Thread: A Biblical Look at God's Sovereignty.......
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A Biblical Look at God's Sovereignty.......
Posted : 23 Aug, 2011 05:25 PM
A Biblical look at God�s Sovereignty: God�s Perfect Control over Man
As we saw earlier, God is in control of everything in the physical world, and God is in control of everything in the spiritual world. God can do absolutely anything except sin. And man is no exception. In fact, God controls all men�s thoughts and actions, whether they are Christians or not �
A) God controls the heart of man:
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:1)
B) God controls the actions of man:
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
C) Nobody is able to come to Christ unless granted by the Father:
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (John 6:65)
D) Everybody who God gives to Christ certainly will come to Christ:
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)
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 6:44)
E) People cannot repent on their own. They can only repent if God grants them repentance:
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (2 Timothy 2:25)
F) Under the Covenant based on Christ�s sacrifice on the cross, God promises to cause people to know Him and obey Him.
Earlier, we already established Biblically that man is naturally evil, and that there is no natural good in man. In the Old Testament, God clearly said what He would do to solve this problem:
I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD. (Jeremiah 16:21b)
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
And the New Testament clearly reveals that the above passages are specifically referring to salvation through the blood of Jesus:
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. . . . But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:1-13)
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:14-22)
What could possibly turn a fallen man from being evil to being holy? Nothing but a radical change of his nature will do. Superficial evil temptations cannot reach God�s holy heart. Similarly, no mere external call to holiness can reach man�s evil heart. Before a man can respond to the Gospel, his very nature must be radically changed. Responding to the Gospel requires a heart that is soft towards God. And responding to the Gospel is a good thing to do. Therefore, no one with an evil nature can respond to the Gospel. Instead, God first must give a person a good nature. Then, because of his changed heart, he will readily respond to the Gospel. Remember that God said, �A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.� (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
You are like a 5 year old that cannot understamd and thusly will not stop.
If "as you say"
" God controls all men�s thoughts and actions, whether they are Christians or not �"
Then that must mean that whenever man sins...it is God controling man and Causing man to sin?
But if you counter that God cannot sin and therefore God cannot (or Will not) cause man to sin...then it must mean that man sins on His Own -- by Man's Free Willl.
So what you are saying then is that God is not Sovereign!
That cannot be...either you are WRONG!
Let me REPEAT That...
Either you are WRONG or
GOD IS SOVEREIGN!
Well...God is in TOTAL Control!
Because God is in TOTAL CONTROL...God can and Does
Allow Mankind FREE WILL! Because God is Not a Dictator and because God is ALL LOVE...
God Gives Mankind...Choices. God allows us Free Will.
Now which is it...James...are you WRONG or is God SOVEREIGN?
If you Agree that God is in No Way Involved when Man sins�then you are ADMITTING that God Gives Up CONTROL to Man�in Order to allow man�THE CHOICE whether to Sin or NOT!
There can be no other Explanation!
God is ALWAYS IN CONTROL!
Man Sinning does not Mean that God has Lost Control or that God has Relinquished Control!
The Only Conclusion is that GOD ALLOWS man �FREE WILL� to Freely Choose.
Which One do Calvinist believe James. Pick One:
When Man Sins...It is because God Causes Man to Sin...since God CAUSES EVERYTHING to Happen,
When Man Sins�God Loses Control or
When Man Sins�God Relinquishes Control or
When Man Sins�it is Because God Gives Man �Free Will� to Freely Choose either Sin or God.
Pick One or perhaps you have another alternative?
Which One do you choose?
And Please do not say
�None of them��because that is The Coward�s Way. Either choose One or give us another reason as to why man can Sin if God is in Control?
This simply refers to the fact that all things are under His rule and control, and that nothing happens in this Universe without His direction or permission. He is a God Who works, not just some things, but all things after the counsel of His own will (see Eph. 1:11). God's purpose is all- inclusive and is never thwarted (see Isa. 46:11). Nothing Takes Him by Surprise
"It is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things but that He does so always and without exception." - John Piper
God is sovereign over the entire universe: Ps 103:19; Rom 8:28; Eph 1:11
God is sovereign over all of nature: Ps 135:6-7; Mt 5:45; 6:25-30
God is sovereign over angels & Satan: Ps 103:20-21; Job 1:12
God is sovereign over nations: Ps 47:7-9; Dan 2:20-21; 4:34-35
God is sovereign over human beings: 1 Sam 2:6-7; Gal 1:15-16
God is sovereign over animals: Ps 104:21-30; 1 Ki 17:4-6
God is sovereign over "accidents": Pr 16:33; Jon 1:7; Mt 10:29
God is sovereign over free acts of men: Ex 3:21; 12:25-36; Ez 7:27
God is sovereign over sinful acts of men and Satan: 2 Sam 24:1; 1 Chr 21:1; Gen 45:5; 50:20
(you write) This simply refers to the fact that all things are under His rule and control, and that nothing happens in this Universe without His direction or permission. (end)
��without His direction or permission.�
You wrote ��or PERMISSION.�
James��How can God�Grant PERMISSION for something that He Has Already CAUSED�? I mean I can see if God Gives man Free Will to Choose and then God ALLOWS man to do something...something that man Chose
of his Own Free Will.
Thereby God Does Give man PERMISSION�but
It Makes no sense to say that God gives His Permission for something that God has already DONE? Can you Follow that Logic or are you so Far Into your Trance that you have no Free Will to Respond?
Yes�God does Give His PERMISSION�but that Means that Man has to do something�of Man�s Own Free Will�so that God can Give or NOT GIVE�His PERMISSION. Is this Getting Through
�Hello�hello�God Calling James!�
Don�t you see James�even as Far as you have become Enslaved by Calvin�The Holy Spirit is�STILL�trying to Reach you. That �slip of the tongue� was your Soul�trying to Reach out to you!
(you write) This simply refers to the fact that all things are under His rule and control, and that nothing happens in this Universe without His direction or permission. (end)
��without His direction or permission.�
You wrote ��or PERMISSION.�
James replies:
First off, I did NOT let is slip. I simply STATED that NOTHING happens in the universe unless God allows it, or causes it.
I was thinking maybe because you were Roman Catholic you would have at least read some Augustine, and knew about the discussions between Augustine and Pelagius.
It sounds like this discussion is new to you, so I apologize for assuming.
Arch continues:
James��How can God�Grant PERMISSION for something that He Has Already CAUSED�? I mean I can see if God Gives man Free Will to Choose and then God ALLOWS man to do something...something that man Chose
of his Own Free Will.
James replies:
It is important to remember that when we talk about free will, we are not saying man is a robot. What we are saying is that Fallen mankind is not able to repent and trust in Christ.
Fallen mankind makes all kinds of decisions, but in Spiritual matters, is unable to repent and trust in Jesus.
Jesus said NO MAN CAN come to him unless the Father draws them.
Arch continues:
Thereby God Does Give man PERMISSION�but
It Makes no sense to say that God gives His Permission for something that God has already DONE? Can you Follow that Logic or are you so Far Into your Trance that you have no Free Will to Respond?
James replies:
Yes, in one sense God is the ultimate cause of everything.
Nothing would exist except God created it.
But God is STILL NOT the author of sin.
Arch continues:
Yes�God does Give His PERMISSION�but that Means that Man has to do something�of Man�s Own Free Will�so that God can Give or NOT GIVE�His PERMISSION. Is this Getting Through
�Hello�hello�God Calling James!�
James replies:
Man does all kinds of things with his free moral agency, BUT is NOT ABLE to repent and trust in Jesus.
You need to be clearer about this. We are ONLY talking about free will in Spiritual matters. Fallen mankind has a will enslaved to sin, and thus is unable to repent and trust in Christ.
Arch said:
Don�t you see James�even as Far as you have become Enslaved by Calvin�The Holy Spirit is�STILL�trying to Reach you. That �slip of the tongue� was your Soul�trying to Reach out to you!
James replies:
You Probably need to drop the "enslaved to Calvin" routine.
I will just say I believe in the Augustinian view of predestination, and then proceed to just use quotes from Augustine, and other early church fathers.
I think it is ironic that you are Roman Catholic and make all kinds of noises about "the church" by which you mean Roman Catholicism, and yet you know next to nothing about church history before the Reformation or after it.
$20 says I know Roman Catholic doctrine better than you do.
