"God insists upon His sovereignty and also upon man's responsibility. Believe both and preach both, leaving the task of harmonizing with Him". (William Pettingill)
"The sovereign will of God and freedom of man are taught in scripture, and if we cannot reconcile the two, it is because the two are so infinitely above us" (A.T. Pierson)
“How great is God – beyond our understanding.” (Job 36:26)
"There's too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will "
I believe God is absolutely Sovereign, while at the same time, I believe man is absolutely responsible for his own actions. Unfortunately, neither Calvin nor many of his followers have been willing to accept both sides of this biblical teaching. Many Calvinists seem to think if man has a free will that it would limit the sovereignty of God; however, "Free will is God’s gift to men because He desires something more than a contract relationship. He wants our relationship to be meaningful and without free will that is impossible. Free will is not a display of man’s power, it is a demonstration of the tenderness in the heart of God". The essence of God's love is giving man a choice, without the freedom to choose, then love is non-existent. Many Calvinists believe that God cannot compromise His sovereignty by giving us free will, but they fail to understand that God can do anything He chooses to do. "It is fallacious to imagine that for God to be in control of His universe, He must therefore foreordain and initiate everything. In fact, it diminishes God to suggest that He cannot control what He doesn't foreordain and originate" (Hunt). To even suggest that the decisions of men could in anyway threaten or compromise the very nature of God, shows a disbelief in God's true sovereignty.
"Such fervor for God's sovereignty is commendable; however, Calvinists make God the effective cause of everything - including sin. "In order for God to be sovereign, it is not necessary for Him to control everything to such an extent that He must effectively cause man to sin. The basic problem for the Calvinist is the failure to see that God could sovereignly give to man the power of genuine choice. In their earnest zeal for God's sovereignty, Calvinists cannot see that it would not be lessened for God to allow man this responsibility. No other reason can be found for disallowing man's free choice except the fact to allow it would destroy the very foundation of Calvinism. Additionally, God's sovereignty as they define it becomes the Calvinistic justification for God saving only a select few and damning the rest. If one asks how a loving God could damn millions and perhaps billions whom He could have saved, the answer, according to many Calvinists is 'it pleased Him to do so'.
"Another real problem created by the doctrine of the divine sovereignty has to do with the will of man. If God rules His universe by His sovereign decrees, how is it possible for man to exercise free choice? And if he can not exercise freedom of choice, how can he be held responsible for his conduct? Is he not a mere puppet whose actions are determined by a behind-the-scenes God who pulls the strings as it pleases Him?” (Tozier)
God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, “What doest thou?” Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so." (Tozier)
Giving man the power to make a genuine, independent choice need not diminish God's control over His universe. Being omnipotent and omniscient God can so arrange the circumstances as to keep man's rebellion from frustrating His purposes. In fact, God can and even does use man's free will to help fulfill His own plans and thus be even more glorified." (Hunt)
The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the god we want and start seeking the God who is.
Man was predestined to have free will ;)
ReplyDeleteLife is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will :)
There's too much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will ;)
We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit’s of each man’s actions. Now, if this is not so, but all things happen by fate, then neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it is predetermined that this man will be good, and this other man will be evil, neither is the first one meritorious nor the latter man to be blamed. And again, unless the human race has the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions.” -Justin Martyr (c. 160, Vol. 1)
“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having” (C.S. Lewis).
ReplyDeleteThe discussion often proceeds as if God is bound by time, as we are. But He is the creator of time and as such is not constrained by it. We speak of foreknowledge, as if it is prior knowledge from God’s point of view, as it is from ours. But for God, it is simply knowledge with no “before” or “after” about it. He can know something as it happens—and it all happens for Him in one moment—without that knowledge being the cause of it happening. Knowledge does not equal causality. For example, if you and I were sitting together and you turned to me and said something, I would know what you were saying as you were saying it. But my knowledge of you saying it would not be the cause of you saying it. You would be free to say it or not. Likewise, God’s “foreknowledge” (which to Him is simply knowledge) of what we do, say, think or believe does not require that He be the cause of it.
ReplyDelete"The reason God is not the author of sin and evil is that He limits His power in relation to creation. By His own choice He is not, in the inimitable words of Baptist theologian E. Frank Tupper, a “do anything, anytime, anywhere kind of God.” He COULD be because He is omnipotent, but He chooses not to be that kind of God." Giving mankind free will is a display of God's total sovereignty, not to mention, a display of God's character and holy nature.
ReplyDeleteWe see the "evidence" of God limiting His power all throughout the scriptures and also experience this fact on a daily basis. For example, When Jesus was attacked by his accusers, he could very easily have called upon a legion of Angels to defeat His enemies, but He didn't. Another example are sign gifts and miracles. I believe certain gifts of the Holy Spirit were employed in the earliest stage of Christianity to authenticate that God was doing something new. These "sign gifts"--such as the gifts of healing*, and other miracles*--ceased with the death of the last apostle (whether one believes the sign gifts have ceased or not is not my point here). We must acknowledge there is an obvious difference between the sign gifts of old and the sign gifts that we have today. God has not changed, yet the way He displays His power is quite different today than it was during the Old & New testament.
My point is that even though God is omnipotent, and can display His power in "more obvious" ways, he doesn't, BUT HE COULD. In the same sense, God could predestine and forordain everything that man is and does, BUT HE DOESN'T. Just because God can do something, doesn't mean He will do it.
Please note. When I say I believe that sign gifts and miracles ceased with the last apostle, I am not saying gifts and miracles no longer exist, because, I am living proof that God is still the God of miracles, and I am blessed to receive the gifts He has bestowed upon me and my family.
Sound reason demands that there is no responsibility where there is no ability to respond
ReplyDelete