Week 9: Thad and Corey

God's Sovereignty

God is sovereign. He rules over everything that he has created. Tozer points out that to do this God must be all-knowing, all-powerful, and completely free. If he wasn't he would not have the complete rule that he does. And God does know everything. Multiple examples of this are given throughout the bible with one being Matthew 10, where Jesus says that "even the hairs on your head are numbered." He is also all-powerful. It is clear that God can accomplish anything and everything that he wants to. "All things are possible with him"(Matthew 19). He causes all things to work together for good..."(Romans 8). He cannot be stopped. Because of this he can bring salvation to anyone. It is already seen as completed in Romans 8:29-30. And He is completely free. He is not influenced or persuaded by others. This is why Paul says, "It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy"(Romans 9). God's choice does not depend on what people do it depends entirely on himself because he is absolutely free to do whatever he wants. This all makes God sovereign, ruler over all. He does not have to answer to anyone, ask permission from anyone, or serve anyone. He is over all. He is "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Rev 22). He is the LORD.

-Corey

Man’s Responsibility

While God is sovereign over all that exists, scripture and man’s personal experience demonstrate that we are still responsible for our own actions. God did not choose to eliminate man’s freedom. In his sovereignty, God actually authorizes and empowers us to make decisions, and he warns us that bad decisions carry bad consequences (Gen. 1:26, 2:16-17). Consider Judas’s involvement in the crucifixion. Although this event was planned long before Judas even existed (see Psa. 22:16-18; Joh. 19:24), Judas really made a choice when he betrayed the Lord. This explains Jesus’s words to Judas—"What you are going to do, do quickly” (Joh. 13:27); why Jesus felt betrayed—“troubled in his spirit, [Jesus said] one of you will betray me” (Joh. 13:21); and Judas’s guilty conscience—when he “saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’” (Mat. 27:3-5).

This is both bad news and good news for us. The bad news— “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). The good news—God made a way out for those who choose him. (Joh. 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68). We may not understand how this choice can exist along with God’s sovereignty, but we must still make a decision. (See 1Tim. 6:12).

-Thad