• The Scriptures teach that God is both benevolent [absolutely good] and also that he ordains evil deeds. The following quotation is in accord with the testimony of Scripture and deserves to be carefully studied:
God is good, yet he ordains evil deeds. We know that these truths are compatible, for Scripture teaches both and God cannot deny himself...God can foreordain evil only if he himself is good, for in Scripture “evil” is “evil” only by contrast with the goodness of God. God is truly good only if the evil in the world is foreordained by him, for only if evil is fully controlled by God can we be confident that there is a good purpose in it, and only if there is a good purpose in it can we trust the overall good purpose of God.15
• God foreordains evil; he does not merely “permit” or “allow” it. Such wording as “God permits [allows] evil” is often used by theologians who are either seeking to avoid the idea that God is the culpable author of sin, or are using human language for want of expression.16
• God, of course, is not the author of evil in the sense that he himself is culpable [blameworthy] or tainted by sin. Such would be a denial of his inherent goodness. That God is not the author of sin may be clarified by the following considerations:
14 It is important to note that the truth of Romans 8:28 occurs in the context of eternity, and is not limited to this earthly life (cf. v. 28–31). Further, the context contains the very worst that men can do to believers (v. 35–36).
15 John M. Frame, “The Problem of Theological Paradox,” Foundations of Christian Scholarship, p. 321.
16 Such language as “permit” or “allow” when used of God, although an understandable accommodation to human language and finiteness, might suggest that God is relative, i.e., there is an absolute above or beyond him to which he himself is either subject or against which he must contend (i.e., evil exists independently from God). Neither are true.
Dr. W. R. Downing • Pacific Institute for Religious Studies
Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley 11
1. The Scriptures hold men fully responsible for their own sins, which would not and could not be true if God were the author of sin (Acts 2:23; Rom. 1:18–32; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; Jude 14–15; Rev. 20:11–13).
2. If God were to charge men with sins for which he were really responsible, then he would not and could not be just, indeed, he would be less than just—he himself would become a criminal, a sinner! Such would be absolutely unthinkable and unscriptural. Thus, the biblical reality of human culpability would necessarily preclude God from being the author of sin.
3. Although God wills evil, it must not be imagined that he wills it in the same sense and manner that he wills what is righteous, holy and good. He ordains evil to exist and controls it, overruling it to the highest good and his glory (Psa. 145:17; Rom. 11:33–36; Rev. 4:11). He does not take pleasure in evil in a positive sense. Thus, it may be right for God to ordain what is not right for man to do and therefore wrong for God to command man to do under his preceptive will. The Dutch Theologian Herman Bavinck seeks to explain this truth by an illustration:
Because man is a rational, moral being, God does not treat him as if he were a stone or a log but deals with him and addresses him in accordance with his nature. Just as a father forbids his child to touch a sharp knife though he himself uses it without injury or damage, so God forbids us to sin though He himself is able to use and does use sin as a means of self–glorification.17
• God ordains sin, but he does not command it. Sin exists as part of the Divine teleological purpose, but it is not forced upon men by necessity. Men cannot make God culpable for their own sin and breach of God’s preceptive will. They must, as moral, rational, responsible beings, bear the consequences of their own transgressions. God thus controls evil, but not in the sense that he rejoices or takes pleasure in it. To say that God does not control evil is to deny his omnipotence. To say that he wills evil in the same sense as he does what is right and holy is to deny his righteousness and holiness. To say that he controls evil in such a way that men are relieved of their moral responsibility is to deny both their free moral agency and his essential nature. To say, however, that God ordains men to contradict his Law–Word through their own willful actions, and that he controls this for the ultimate good and glory of his eternal purpose, is to assert the absolute sovereignty of God over evil and yet preserve his wisdom, righteousness and holiness. Finite creatures must leave such mystery to the infinite God.
Donald Macleod seeks to put the matters of the fore–ordination of sin and human freedom in simple, yet profound statements, by asserting that God has fore–ordained both sin and human freeedom:
…God is not the author of sin. God has fore–ordained sin. He has fore–ordained whatsoever comes to pass, and sin has come to pass, and God’s purpose controls, limits, preserves and governs the universe even in the17 Herman Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, p. 240.
Dr. W. R. Downing • Pacific Institute for Religious Studies
Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley 12
presence of this fact of sin….He does not himself sin. He does not condone sin. He does not constrain to sin. He does not induce to sin. He does not tempt to sin….Fore–ordination is not destructive of freedom; God has ordained freedom…fore–ordination is what establishes freedom…nothing can take away from the human being the liberty essential to moral responsibility, because God has fore–ordained the freedom of men at the point of moral decision–making…God fore–ordains their actions, but he fore–ordains them as free actions: as things they do by their on personal volition….I am free because God fore–ordained my freedom.18
NOTE: The above statement by Macleod must not be interpreted in the Arminian sense that “God created man with a free will and so cannot violate that will,” but in the sense that God created man as a free and responsible moral agent. God would not, yea, could not externally limit his own sovereignty in such a away as to render himself morally incapacitated or even inconsistent. He would then cease to be God.• In the great theodicy of Romans 9,19 the Apostle answers objections concerning the absolute sovereignty of God over the moral character and destiny of men. (His argument assumes three questions: Is God unfaithful to his covenant promise [v. 6–13]? Is God unrighteous in his sovereign prerogative [v. 14–18]? Is God unjust or arbitrary in holding men accountable [v. 19–29]?). He asserts that God is, indeed, absolutely sovereign in the spiritual, moral and ethical spheres, and that no one has the right to question the Divine prerogative or purpose.
• The absolute sovereignty and moral nature of God must lead to the conclusion that God is not the author of sin because he completely controls the evil of his moral creatures. God is the one great and incomprehensible “Absolute,” the ultimate source of all meaning. In the final analysis there is no true meaning apart from God. The created universe and every fact in it (being a created fact) derives its meaning from God and must be interpreted by him. Thus, evil itself must be and can only be comprehended and interpreted in the context of God as he has been pleased to reveal himself in Scripture. Thus, rather than make God the author of sin, predestination in the context of the scriptural revelation of his nature and character, preserves God from this charge and is a guarantee of his absolute moral perfection.
• The Christian’s faith or trust is in God as he is revealed in Scripture. His ultimate hope and comfort do not lie merely in the omnipotence or absolute sovereignty of God, although such truths are certainly comforting and encouraging. The believer’s ultimate hope rests especially in the self–consistency of God’s moral character—that he is absolutely righteous, good and truthful, gracious and merciful; that he cannot lie, and that his promises remain true. The truth, glory and hope of Romans 8:28—“we know that all things work together for good”—is that God is morally self–consistent and his purpose will infallibly result in his own glory and the
18 A Faith to Live By. Mentor, Geanies House, Fearn, Ross–Shire: Christian Focus Publications, 1998, pp. 40–44.
19 “Theodicy,” a defense of God, from qe?ov (theos), “God,” and dikh? (dike), “justice,” hence, an attempt to justify God in the context of the problem of evil. The apostle’s arguments are more than an attempt, however, they are inspired Scripture—and thus the final word on this subject.
Dr. W. R. Downing • Pacific Institute for Religious Studies
Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley 13
highest good.20 True, biblical faith is not merely or barely intellectual; it also includes an unreserved commitment to and a trust in an infinite Person and the moral self–consistency of that personality
