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Jul 18
2007
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I won't pretend that I don't hold to a particular position but let's talk scriptures, not positions. What we're really asking, simply stated, is, "What does God cause to happen?" and, "What further conclusions must we make based on what we believe He causes?" My purpose in this first article is to lay a foundation of scripture we can talk about. Please respond with whatever questions come to mind after reading.
I will be gone to the Philippines with our Youth mission team July 31st through August 21st. So, while I will try and respond to comments before I leave, there will obviously be a time gap between my first response and my second.
So, here we go! If you're not inclined to reading Bible verses, this first article may seem tedious. I encourage you to dive in and do some learning. These are not simplistic truths! But, they are extremely important for us to try and understand. The first section of verses deals with general areas of God's control. The last section of verses deal specifically with calamity and evil.
Following are verses related to general things in creation God causes to happen:
"And he (Jesus) is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col. 1:17 ESV)
"You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them"(Neh. 9:6 ESV)
"Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses." (Ps. 135:6-7 ESV)
"You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth" (Ps. 104:14 ESV)
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." (Prov. 16:33)
"He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away." (Job 12:23 ESV)
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will." (Prov. 21:1)
"I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23 ESV)
"The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." (Prov. 16:9 NASB)
Additional references: Acts 17:28; 2 Pet. 3:7; Job 34:14-15; Ps. 104:29; Acts 17:26; Acts 14:16; Matt. 6:26; Ps. 104:27-29; Job 38:39-41; Ps. 135:6, 7; Job 38:12, 32; Matt. 5:45; Ps. 139:16; Job 14:5; Gal. 1:15; Jer. 1:5; Prov. 20:24; Luke 1:52; Ezra 1:1; Ps. 34:14-15
But what about evil?
"Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.' "(2 Sam 12:11-12)
"Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?" (Lam. 3:38)
"I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things." (Isa. 45:7 ESV)
"...this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death." (Acts 2:23 NASB)
"O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?" (Isa. 63:17)
Additional References: Acts 4:27; 2 Thes. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 2:8; Amos 3:6; Ezek. 14:9; Amos 4:6-11; 1 Kings 22:23; Job 1:22-23; 2 Sam. 24:1, 10; 2 Sam. 12:15-18; 2 Sam. 16:11; 1 Sam. 16:14; 1 Sam. 2:25; Ps. 105:25; Rom. 9:18; Ex. 4:21; Gen. 50:20
Most reasonable people will find themselves troubled by some of the challenging questions these verses naturally raise.
THERE ARE ANSWERS to those troubling questions! The purpose of this first article is to look at what God's Word says. So, let's begin to dialog about the questions.
-Tim
written by Aaron , July 24, 2007
What we are really trying to determine is how to resolve the tension that exists between God's sovereignty and human free will. In other words, in what circumstances does God choose to intervene and where does He allow others to simply "play out" based on human free will.
I would love to just solely look at Scripture to answer these questions, but based on the whole of Scripture we cannot fully or completely understand the will of God. Can we determine where His sovereignty and free will overlap? I believe we can only speculate...we can attempt to know and examine the nature of God and then try to base our theological beliefs on those determinations.
I believe it is important to be mindful of a number of things...
In our humanity we cannot ever completely know the mind of God. Because we are human and conversely if we had the ability to completely understood the mind of God, He would either cease to be truly divine or we would now be equals with God.
If we indeed truly claim to have faith in God, we have to accept His plan as supreme... that involves accepting His plan regardless of whether that faith brings about joy or pain. Trust in God's sovereignty as well as a true faith in Christ both involve following Him regardless of what He either allows or causes.
In terms of evil...
I came across some insight that I think is important to recognize...I thought these were interesting designations. The definitions are a little longer than what you see here; I shortened them for space sake.
1. "Natural evil is whatever destroys or any way disturbs the perfection of natural beings, such as blindness, diseases, death, etc. But as all that we call natural evil is not the penalty of sin...When such disturbance occurs as the penalty of transgression, it is the necessary consequence of moral evil."
2. "Moral evil is the disagreement between the actions of a moral agent and the rule of those actions, whatever it is. Applied to choice, or acting contrary to the revealed law of God, it is termed wickedness or sin."
I believe it would be most accurate to say that God allows pain or evil as opposed to saying God causes pain or evil.
God did not initially create Adam and Eve in a painful or evil world. Through Satan/sin/evil they both chose sin/evil and ultimately pain. He allowed their sinful actions to produce pain. He could have created both Adam and Eve and the totality of humanity as sinless beings that would have never ceased to worship Him. If humans were not created with the ability for free will then what type of faith would that produce? Would it then cease to be faith?
I believe God ultimately created humans to be able to either accept or reject Him. And in that free will humans make choices which produce pain and evil...if He did not allow it to exist, how would God ultimately redeem His people through His son Jesus Christ?
Once again if we are going to solely examine Scripture in order to answer some of these questions then we must truly examine Scripture in the context in which it was produced. For example it is extremely important to examine the cultural, historical, and literary context surrounding a particular passage.
Go back and examine who wrote the passage, what was their background, who were they addressing, what were the cultural norms at the time, what style of writing is it...is it poetry, wisdom, narrative, letters? Once we have attempted to examine Scripture through a contextual lens then we can attempt to go back and try to better formulate what the author may have been trying to communicate.
I am not trying to communicate that the God's Spirit cannot speak to you personally through Scripture...Scripture does not always mean whatever it means to you at the time that you read it! Yet another tension exists between God's Spirit speaking through and illuminating Scripture and accurate interpretation
I believe in order to correctly formulate a personal theology surrounding God's sovereignty and human free will it is essential to accurately interpret Scripture...
If we only base our formation of theology on Scripture and we interpret Scripture incorrectly then how can our theology be correct?
Furthermore, I cannot say enough about looking to the many commentaries that have been written concerning Scripture. Guys like Peter O'Brien, Craig Blomberg write great commentaries on Scripture. They expose within Scripture what is not necessarily evident...these guys are not only highly educated they are men who love God and are truly interested in ultimately exposing scriptural truth.
The real objective is to look to Scripture, commentaries, both past and present Theologians...and so on to try and best determine the nature of God.
And finally approach the process of discerning God's sovereignty with prayer...ask God's Spirit to both illuminate Scripture as well as provide the assurance that you would recognize that He is ultimately in control!
