Sovereignty & Responsibility: Which One Is It?

The doctrines of divine sovereignty and human responsibility have been debated for centuries.  Many who hold a strong view of divine sovereignty have abandoned human responsibility, and many who hold a strong view of human responsibility have abandoned divine sovereignty.  On one side the question is: if God is absolutely sovereign, in what sense can we truthfully speak of human choice and freedom?  On the other side its: if man is free and able to make choices, in what sense can we truthfully speak of God being sovereign?  D.A. Carson gives great advice for this tension.  He says, “Rather than choosing between the two, we ought to see this tension as a framework to be explored than a problem to be solved.”  The Bible holds both divine sovereignty and human responsibility up as gloriously true and says “YES!”  Let me explain:

In Acts 2:22-23 Peter said, “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, 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.”

Notice how Peter holds up both God’s predetermining plan and the people’s guilt at the same time?  The text will not allow the people to escape their guilt, and at the same time the text will not allow us to think God was surprised at Jesus’ death, because it was according to His plan.  In 1 Kings 8:57-60 Solomon asks God to incline their hearts so that they would walk in His ways.  Then in 8:61 Solomon charges the people to be wholly devoted to the Lord and keep all His commands.  Is this a contradtiction?  No, it is another example of the Bible holding these two doctrines in tension. (For more texts like these see: Genesis 50:19-20, Isaiah 10:5, Jeremiah 29:10-14, 52:3, Joel 2:32, Haggai 1:12-14, 2 Chronicles 30:6-12, Philippians 2:12-13, John 3:27, 11:49-52, 19:10, 13:18-30)

Behind all the willing response of leaders and people, is the Lord moving in His people to give them a heart to obey all that He has commanded.  Men are commanded to do things, to believe, to obey, to not sin and rebel, to repent, to turn from their wicked ways, to be wholly devoted to God.  God is called Creator, Possessor, Ruler of all things, Elector,  and the ultimate cause of all things.  Even Jesus Himself, the predetermined coming King, freely and willingly came to His own, only to be rejected (Phil. 2:6-11).  So what are we to do with this tension?  Move to one side by rejecting the other?  No.  We’re to embrace the tension as the Bible does and stop there.  The Bible holds these two doctrines in tension, and at the same time having no problems doing so!  We should do the same.  God is sovereign, man is responsible, amen!

Was Redemption Plan B?

I wonder if this thought has ever come across your mind?  ‘If God is God than He cannot be surprised by anything, and therefore the fall of man did not take Him off guard, but in some way because He is sovereign, and governs all things, He was behind it.”

Another way to ponder it is this: “Was redemption through Jesus Christ plan B, making it a consequence of the fall of man?  Or, was redemption through Jesus Christ plan A, even before the fall of man?”  If we say it was plan B, certain implications about God’s control over all things and ability to be surprised come into view, and if we say it was plan A, certain implications about God ordaining evil come into view.  So was Adam plan A, and Jesus plan B?  Or was Jesus plan A, before Adam existed?  Which is it?

That is a loaded thought isn’t it?  This question has been pondered over long and hard by many people ever since the dawn of time it seems.  This is where I stand, and this is where I think you should stand as well.

In answering this question, we have two options:

Option 1: Satan caused the fall of man himself. If sin originated in the mind of Satan, that means Satan is the cause if the fall of man, not God.  This is appealing to many people because they rightly do not want to attribute any evil to God’s character.  But there are a few things why I would caution you not to hold this view.  If Satan caused the fall and not God, then that means Satan did something out of God’s will or not in God’s control.  We know that this is false for 2 reasons.  First, it is revealed through Job that God has a leash on Satan, and that Satan cannot do anything unless God gives him permission (see Job 1-2, and Luke 22:31-32).  Second,  Romans 8:20 says, “He subjected the creation to frustration (futility), not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.” Whoever brought sin, or frustration onto the world had an agenda of hope.  That is clear.  The question then becomes, who has the agenda of hope?  The last thing Satan wants is hope, it is never his agenda.  Hope is God’s agenda every time!  Therefore we can conclude that God caused the fall of man, in hope!  Do you see why this first option clearly portrays why Satan could not have been the author of the fall?

Option 2: God ordained sin. If God is sovereign, God ordained sin to come to pass.  Nothing happens to which God responds, “oops” to.  Many people do not like this however because they think that it automatically puts evil in the heart of the good God, but with Jonathan Edwards I confidently agree, “It is not sin in God to will that sin be.”  How than did God ordain the fall of man, in hope?  Although this is a hard thought to think on, I think we can get a hint at why God did it; listen to John Piper:

“The terrorized and troubled world exists to make a place for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to suffer and die for our sins. The reason there is terror in the world is so that Christ could be terrorized, the reason there is trouble in the world is so that Christ could be troubled, the reason there is pain in the universe is so that Christ could feel pain. This is the world that God prepared for the suffering and death of His Son. Look at Romans 5:8, God shows His love for us, He wanted to show His loved for us, in that while we were yet sinners, there had to be sin, Christ died, there had to be death, for us. This world of suffering and death exists so that God could love like He could only love in this world.”

God does not permit anything to come to pass willy nilly, but permits everything with design and purpose.  We have fallen in Adam, true.  But in Genesis 3:15 God makes a promise to Satan that was in His mind before fall happened, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” This means that the victory we have over sin and the disease that the first Adam spread to all men was taken care of before the world was created.  God for His purpose and for His glory, created a world, that would display His love to the greatest extent, through killing His Son, not because of anything in you, but because the praise of Jesus Christ is the goal of everything!

Now, some of you may be having trouble with this thought.  But can you see that this is worth thinking through?  Maybe you see that one of the implications of this is that nothing ever happens that is out of God’s will.  Is that true?  Go here to find out.

Can You be Out of God’s Will?

I often hear people tell me, “You have to try to get into the center of God’s will” and then comment about someone who is not saying, “Their not in God’s will.”  I think a lot when people say these things to me, for one reason.  If God is absolutely sovereign (which He is!), it is possible to be out of His will?  Doesn’t Eph 1:11b say God “works all things after the counsel of His own will“?  So again I ask, if God “works all things after the counsel of His own will” than nothing works after the counsel of mine. right?  Yes.  Okay, than if nothing works after the counsel of my will, and all things work after the counsel of God’s will, can I ever be out of God’s will?  You see the issues going through my mind now don’t you.

This is a serious question, because if all things work according to God’s will, than what does that mean for sin?  Does God, in His sovereignty, allow me to sin?  Does God, in His sovereignty, allow others to sin?  In orthodox Christian theology, we have always recognized that the will of God is the ultimate cause of all things.  In this discussion there has also been a helpful distinction within the will of God, His decretive will, and His preceptive will.

The decretive will, or the will of decree, is the will in which God purposes or decrees whatever comes to pass.  No matter what language you use for it (causes, permits, allows, or ordains) it all means that God actively decrees all events, big or small, everywhere.  Some have called this the ’secret’ will of God, using verses like Deut. 29:29 to do so.  The preceptive will, or the will of precepts (commands), is the will in which God lays down the rule of life for His creatures, indicating the duties He has commaded them to do.  This rule is found in the Bible.

Back to our question: Can I be out of God’s will?  No, speaking in terms of His decretive will I am always going to be in the place God’s wants me to be, doing whatever it is that I am doing, good or bad.  Speaking in terms of His preceptive will, Yes I can be out of God’s will by my disobedience to God’s Word.  Now to the real question: if all things work according to God’s will, than what does that mean for sin?  Does God, in His sovereignty, allow me to sin?  Does God, in His sovereignty, allow others to sin?  The answer must be YES, God does allow me and others to sin (in His decretive will).  When God does this, we must take care to say that God does not tempt me to sin nor is God at fault for my sin (James 1:13-15).

Is this hard to swallow?  Yes for many reasons, one of which is that this shows that free-will is not an option for Bible believeing Christians (WHAT?!  Go here).  Listen to Augustine, he will calm your mind: “Evil men do many things contrary to God’s revealed (preceptive) will; but so great is His wisdom, and so inviolable His truth, that He directs all things into these channels which He foreknew (in His decretive will).”

Quotes like this have made verses like Matthew 10:29-31 very sweet to me.  It is here that I feast upon my sovereign God, who works all things out in the best possible way for my best possible good (Romans 8:28), and for His maximum glory!

Edwards on the Joy of ‘True’ and ‘False’ Christians

Earlier, I wrote on Ezekiel 36:22-24, saying God sent Jesus first and foremost, not for our sakes, but for His sake, or for His glory.  If you have not read it, (go here) you’ll have no idea what this quote below means and implies.  This following quote from Jonathan Edwards has filled my soul with massive joy because it says everything I have been feeling and wanting to say for some time now.  This is by far the greatest quote I have ever found in Edwards, so far.  Have a gander….

This is…the difference between the joy of the hypocrite, and the joy of the true saint. The hypocrite rejoices in himself; self is the first foundation of his joy. The true saint rejoices in God. True saints have their minds, in the first place, inexpressibly pleased and delighted with the sweet ideas of the glorious and pleasant nature of the things of God. And this is the spring of all their delights, and the cream of all their pleasures. But the dependence of the affections of hypocrites is in a contrary order: they first rejoice…that they are made so much of by God; and then on that ground, He seems in a sort, lovely to them.

My one question I want to ask you is: Do you love God because He thinks so highly of you?  Or do you love God because He has given you the ability to enjoy Him forever?

My Conversation with Uncle Barry

I am currently on vacation in Daytona Beach, FL. right now with my wife’s family.  She has an Uncle named Barry who I love to talk with because he is not a Calvinist, and therefore he keeps me thinking through these things more than I normally would.  During our conversation Barry continued to say two things against Calvinism that many others are saying as well.  Below are the two comments from Uncle Barry and my response to them:

1) “I have a volitional will, I make choices.” To this I say, Yes!  We do have a will that makes choices all the time.  I can choose between all sorts of things all throughout the day.  Between eating healthy and eating horribly, between voting for this person or that person, between wearing this shirt or that shirt.  But, Ephesians 1:11b says this “…all things work according to the counsel of His will.” This means that all things in the universe, all my choices, are working according to God’s will, desire, and wish.  This also means that none of my choices work according to the counsel of my will.  But Barry is not just referring to this to show he can choose to wear a shirt or not, he is referring to his own choice to follow Jesus or not.  To that, I would answer with Eph. 1:11b also, but go further.  Why would a person who is sinful by nature choose something that is not sinful, namely God?  We do not have the ability to choose what is good when we are sinful by nature.  God must work in us to change our hearts so that we can choose Him.  So yes, we have a choice, and it is a glorious choice.  But the real question is, why did I make that choice?  Because God was at work in me.

2) What about 2 Peter 3:9? 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is “not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” Barry brought this up because he thinks that I cannot believe this verse because I am Calvinist who believes in God predestining people to heaven and hell.  To that I say, this verse is very true, and it shows us part of God’s heart; it does not show us ALL of His heart.  God does desire that all men come to repentance, but the truth is God does not carry out all the things He desires.  How do I know this is true?  Because people are in hell as I type this.  People in history have died in unrepentance and therefore have perished; that is a fact.  But if this verse is descriptive of all of God’s heart, than God failed in bringing all people to repentance because many have never repented.  God may desire that all men repent and be saved, but it is clear that God does not carry out all His desires fully.  Therefore, if God does not carry out all of His desires, God must have a purpose for doing so.

No one spurs me onto a greater desire for God’s sovereignty in salvation, than a convinced Arminian.  Thank you Barry, for causing me to think through these things.

Way To Go Honorius!

Today (April 30) in 418 AD Roman Emperor Honorius (who ruled 395-423) issued a decree denouncing Pelagianism, which taught that humanity can take the initial and fundamental steps toward salvation by its own efforts, apart from divine grace.

Isn’t it interesting that what most Christians champion as theologically correct presently is exactly what the early Church fathers condemned as heresy.  This is why Church History is important for us to know, because we don’t want to champion anything that has been condemned as heresy in the past.  That is, unless it is true.  But take heart!  Pelagianism, is not Biblical.

I Must Forsake What?

There is a hymn that I heard at church this past Sunday that really stuck out to me.  It is called “In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross”.  I do not know who wrote it, but there is a line in it that is soul-lifting and soul-exposing at the same time.  Here is the line

“…I’ll discard the loss and bear Your name, forsaking all for Your own fame…”

This is soul-lifting because it gets at the heart of the center of my life.  I am to be about my God’s fame!  In everything I do, that thought must be present in me, moving me to do all things in such a way that God gets the glory!

This is soul-exposing as well.  If I am to do be about God’s fame, I cannot be about my own fame.  If I must do all things in such a way that God gets the glory, I cannot seek my own glory in anything!  This is why it is so exposing.  All of us want to be seen as great before men.  But we need to fight this desire with intensity.  Because I cannot be about my fame and God’s fame at the same time.  It does not work that way.  God may glorify Himself by making you famous before men; but God will not share His glory with any man (except the God-Man).  If I am to be about God’s fame, I must forsake the pursuit of my own fame.

Therefore we have a life long struggle to be attempting: to do all things in such a way that men glorify God, and not me for doing it.  That is the heart of John 3:30, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

“Why the Time Magazine Trumpeting of “New Calvinism” is a Bad Thing”

After posting the link to the recent article in Time Magazine, describing “New Calvinism” as #3 on the list of world changing ideas, a few of you responded with questions and concerns.  I tried to respond in an appropriate way, but I struggled to find the words my heart and head were feeling.  I did a poor job. (see for yourself) Thabiti Anyabwile (bio) has done a great service to all of us who are concerned about this.  You can find it here.  I encourage you to read it, his response is very wise; and much better than mine.

“The New Calvinism” is Changing the World

Time Magazine has an article out right now describing the 10 idea’s that are currently changing the world.  Number three on the list is called; ‘The New Calvinism’, here’s a blurb:

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard “The Old Rugged Cross,” a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are…well, hark the David Crowder Band: “I am full of earth/ You are heaven’s worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity.”

Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time’s dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.

You can read the rest here.

The Attributes of God: Week 2

The Attributes of God: Week 2 – The Happiness of God
-Remember: An attribute is something that God always was, always is, and always will be.

-What do you think Happiness is?
-What comes to mind when you hear that God is happy?

One thing to focus on:
-What makes God happy? (What does God delight in?)

-Psalm 115:3 – What does this mean? The implication of this is that God has the right and the power to do everything that makes Him happy.

-Psalm 33:10-11: What does this mean? If God can do anything He pleases, than that means that what God wants to happen, happens. Nothing God desires to do is stopped by anyone else. If none of His purposes, plans, or desires can be stopped, God must be the happiest of all beings. Why? Because He is the only being that can always do what He pleases.

-Step back for a moment: What would life be like if God was not happy? What if He could not always carry out what He desired? What if He were always gloomy, or depressed, or anxious, or frustrated? We could not honestly tell Him that we want to be near Him could we? We would live as if our only aim was to not bother Him.  Praise God that He is not this way right? Amen!

-So we have seen that God can do whatever He pleases to do, but we have not seen what exactly it is that God does to make Himself happy. What does God do to make Himself happy?

-We can answer this question by asking another question: “What does God pursue in everything He does?” If we can answer that, we would know what He enjoys the most.

-So what is the driving force behind everything God does? His GLORY! What does that mean? God does everything to make much of Himself. Where do we see this? (Isaiah 43:6-7, Psalm 106:7-8, 1 John 2:12, Isaiah 63:14, Romans 15:8-9, Psalm 90:2, etc.)

-Because God pursues His glory in everything He does, we can know that His glory is what makes Him happiest. God delights in Himself more than anything else. God’s passion for God is unmistakable. God puts greater value on His glory than on anything else. He delights in His glory above all other things. His glory is what makes Him happy.

-Does you know how the Westminster Confession begins? “Q1: What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Could we not also ask “What is the chief end of God? How would we answer that? To glorify God and enjoy Himself forever.”

-One question comes from this:
-How can a God that is so in love with His own glory, be a loving God?
“If God is to love you what must He give you? He must give you what is best for you. The best thing for you in all the universe is God. If He were to give you all health, best job, best spouse, best computer, best vacations, best success in any realm, and withhold Himself, He would hate you. But If He gives you Himself (God) and nothing besides He loves you infinitely!” (John Piper)

-Where does Jesus fit in to God’s happiness? The cross. Did God enjoy seeing His Son die? No and Yes; No in the narrow view. Imagine the Father looking down on the Son during His birth, life, and death, watching the people He created kill His only Son! (See Isaiah 53:3-7). It crushed the heart of the Father to watch His Son come here and die!
-But in another view this did make God happy right? Take a step back to the wider view, the grand scheme of all history. (See Isaiah 53:10, Acts 2 and 4).

-Why was God happy at the cross? Because He knew that He would be glorified by all the people from every nation coming to back to Him through the Son, and he also knew that those people would be fully satisfied by that glory. This means that God’s happiness shines most brightly, in and through His Son.

-In what ways is the happiness of God practical to us every day?

(This was a summary of Desiring God Chapter 1)

“It Is Not For Your Sake…”

There is a popular song that has been playing on the radio for many years, in which the chorus says, “Like a rose, trampled on the ground, You (Jesus) took the fall, and thought of me, above all.” This song is called Above All, and its main point is that above every reason Jesus came to die on the cross, humans were #1.  Is this true?  Did Jesus die first and foremost for me?  Did Jesus think of me before He thought of God?  The song would like us to believe this is true.  I am going to try and persuade you that thinking Jesus died for us first, is not true, nor honoring to God.

Jesus did die for us, but not above all else.  Jesus died, first and foremost, for God’s glory.  Two questions arise from this:

1) Where does the Bible say this?

&

2) Why does this matter so much?

Let’s take one at a time:

First, where does the Bible say that Jesus died for God’s glory above all?  Ezekiel 36:22-23 says “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.  I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst.  Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their midst.” What do we learn from this verse?  God is about to act, not for the sake of His people, but for the sake of His great name.  What is He about to do?  God is acting to prove, vindicate, and show Himself holy and righteous in the sight of all the nations.  Why?  So that the nations will know that He is God, because of the mighty work He is about to do within Israel.

What is this action that God is referring to?  God is referring to an action where He will prove Himself righteous.  When did God prove Himself righteous most explicitly?  On the cross.  Romans 3:25-26, “God displayed (Jesus) publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.  This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the patience of God He passed over sins previsouly committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” What do we learn from this verse?  God’s action described in Ezekiel takes place on the cross.  On the cross, God proved Himself holy, by killing His Son, and not those who sinned against Him and profaned His name.  Therefore, first and foremost, Jesus died on the cross to prove that God was holy.  Remember what God said about how He was going to act?  ”It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name…” God sent Jesus to die, for the sake of His great name, to show that He was still righteous.

Now, why does it matter so much that we believe this?  If we believe that Jesus died for us first, than we have to believe that Jesus saw greater pleasure in dying for us than in dying to prove His Father holy.  It is blasphemy to say that Jesus desires us before He desires God!  Do not get me wrong, Jesus did die for us, and our sin was on Him on the cross.  Jesus was not thinking of our sin and salvation above everything else.  Jesus on the cross, above all other things, was dying to show that God is still holy.  Jesus died for God.

What am I trying to say?  For so long, the people that God had redeemed out of Egypt, the very people that had been chosen for Himself, had done so much sin in the sight of all the nations, so much that when the other nations looked at Israel, they said, ‘Israel’s god is a joke, he isn’t holy if his people live like that!’  God saw it, and He would not stand for this any longer, He is jealous for His glory and will not allow it to be trampled any longer!  One day God will act to vindicate His name of all the guilt, and will clear His name of all the profaning that had come to it.  No longer will God be made to look foolish because of His obstinate people!  One day, God will be the One who acts to vindicate His holiness!  He will do this for His name’s sake, not yours!  Not mine!  How will He do it?  He will prove Himself holy, publicly, in the sight of all the nations!  Most of us know Psalm 46:10 but we don’t know the end of the verse, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  This is the promise that God has pledged Himself to keep and because it is God behind the promise, it cannot fail!  In Romans 3:25-26, we see this breathtaking scene described when God acted to vindicate His own name by crushing His Son so that God would be seen as righteous!

Lord, cause us to love this truth, in Jesus name, amen.

Revelation 13:8 – The Verse that Changed My Life

So there I was at the Passion Conference in 2006.  At that time, I was a raging Arminian with a mind full of proof texts, ready to go into battle at any time.  It was about to be time for another main session, and the speaker for the session was John Piper.  I had not heard much from him prior to that day, except that many people told me that his preaching was tiring on the brain.  As I sat there, and as John began preaching, I was not expecting my life to be changed; but then John read the first verse he was preaching from.  It was Rev. 13:8, and once it was spoken I did not hear anything else the entire message.  Here it is: “All who dwell on earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who has been slain.” (Rev. 13:8)

The only thing that kept going through my mind was, “If this verse is true, and I know it is true, than my whole theology has to change.”  The thing that kept me saying this was the truth in the verse that names had been written in a book before the world was made, and everyone whose name that was not in the book is going to worship the beast.  That was it, God had chosen His people before the world was made, and all of the sudden, my faith was not about me any longer.  It was about God.  It was about God’s story, and the astounding fact that He has brought us into it through the death of His Son.

That is what I want you to know.  Your faith is not about you.  Your existence is not about you.  Nothing in your life is about you.  Everything in your life, and everything that will ever happen to you, is for a greater purpose than you.  Everything is about God.  Everything is about Jesus.  God has not come into our story by our own believing in Him.  We have been brought into God’s story, by God’s effort within us!

Recession? Depression? YES!

I am rejoicing that we are in the current economic state we are in for these reasons:

1) It has caused most of us, not all, to become aware that America and those in it, are not invincible.

2) It has caused most of us, not all, to leave the sin of Sodom described in Ezekiel 16:49 as, “excess food and prosperous ease…“

3) It has caused all prosperity preachers problems, and shown many how false their lies are.

4) It has caused most of us, not all, to realize what James meant in 4:14, “…you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.“

5) Most of all, God will bring Himself glory, by causing ALL of His people, not a few, to treasure Him, rather than money.  The world will see this and many will come to faith! (Matthew 5:16)

Join me in rejoicing during this time.

Who Subjected the World to Futility, In Hope?

Romans 8:20 says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope.”

What is clear in this verse?  The world, all creation, was subjected to futility, or frustration.  It was not subjected willingly, in that it did not want to be subjected to futility.  That is clear.  What does it mean in the second half of the verse when it says, “because of him who subjected it in hope?” Albert M. Wolters, in his book, Creation Regained, says this:

“Paul states that the whole creation, not just the human world, was subjected to frustration (i.e., to ‘vanity’ or ‘futility’ or ‘pointlessness’) by the will of “the one who subjected it” (i.e., Adam, through his disobedience).”   (Creation Regained, page 56)

Is Wolters correct?  Was it Adam who in fact caused the whole of creation to be thrown into sin?   Did Adam sin, eat of the fruit the Woman gave him, in hope?  Absolutely not.  Adam ate and chose the created thing over the Creator.  It was a disobedient act and in it he tried to grasp equality with God (Phil. 2:6).  No, it was not Adam.  What Wolters does not address is the last phrase in the verse, “in hope.”

If Adam did not do it, who did?  It was not the serpent, he was trying to deceive and lie.  It was not the Woman, she grasped the fruit in doubt because of the serpents influence.  So who subjected the world to sin, in hope?  To answer this, we must ask a different question.  Who had an agenda of hope in Eden?  Adam didn’t, the Woman didn’t, the serpent didn’t.  Who did?  God did.  God had an agenda of hope in Eden.  God subjected the world to sin, in hope.  How?  Why?  Do I mean that God let, or allowed, or ordained sin into the world?  YES!

I really mean that, and I praise God for it.  How?  God, in letting sin into the world, opened the jaws that would eventually slam shut on His Son.  If sin were not present, Jesus would not have died.  If sin were not in the world, Jesus would never have been a man of sorrows, He would never have been crushed for our sins.  Read Romans 5:8 carefully, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” John Piper comments on this verse and says, “God wanted to show His love toward us.  While we were sinners, there had to be sin!  Christ died, there had to be death!” If sin and death were not allowed or ordained to come into the world, Jesus would not have died on the cross.

This is how God subjected the world to sin, in hope.  He did it for His Son.  He did it to display Himself fully to us!  He did it, because it was always plan A.  When sin came in, God did not say “Oops, let’s go to plan b. My Son, you have to die now!”  Acts 2:23 and 4:27-28 tell us that the cross was predestined by God.  God does not say oops.

Albert M. Wolters later says:

“There is no sense in which sin ‘fits’ in God’s good handiwork…Any theory that somehow sanctions the existence of evil in God’s good creation fails to do justice to sin’s fundamentally outrageous and blasphemous character, and in some subtle or sophisticated sense lays the blame for sin on the Creator rather than on ourselves in Adam.”  (Creation Regained, page 57-59)

I do not say that man is not at fault in Adam’s sin, we are.  But behind our sin and guilt, God is at work always planning for His glory.  O’ how sweet the praise God is not getting because His sovereign plan of grace is not loved, exulted in and treasured above all!  He planned for the death of His Son and planned that grace would flow from it to sinners like me before the world began!  Because of this, He subjected the world to sin, to set the stage for His Son.  He subjected the world to sin, IN HOPE.  With Jonathan Edwards I agree, “It is not sin in God, to will that sin be.”

Is ‘Free Will’ Taught in the Bible?

Many accept that free will is something that we have.  Many also believe that free will is a gift God has given us.  For us to claim that God has done this, we must be sure, and have clear evidence.  Too often we believe something without investigating to see if it is true.  We should ask: does the Bible teach that we have a will, or an agency, that is free?  Answer: No.

I say this because the meaning of the word ‘free’.  In order for something to be free it must have nothing that hinders anything it does.  A ‘free will’ would mean we have a will in us, that God cannot control, nor act upon to change.  Is this not the logical end of a ‘free’ will?  For our will to indeed be free, means that nothing can stop it, and nothing can hinder any action it desires to accomplish.  This means no one, even God, can stop the will of man.  This idea is not taught in the Bible, in fact, the opposite is taught in many places.  Here are some examples:

-Everything (notice that ‘all’ or ‘everything’ means that nothing is not included in it) works according to God’s will, not ours.  (Ephesians 1:11b)

-A man makes plans, but God directs our steps.  (Proverbs 16:1, 9, 33, 19:21, 20:24)

-A man’s heart turns where God wants it to turn.  (Proverbs 21:1, 2 Chronicles 30:6-12)

-A man’s way is not in himself.  (Jeremiah 10:23)

So what about our choices?  People seem to choose what they want to do, and where they want to go.  This is clear.  But does this mean we have a ‘free’ will?  2 Corinthians 8:16-17 teaches us about this:

“But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.  For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord.”

We see many things here.  Titus went to Corinth on his own accord (or of his own will), because he was earnest and he accepted their appeal.  Why was he earnest?  Why did he accept the Corinthians appeal? Because God put it into his heart.  Thus we say: Because God put it into Titus’ heart, Titus went of his own will.

We do not have a will that is ‘free’.  God can and does, have power to change, direct, guide, ordain, lead, our wills; and this should give us hope.  Because God, can triumph over our sin loving wills to create a will in us that is earnest for Himself, and His Son.

Ask God to do this in you.