By Fransisco Msonge (MD), 2022
Contents
- Introduction
- God’s sovereignty and our submission.
- Predestination and Human Freedom
- Foreknowledge and Human Freedom
- God’s Sovereignty has no limit
Introduction
The word “sovereign” in the dictionary may be defined by phrases like “superior,” “supreme in power and authority,” “ruler,” and “independent of all others.” But the biblical definition and context of sovereignty are more than that. There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As the King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations. Consider just a few of the claims the Bible makes about God.
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:(Colossians 1:16). God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him (Revelation 21:6). God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His knowledge, for God knows everything completely before it even happens (Romans 11:33)
God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, and angels. “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all”. (Psalm 103:19). God can do all things and accomplish all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, and He orchestrates and determines everything that is going to happen in our lives and throughout the world. Whatever He desires in the universe, He accomplishes, because nothing is impossible with Him (Jeremiah 32:17).
The Biblical sovereignty of God means being the ultimate source of all power, the ultimate source of all authority, and the ultimate source of everything that exists. Only God can make these claims; therefore, it’s God’s sovereignty that makes Him superior to all other gods and makes Him and Him alone, worthy of worship. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).
God weaves everything together for the good of his children. “Good” in this context does not refer to earthly comfort but conformity to Christ (Rom. 8:29), closer fellowship with God, bearing good fruit for the kingdom, and final glorification (Rom. 8:30). Christians can be assured that all things work together for their good because God has always been doing good for them. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Isaiah 25:8-9 KJV
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation”.
Psalm 121:2 KJV
“My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”.
The Lord’s permissive will and wise purposes stand behind everything. As a result, his people should not be discouraged when history appears to contradict his promises. Far from a problem to cope with, God’s sovereignty over all things is the only hope for the flowering of salvation and righteousness in this world. Isaiah warns against challenging God’s right to do his will in his own way. Putting God under suspicious scrutiny is a serious offense. He may not be compelled to explain himself to created beings (Rom. 9:19–21).
God’s sovereignty and our submission
God’s sovereignty calls for our submission. God’s sovereignty compels us to bow before Him. But unlike corrupt earthly kings who abuse their authority to terrorize their subjects, God does not work in deceit or coercion. God rules in love. He loves us and wants us to be like him in purpose. (Romans 8:28). That’s an amazing promise, not only because it demonstrates that an all-powerful God cares about you and me, but because it cannot be fulfilled unless the One Who gives it is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving. The promise itself is a testimony to God’s sovereignty.
God’s sovereignty and promise provide us with comfort, millions throughout history have testified to its truth because God has proven His ability to back it up time and time again. Think about the implications of that promise. Because God is sovereign and He loves you, nothing will ever come into your life that He does not either decree or allow. Consequently, no matter what you face in life, you can take comfort in the fact that God is sovereign.
God’s sovereignty inspires us to worship him because God is completely good and completely sovereign, he is completely worthy of worship. The Biblical claims listed above are specific reasons why Christians worship God. Psalm 24:1-2 is another: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.”
The Psalmist often worshipped God because God rescued him (Psalm 18:16-17), provided for him (Psalm 23:1), and led him (Psalm 32:8). It is important and good to worship God for the ways he works in a person’s individual life. But the Psalmist also shows us in (Psalm 145:3-4) that Christians can always worship simply because God is always worthy. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
The Scriptures clearly teach God’s sovereignty. “He does according to His will….No one can restrain His hand” (Dan. 4:35). “For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created'” (Rev. 4:11). “Whatever the Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth” (Ps. 135:6). So Solomon could say, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1). Paul, aware of God’s sovereignty, wrote, “I will return again to you, God willing” (Acts 18:21), while James admonished, “You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills” (James 4:15).
Predestination and Human Freedom.
The Bible reveals God’s full control over the world. He “predestined” people “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29-30), to be adopted as His children, and to obtain an inheritance (Eph. 1:4, 5, 11). What does such sovereignty imply for human freedom?
The verb to predestinate means “to determine beforehand.” Some assume these passages teach that God arbitrarily elects some to salvation and others to damnation, irrespective of their own choice. But the study of the context of these passages shows that Paul does not speak about God’s capriciously excluding anyone.
The thrust of these texts is inclusive. The Bible clearly states that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
There is no evidence that God has decreed that some people should be lost; such a decree would deny Calvary and Jesus Christ’s atonement, where Jesus died for everyone. The whoever in the text, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), means that anyone can be saved.
1 John 4:7-10 KJV
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Ephesians 1:4-7 KJV
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace”
Man’s free will is the determining factor in his personal destiny is evident from the fact that God continually presents the results of obedience and disobedience, and urges the sinner to choose obedience and life (Deut. 30:19; Joshua 24:15) . Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”.
Joshua 24:15, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.
Salvation is a free gift. You can take it or leave it. If you don’t want to obey God, He will not force you to. All the same, He has made it known to us where our choices will lead us. If we choose to obey Him and live a righteous life, our destination will be heaven (eternal life). On the other hand, if we choose to live a sinful life, our destination will be hell (eternal suffering). He has done His part to make the first choice possible but has also left room for those who prefer the second option. After all, the choice is ours, and we have the autonomy to choose.
God predestined us as children by Jesus Christ to Himself (Ephesians 1:4-7), but he cannot force us to accept Him. Jesus Christ made it clear how much of choice salvation is when He said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16) . And, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Of course, many people choose to push away this gift in preference of an unsaved life of carnal and corrupt indulgences. After all, it is a gift. You can choose whether or not to take it.
The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love and homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all, He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. All intelligent beings were created free to choose between obedience or disobedience to the great principles of truth, righteousness, and love.
God may foresee each individual choice that will be made, but His foreknowledge does not determine what that choice shall be. Bible predestination consists in the effective purpose of God that all who choose to believe in Christ shall be saved (John 1:12; Eph.1:4-10)
Then what does Scripture mean when it says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau (Rom. 9:13) and that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Rom. 9:17-18)? The context of these texts shows that Paul’s concern is the mission and not salvation. Redemption is available to anyone—but God chooses certain persons for special assignments. Salvation was equally available to Jacob and Esau, but God chose Jacob, not Esau, to be the line through whom He would take the message of salvation to the world.
When Scripture says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it means “God’s permissive will.” It simply means that God allowed him to do what he wanted and thought, not that He ordains it. Pharaoh’s negative response to God’s call actually illustrates God’s respect for his freedom to choose.
Foreknowledge and Human Freedom.
Some believe that God relates to persons without knowing their choices until they are made; that God knows certain future events, such as the Second Advent, the millennium, and the restoration of the earth, but has no idea who will be saved. They feel that God’s dynamic relationship with the human race would be in jeopardy if He knew everything that would transpire from eternity to eternity. Some suggest that He would be bored if He knew the end from the beginning.
But God’s knowledge about what individuals will do does not interfere with what they actually choose to do any more than a historian’s knowledge of what people did in the past interferes with their actions. Just as a camera records a scene but does not change it, foreknowledge looks into the future without altering it. The foreknowledge of the Godhead never violates human freedom.
God’s Sovereignty has no limit
The Bible teaches that when Joseph was sold into Egypt and finally turns around and his brothers are found to be guilty, God says, “You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good.” The book of Proverbs says that the die is cast into the lap and its every decision is from the Lord; a man designs his way, but the Lord directs his steps; and on and on. (Proverbs 16:9, 33).
We have all the reasons for believing in God’s absolute sovereignty. Because if we reject the sovereignty of God, we lose all things, including our will and our life. We also lose the very God, the very power that stands behind all the promises that make our lives livable.
Our God is a Sovereign God, all-knowing, omnipresent, and “His Counsels stand”, we read (Proverbs 19:21) “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand”. Matthew 19:26 “ But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”. Job 42:2 “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee”.
The Psalmist says, “I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. (Psa 71:16). “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth”. (1 Chronicles 16:31)
Amen
