God's Decree

Having been absent from the Board for a little while I would like to show some of the Scriptural proofs of
1. God's decree of all events.
2. That God is not the Author of sin.
3.. Man's free-will.

The 1689 Confession 3:1 states: God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things , and poer and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.

In this post I shall only have time to look at God's Decree. I will follow up on the other topice *DV) in future posts. N.B. I shall not be writing out all the Scripture referencees in full. Please click on the verses and read them.

1. God has a decretive will which cannot be resisted and surely accomlishes all it purposes.
Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 14:24-27; Isaiah 46:10-11; Psalms 115:3; Psalms 135:6; Romans 9:19.
2. The Bible states generally that God's decree is universal. Daniel 4:34-35; Romans 8:28; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11. The Bible also states specifically that all classes of events are inluded in that decree.
(a) Good and evil events. Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6; Job 1:21; Jeremiah 15:21.
(b) Snful acts. Genesis 50:20; 2 Samuel 16:10-11; 2 Samuel 24:1 (cf. 1 Chronicles 21:1); Job 1:11-12; Luke 22:22; Acts of the Apostles 2:23; Acts of the Apostles 4:27-28.
(c) Free acts of men. Proverbs 16:1; Proverbs 16:9; Proverbs 21:1; Romans 8:28; Romans 8:27-28.
(d) 'Chance' occurrences. 1 Kings 22:28-34; Job 5:6; Job 36:32; Proverbs 16:33; Jonah 1:7.
(e) Details of our lives. Job 14:5; Psalms 139:16; Matthew 10:29-30; James 4:15.
(f) Affiars of the nations. 2 Kings 5:1; Psalms 75:1-7; Proverbs 21:31; Daniel 2:21.
(g) Final destination of the wicked. 1 Samuel 2:25; Proverbs 16:4; Romans 9:17; 1 Peter 2:8;
Jude 4.
3. Nothing save God Himself conditions His decree. No one counselled Him when He decreed. Isaiah 40::13-14; Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Much of the foregoing has been gleaned from A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of faith by Samuel Waldron (ISBN 0-85234-340-X.

 

I now move to the second proposition: that God is not the Author of sin.
The Confession teaches that although God decrees sin, He is not the Author of sin. This teaching is based on 'the liberty and contingency of second causes' mentioned in the paragraph of the Confession that I quoted above. God is not the Author of sin because He does not directly cause it to happen. It is the responsibility of the second causes that willingly engage in it.. So we read in 2 Samuel 24:1 that God decreed that David should sinfully number Israel, but in 1 Chronicles 21:1 we learn that the decree was not carried out by God the Holy Spirit but by Satan. Also, when we consider the passages that speak of God decreeing sin (Genesis 50:20; 2 Samuel 24:1; Acts of the Apostles 2:23; Acts of the Apostles 4:27-28), it is clear that God's motives in so decreeing are entirely pure. In the first, third and fourth, it is graciously redemptive; in the second it is justly retributive.
This means that man's liberty is one that is not contradicted by its being entirely subject the the divine decree. Freedom has been defined as 'the absence of external coercion.' If someone is not forced by any power outside of himself to do something other than what he wants to do, then surely he is free.(cf. James 1:13-15)? But I will deal with 'free will' in more detail in my next post.

 

Now we come to the third proposition: does man have free will?
The answer will depend on how we define free will. The 1689 Confession defines it thus:

9:1. 'God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither forced, nor by any necessity of nature determined to do good or evil' [Matthew 17:12; James 1:14; Deuteronomy 30:19]

That does not mean that man is utterly unpredictable: that today I might help some dear little old lady across the road, and tomorrow I might kick her under a bus! No, the Bible defines free will. 'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man, out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things' {Matt. 12:35; cf. Matthew 7:17-20). We are free to act according to our natures and to do the things that we wish.

9:2. 'Man, in his innocency, [sic] had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God [Ecclesiastes 7:29] but yet was unstable , so that he might fall from it' [Genesis 3:6].
9:3. 'Man, by his fall into sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.' And here the confession gives a plethora of proof texts: Romans 3:10-12; Romans 6:16, 20; John 8:31-34; Ephesians 2:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Romans 7:18; Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Matthew 7:17-18; Matthew 12:33-37; Luke 6:43-45; Jeremiah 13:23; John 3:3-5; John 5:40; John 6:37-40; John 6:44-45; John 6:65; Acts of the Apostles 7:51; James 1:18; Romans 9:16-18; John 1:12-13; Acts of the Apostles 11:18; Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8-9.

Ever since the Fall, our natures have been turned away from God (Genesis 8:21; Isaiah 1:2-4; Romans 1:18-32 etc.) so that we freely follow sinful ways. The Doctrine of Total Depravity does not mean that man is as bad as he can possibly be - we all know unconverted people who can do kind or righteous things (Romans 2:14-15), but rather that every facet of man's nature falls short of what is acceptable to God (Isaiah 1:5-6; Romans 8:7-8) and that he cannot turn himself back by his own efforts (Jeremiah 13:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14).

9:4. 'When God converts a sinner and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and by His grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good [Colossians 1:13; John 8:36; Philippians 2:13]; yet so as that by reason of his remaining corruptions, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil' [Romans 7:14-25; Galatians 5:17].

'Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke; the dungeon flamed with light.
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.'

That verse was, of course written by an Arminian, Charles Wesley, but his hymn is loved and sung by Calvinists also, because it reflects the reality of the New Birth. We are indeed imprisoned, not by God, but by our own sinful natures until God sets us free.

 

First of all, thank you for your comment. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to get any.

The universality is 'all things.'

The universality is 'all things.'

 

So the Bible is 'universalist'? Got it.