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The Good, The Bad and The Sovereign A Study of God’s Relationship with People By Friend L. Wells
His name is Bill Davis. He is not fat, but he is also not what you would call thin. You might say he is just the right size to be a dad. When it came time in our seminary class to talk about the topic we are going to study today, Professor Davis told us about his four year-old son who runs to him, jumps up and wraps his arms around his dad. The problem is that four year-olds have arms that are only so long, so the boy can’t quite get his arms all the way around his dad. There is a space around the back that he just can’t quite get a hold of. Dr. Davis says his son finds it comforting that he can’t quite get his arms all the way around. It reminds him that Dr. Davis is big enough to be his dad. I have been asked to prepare a short study on the topic of how God relates to us. Are we free to make choices, or does God sovereignly control everything including the details and decisions of our lives? Does God know everything or does he learn along with us? At the start, let me warn you that this question is too big to get your arms all the way around. But let me also say that this simply points to the fact that God is big enough to be our Father. Section One: Some Passages Discussing God’s Sovereignty Isaiah 29: 15-16; Romans 9:14-24 What do these passages say about God’s relationship to people? What is the role of a potter? What is the role of the clay? How much control and authority does the potter have over the clay? Psalm 65:9-11; 147:15-18 What do these passages say about God’s involvement with nature? List some specific things that these passages say God controls. Proverbs 16:33 What is God’s role in "random" events? Psalm 2:1-12 What is God’s role in history? Why are the plans of the nations "futile"? Psalm 139:1-12 How much does God know? Romans 8:28-30 What does this passage say about God’s role in the Christian’s life? How much does God know? Are there any parts of our lives that are outside God’s control, past, present, or future? Summary Reflections As you reflect on the truths in section one, how do you feel about the security of your relationship with God? What would you say to a friend who said she didn’t believe God was in complete control of her situation? Section Two: Some Passages Discussing Our Freedom Joshua 24:14-18 What is Joshua asking the people to do? How do they respond? What does this passage say about our ability to choose? 1 Samuel 13:7b-14 What does this passage say about Saul’s ability to make real choices? Did God know about this beforehand? Did God cause this? 2 Samuel 11:2-5, 14-17 What does this passage say about David’s ability to make real choices? Did God cause this? (see James 1:13-16) 1 Kings 3:7-10 What is wisdom? Why did Solomon ask for wisdom? What was God’s response to this request? (Choose one) A. "Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t have that kind of power!" B. "Don‘t worry about it, humans don’t have that kind of responsibility." C. "Great job! You obviously understand your responsibility as a leader and my power as your God." D. Other - __________________________________________ Matthew 4:17 What is Jesus asking the people to do? Are they free to choose otherwise? Matthew 19:16-23 What choices did this man make (or not make)? Was he free to choose otherwise? 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 What responsibility is Paul pointing out to the Corinthians? Are they free to choose whether or not to do this ? 2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2 What choices does Paul make in this passage? What choices does he "plead" with his readers to make? Summary Reflections As you reflect on the truths in section two, how do you feel about the responsibility of your relationship with God? What would you say to a friend who said she didn’t feel that her choices really made any difference? Section Three: Some Passages That Bring These Truths Together (warning, this is where you will find that your arms are too short to go all the way around these truths!) Genesis 50:14-20 Who caused Joseph to end up in his high position in Egypt according to verses 15 & 17? According to verse 20? Exodus 7:3,13,14; 8:15 Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart according to 7:3? According to 8:15? John 1:11-13 According to verses 11 and 12, do we receive Christ or does he receive us? According to verse 13? Luke 22:21-23 Did Judas choose to betray Jesus or did God cause this? (See also Acts 2:22-23 & 36) Will God hold Judas responsible for this choice? Philippians 2:12-13 Who is doing the work in our Christian lives according to verse 12? Verse 13? Summary Reflections: As you reflect on the truths in this section, how do you feel about the balance between God’s part and your part in your relationship with Him? Is God in complete control of your life? Do you make choices that are real and significant? Closing Thoughts: People are uncomfortable with things they can’t understand. Yet, God has clearly told us that there are many things about him that we simply will not be able to get our arms all the way around. The topic of God’s control and human freedom is one of those things. Because of our strong desire to understand God completely, many attempts have been made by theologians and philosophers throughout the years to try to combine these two truths into one understandable statement about how God relates to us. It might be helpful to picture a spectrum of thought with "God’s Control" at one end and "Human Freedom" at the other. |
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God’s Control Human Freedom ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Determinists Calvinists Open Theists Process Thinkers (Frame) (Pinnock) |
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On the extreme left-hand side are people we might call "determinists" who believe that God determines (ordains) everything and that human decisions are not freely made. These people are sometimes called "Hyper-Calvinists." On the extreme right-hand side are people who believe that humans are so free that God actually waits to see what we will do. God, for these folks, is dependent upon humans to carry out his plan. He could not do it without us. These people are generally referred to as "Process Thinkers" since they view God as in process along with the rest of us. As we move toward the center from the left, the next people we meet might be called "Calvinists" (although this label is often misused and misunderstood). Calvinists tend to give strong emphasis to God’s control, but sometimes try to explain away human freedom by saying that it is not true freedom but only a narrowly defined type of freedom and that we are responsible for our actions even though our choices are predetermined by God. Although the emphasis on God’s sovereignty is valuable, these folks seem to struggle with the idea that people are truly free.1 As we move toward the center of our diagram from the right, the next people we meet call themselves "Open Theists." Open Theists assert that God has chosen to have genuine give-and-take love relationships with people. This, they say, means that God must travel through time with us, experiencing all that we experience, learning and responding as we learn and respond. God, they say, cannot know the future since the future does not yet exist. God, according to the Open Theist, has chosen to give us real freedom. Although he reserves the right to control human decisions and actions, he normally does not do so. The only real difference between Open Theism and Process Theism seems to be that Process Theists say that God must be this way while Open Theists say that God has chosen to be this way. Unlike Calvinism, this view must be rejected as unbiblical.2
So, Which Is It? The first temptation came in the form of an offer to "be like God" in the area of knowledge. Since that time, people have been frustrated in their attempts to understand the ways of God. Is Jesus God or man? Is God three or one? Is God in complete control, or do people have the freedom to make real and meaningful choices? Does God know everything in advance or do our prayers make a real difference? The answer to all of these questions is "yes". The Bible clearly teaches that God is in complete control of all things. It also teaches that people are truly free. Perhaps a few quotes (from self-proclaimed Calvinists) will be helpful as we close.J.I. Packer has written a very helpful book on this topic entitled, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (IV Press, 1961), in which he refers to this question as an "antinomy." Packer states, "the whole point of an antinomy- in theology at any rate- is that it is not a real contradiction, though it looks like one. It is an apparent incompatibility between two apparent truths. An antinomy exists when a pair of principles stand side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet both undeniable. There are cogent reasons for believing each of them; each rests on clear and solid evidence; but it is a mystery to you how they can be squared with each other. You see that each must be true on its own, but you do not see how they can both be true together." (page 19) John Calvin himself wrote that this question, "exceeds [our] mental capacity."3 Wayne Grudem is a professor at Trinity International University who refers to himself as a Reformed Theologian. He writes, "Every believer who meditates on God’s providence will sooner or later come to a point where he or she will have to say, ‘I cannot understand this doctrine fully.’"4 As John Frame says, "we are responsible for everything we are and do. On the whole, the biblical writers see no problem in affirming both total divine sovereignty and complete human responsibility." (page 121) Rather than choosing which truths to believe (or emphasize) shouldn’t we embrace everything God has told us about himself? Rather than becoming frustrated, we should rejoice that God is just too big to get our arms around. Now What? We are presented with two great truths, side by side, without apology. God is in compete control. We are free and responsible for our decisions and actions. How do we live with both of these truths before us? The answer is that we do exactly what the Bible does. As this study has shown, there are times when there is a need to emphasize God's control. At these times, the biblical writers focus on this truth. There other times when the situation calls for an emphasis on human freedom and responsibility. Both of these truths are always present in full force, but sometimes we need to turn more to one than the other. Assume you have a sick child. There is a time to pray and rely on God's complete control and to find your rest and your peace in the fact that your child is cradled in the all-powerful hand of God. But there is also a time to get in the car and drive to the hospital, because we understand that while God is in complete control, we are also responsible to act. You have a neighbor who needs to know Jesus. Do you pray for them or do you invite them to a church outreach event? The answer is you do both. You pray because you know God is in complete control and they will never understand the gospel unless God opens their eyes. You invite them because you understand that you are personally responsible for taking the gospel to your neighbor. 100% God + 100% you = a supernatural life
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1. Calvinist John Frame has an interesting, but sometimes confusing, discussion of these topics in his book, The Doctrine of God (P&R Publishing, 2002). In chapter 8, Frame clearly teaches that humans are fully responsible for their choices. He also teaches, however, that God is the cause of all human decisions, even the decision to sin (pg. 64 ff.). His strong desire to preserve God’s sovereignty leads Frame to separate the concept of freedom into no less than five subcategories. He also argues that it is God’s prerogative to hold people responsible for choices they are not really free to make (pg. 140). In the end, though, Frame seems to fall back to the position I am calling "antinomy" which embraces both God’s control and human freedom at the same time. A few pages before he states that "God does in fact bring about the sinful behavior of human beings (pg. 65)," he says that "Judas makes a personal decision to betray Jesus, for which he is fully responsible. Nevertheless, the betrayal of Jesus takes place ‘as it has been decreed’ (pg. 57, my emphasis)." This is just one of several examples Frame cites where both of these truths come together. 2. The most comprehensive presentation of this position, to my knowledge, is in the book The Openness of God, by Clark Pinnock et. al. (IV Press, 1994). In their zeal to protect human freedom, these authors have denied God’s knowledge of the future, redefined what it means that God is unchangeable, and discarded or explained away the many clear passages that speak of God’s control over all things (see section one above). They say that God is "vulnerable", "takes risks", and that the powers of darkness can "restrict God’s ability to respond to a given crisis (pg. 115)." Rather than causing all things (Frame), God "hopes" that certain things will go his way (pg. 37). Unlike Calvinism, this position must be considered unorthodox. 3. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Zondervan Publishers, 1994. Page 336 4. Institutes, 1.18.4 |
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