bible says it is NOT BECAUSE OF man's will, but rather the will of God, and it is just absurd to pretend that fallen man has free will.
I will give you it is natural to THINK that fallen mankind has a perfectly free will.
But we are NOT talking about what is natural for mankind, we are talking about what the Bible teaches.
If you are so �fluent� in Catholicism�then you would Know and Understand The Sacrament of Baptism and how it Regenerates Man and makes him �Reborn��a New Creature. It is through this GRACE from God that man is able to Respond to God�s Voice. Without God Grace�man is DOOMED to be always Dead in Sin.
But you would Know this if you were Truly Knowledgeable about Catholicism.
It is such a Waste of my Time trying to Convince a
�Zombie� (the Walking Dead)
Of The Truth.
I will admit though that you are beginning to Vacillate in your beliefs and are showing signs of �wanting� to admit your Errors.
(You wrote ) �What is true is that God CHOSE Adam and Eve to represent the entire human race, and he gave THEM free will, and THEY CHOSE to disobey God, and plunged the entire human race into spiritual death. The Apostle Paul TEACHES this clearly in Romans�� (end)
God Gave Adam and Eve�FREE WILL! James�your Calvin Bible says that Man Has No FREE WILL! How can you say what you just said? Calvin will come up from hell and PUNISH you! How can you Blasphemy Calvin?
James,
I will ONCE AGAIN post these Scriptures for you:
Mankind has Free Will�Scripture Attests to it:
Matthew 23:37
New International Version (NIV)
37 �Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and
�you were not willing.�
Is Jesus playing Mind Games with us? Is Jesus Speaking from �the Side of His Mouth�? Is Jesus making us �Think� that we have Free Will�knowing that we really don�t?
I�ll cite one more example (there are more):
Joshua 24:15
New International Version (NIV)
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,
we will serve the LORD.�
It sounds like CHOICES were asked to be made and Joshua MADE his CHOICE. Again�are we being �played� for Fools (God KNOWING that we �really� have no say in the matter).
Calvinist claim that God�s Will cannot be Challenged and that everything Happens because GOD WILLS it! They do not Understand that there are things God lets us say NO to. Things that God Wants for us�yet�God wants us to Cooperate WILLINGLY (not Forced to do it). Scripture is clear that man can disobey God to man�s own Ruin.
Isaiah 65:12
New International Version (NIV)
12 I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will fall in the slaughter;
for
I called
but you did not answer,
I spoke
but you
did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
and
CHOSE
what displeases me.�
Once again�man made his OWN CHOICES (horrible choices, but of his own Free Will)�unless God was �messing� with our minds.
