-by Tony Warren
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I found this article on the internet just after Saturday fellowship. I sincerely praise God for this... I really need it. Hopefully it'll be a blessing to all of you as well.
Just in case the page is down or becomes unavailable some time in the future, I've put it here. You can visit the real page here.
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In Christian circles, the question is often posed, '
how do Reformed Christians reconcile God's sovereignty over man, with the responsibility of man?' The point of the query is, '
if God is sovereign, why evangelize, or why do anything if all is already predetermined?' The question on the surface seems fair enough, but it is actually convoluted because the Word of God does not teach that in God's Sovereignty, man is without volition, or the power of choice. Rather, it teaches that given the choice, and because of the fall of Adam, the will of man is constrained or in bondage, that he is inclined to choose evil. We must start with the basic Biblical truth that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) where man is in bondage to sin, and yet he accountable for his evil. Predestination or Sovereignty does not negate this human responsibility, rather, it is the gift of God in propitiation for it. His right to redeem from among these wicked, whosoever he elects (chooses).
As for reconciling God's Sovereignty with man's responsibility, the truth is, there is nothing to reconcile. Because these two things are in perfect agreement with each other. Man is responsible for his sins, and God can have mercy on whoever He wants, regardless. Both themes are clearly taught in the scriptures, and are in perfect harmony with each other.
Ephesians 1:4-5
- "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
- Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,"
John 3:16
- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Ezekiel 18:4
- "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
Wisdom is in 'receiving' all these scriptures as truth, and understanding that they do not contradict and they are clearly delineated in the Bible. Yes, we are obligated and called to obey God's Word. Yes we both have choices, and we make choices. No, nothing in the Bible abrogates our responsibility for the choices we make. i.e., the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sinneth it shall die! But none of these things preclude the Sovereignty of God over man. For our (the Elect) choices are 'within God's will' not something which is apart from it. Christ took on the responsibility for the sins of man, and thus set them free from bondage to sin, that they 'can' do God's will in Christ.
Philippians 2:13
- "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
When the Elect choose to evangelize and do the will of God, not being omniscient, it may appear to them as if the integrity is all theirs, but in reality God was moving them that their will was to do His. A perfect example of this principle of divine guidance by God to preserve and protect, can be seen in the episode of Genesis chapter 20.
Genesis 20:4-6
- But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
- Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
- And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her."
God pulls back the curtain and reveals His working within man that 'His will' would not be thwarted by the will of man. This king was sure that it was because of his own integrity that he didn't touch Sarah, but God reveals, no, it was 'HE' who had withheld (restrained) this king from doing this evil, and it was 'HE' who had suffered this king not to touch her. This is an example of the Sovereignty of God at work without man's knowledge. God is not an idle bystander wringing His hands hoping man won't mess things up, He is an active God making sure that ultimately things go as He has planned or determined. Predestination, the Sovereignty of God, and evangelizing, are inextricably tied together, because they are all the workings of the Spirit of God for the sake of the Elect.
Though these things are widely misunderstood, Sovereignty is not an enemy of responsibility, it is it's companion. Christians act responsible 'because' God restrains our sin and allows it, not because we are righteous and act that way of our own (alleged) free will. Left to our own devices or designs, man would destroy both himself and the world. It is only the Sovereignty of God over all which prevents this.
Our Salvation, or the ability to hear spiritually and act thereupon, is manifested as a gift of God bestowed upon whomever He decides to have compassion on, regardless of their own choices. i.e., Saul on the road to Damascus was not making a choice to come to Christ, God struck him down with blindness on his way to persecute Christians, and drew him to make the choice that he had been fighting against before. Without this action of God, Saul would still be persecuting Christians with threatenings and slaughter (acts 9:1).
And so while it may appear to some that the responsibility of man and the Sovereignty of God are mutually exclusive ideas, that is only because man finds it so difficult to understand the full nature of the sin influence and captivity over him, apart from intervention by God. So permeating is it, that if God didn't act by His Sovereign will, not one of us would come to be Saved. Because we were all as a dead corpse before God intervened.
Ephesians 2:3-6
- "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
- But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
- And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"
Not while we were freely coming alive, but while we were still in that sin nature, being the children of wrath, unworthy and unmoving. While we were in this state, God drew us to Him and raised us up to new life. Were we responsible for our sins while we were still these children of wrath? The answer is, of course we were! We were on our way to hell just as others, and except God had this compassion on us, and loved us, and gave us the gift of new life, we would still be under bondage of the will. And it was His right, as God, to do this, regardless of how bad or obstinate we were.
Man in his stubborn heart wants to argue the point with God, thinking this would be unfair. But there is no contradiction between God's sovereignty over man, and the responsibility of man, nor should faithful Christians make apologies for the truth of this Sovereignty, or be embarrassed about the 'right' of God to both Save, and to not Save, whoever He so Chooses, and based on nothing more than His own will and purposes. For anything less would be a works gospel, basing our Salvation on the Good works in us God saw.
But the question remains, so why evangelize if God has decided ahead of time who will be Saved and who He will not Save? They call this fatalism, or the belief that nothing can be changed so we accept all things as inevitable. i.e., submitting to fate. However, that is not the attitude of the Biblical Christian, no matter what 'straw men' are constructed to allege it. Shall we sin that grace may abound? No! Shall we sit that work may be done? Again, no! We do not take an attitude of, 'nothing can be changed, so let's not do anything.' On the contrary, the faithful christian takes an attitude of, 'God is in control of everything, which is why He moves us to do His work on earth.' We evangelize because we are told of God to do so, and because the Spirit moves us in power to call the Elect to Christ. Men make these statements alleging contradiction because they are making judgments upon God's soveregn right to Save the 'totally' unworthy, but God's Word is very clear on both evangelization, and why Christians do it.
Romans 10:14-15
- "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
- And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
We evangelize, because we are sent to evangelize. And people hear our preaching because the Spirit of truth reveals it's glory, and opens the understanding of the Word to them. Many hear, but only some receive what they hear, and that by the Spirit, the Revelator of the witness of the Word.
The answer to why evangelize is very simple. Obedience! God works out His will and purposes in the vessels which He has created to carry out this work. He has ordained us the means by which 'His people' are called to realize their election through 'our' preaching of the Gospel. He is not thundering from the mountain, or from the burning bush anymore, He uses Christians to accomplish His task of getting the Word to the Elect.
2nd Thessalonians 2:13-14
- "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
- Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
God didn't make us a 'new creation' to pursue our own glory, riches, or to see how much pleasure we could get out of this world. He created us (the Elect) as vessels Chosen unto Glory in Christ. We are commissioned to take personal initiative, to do and to work. Every man is responsible to abide by the law, but only the 'God Helped,' will. And they will because in Christ their mindset is that their work of evangelization will become fruitful. This doctrine is has no part in the 'Straw Man' of fatalism, for the faithful know that their work avails much.
James 5:16
- "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
Do we say why pray because God knows what He is going to do? No, and the alternative to that is that God doesn't know what He is going to do. That is blasphemy, and a clear denial of His Omiscience. Our work and prayers are not in vain, but were ordained the method God will use to accomplish His will. This is what our work is for, this is our hope, and our prayer. This is why we evangelize. Because God 'uses it' to accomplish His tasks on earth. We do not do it because we are naturally (freely) willfully good (as the doctrine of Free will 'of necessity' implies), but because we were made vessels unto good. By contrast, while those of the world are also vessels created by God, they glory in themselves and in their own abilities. These are two distinctly different creations, or vessels, for two different purposes.
2nd Timothy 2:20
- "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour."
It's not even a question of if there are different kinds of vessels created, but one of if it is God's sovereign right to do so. Isn't that the real question debated here? Does He have the right to love Jacob and hate Esau, when both were wicked? Isn't that the real crux of the matter? Does it make God unrighteous to bless Jacob and abandon Esau, and to do it before they had done good or evil, even before they were born, and simply because of his own good will and pleasure and without regard to either one being somewhat better than the other? That is the question. i.e., man is thinking this makes God unrighteousness.
The fact is, God is not obligated to treat everyone equal. God can do whatever He wants with His own, and no one should complain that this is not right. Was God obligated to treat the people of Canaan the same way He treated the people of Israel? No! Is our idea of fairness, God's idea? No! Absolutely not! It always gets back to God's declaration on the matter, and whether or not we will receive it or continue in spiritual warfare against these clear principles of Sovereign determination of God. He is Sovereign over the choice of who is Chosen, and who is not. It's 'His' call!
Romans 9:13-16
- "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
- What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
- For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
- So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
It is not of him that runneth (works), nor of him that willeth (man's will), but of God, who shows mercy on whomever He wills.
Romans 9:17-18
- "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
- Therefore hath He mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
God is not obligated to Save anyone, because all deserve to be cast into Hell. Therefore, it's His Sovereign right to have mercy on whom He will, and to have Compassion on whom He will. And when He does, shall we ask, "why evangelize if God are Sovereign?" No, we will evangelize because we keep his commandments and love Him because He first loved us. Those not elect will have no desire to evangelize (in the Biblical sense), and so the question of, 'why evangelize' is self evident. We evangelize because we love God and He has commissioned us to go forth to the ends of the earth with the gospel. Unlike the prideful, in humility we are not insulted by being drawn or pulled to do so. On the contrary, we feel privileged to be 'used' of God for His purposes. And we understand that we do so only by the Spirit which dwells within us, to the Glory of God in the promotion of the Gospel of His Son.
Romans 1:9
- "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;"
We don't ask why, we have 'the Spirit of evangelizing,' the power of the Gospel which drives us to do the will of God is reason enough. Those who think they work because of themselves, are deceived. We are chosen vessels of God, made alive, and we weren't put here for our own vain Glory in to believe we are responsible for the good we do. But to read scripture and receive God's Word that it is He who moves us, tor the Glory of God. Our Glory is in the work Christ has done for us, not in the work we do.
Romans 9:22-23
- "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
- And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,"
Two vessels. One who will work for his own pleasures and purposes, and glory in his own abilities (alleged free will), and another who hath had the riches of the Glory of God placed upon them, that he will do the will and pleasure of God, to the Glory of God. The Elect understand the bondage of the will. The idea that the will is free, is a misnomer. The spirits are in prison, except they be set free of Christ!
"Why evangelize if all is set," is a question born out of a mind that may not really be sure that God 'is God' to righteously have ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY. Because if God doesn't have it all set, then there is logically the distinct possibility of failure, because (according to this philosophy) God does not make anyone do anything. ..which means it's all in man's hands. More importantly, if not, then the only alternative is that it's not in man's hands, God is controlling it all and will have His will and purpose done on earth. No one can have it both ways.
Man would never seek God (on God's terms) on his own, he is drawn to Christ by God, not by his inherent free will. Our work is because of the work of Christ, and the giving of His Spirit, it is not because of ourselves. We are thus brought back to the Sovereignty of God. Because nothing is consistent without it. All things are after the counsel of His will, and if that be true, how then can anything be allowed which will thwart His Sovereign good will? It makes no sense! While if it is true, then the Believer is both secure, and determined to work all things to the Glory of God.
Ephesians 1:11-12
- "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
- That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
How we can be predestinated after 'the counsel of God's sovereign will,' and yet it be alleged it is by our own free will, is a mystery beyond rational explanation. And if all isn't set, then the prophecy of the Bible is a not immutable. God Forbid! God 'IS' Sovereign, God does know all, and He makes sure all vessels He has Chosen will work to accomplish their tasks. It is not left up to wicked men in some alleged 'free will,' philosophy, it is in God's hands. It is God who sets the bounds of who lives, who dies, who is drawn, who is judged, who He chastens, and who He refuses to chasten. This isn't all just window dressing, it is the unabashed truth of scripture.
Amos 3:6-8
- "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
- Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
- The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"
Exodus 23:31
- "And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee."
In the Old Testament, was God sitting around wringing his hands because all wasn't set, or did God actively deliver the wicked into Israel's hands? The answer is obvious! These wicked had no free will to beat Israel in battle. God ordained that they would be defeated. It's the same 'type' picture all throughout scripture. God making sure His will and purposes are accomplished, and He uses both His people and the wicked in this task. Did those Israelites sit sarcastically asking, "if this is Prophesied and set, why go to battle?" No, because the question itself is indicative of rebellion against God! God said this will come to pass, now go and do what I command! They don't retort, "why do it if it will come to pass?" But that is exactly what those opposing Sovereignty of God are doing.
Why Evangelize? Because it is the purpose we were put on the earth to do. It is our PRIMARY JOB. This is no different than God saying "go to the ends of the earth with the Gospel," and we replying, why? Every professing Christian knows that God commanded it. Every Christian knows God will not only triumph, but that it is impossible that He won't. We know that we are told to preach this gospel. So indeed, what is the "REAL" purpose of the question of why evangelize? Is it to say God is not really Sovereign and we are the real people who decide who is Saved or not? That is the logical conclusion of such thinking.
By contrast, receiving truth we understand that we evangelize because we are vessels of the Holy Spirit of God which moves us to do. That is why! The balanced position which the scripture takes is that God has the crucial role of making sure His Will gets done, and we have the role of being the vessels which He uses to get it done. It is a privilege that God has bestowed upon the Elect this work for Him. Understanding that the Bible teaches both sovereignty and human responsibility is not something to be reconciled, it is something already in harmony. We are responsible for our actions, and God would have been fair if He had cast every single one of us into hell. For we all rightly deserve that punishment for our sins. But God was pleased to Save some of us, and He cannot be charged with unrighteousness for not Saving all (Romans 9). The Elect don't question God's Sovereignty to do this, we thank Him that it pleased Him to have mercy on us.
But why only Save only some? That's God's business, known only to God alone. We understand in part, we are not called to fully understand, but to evangelize, humbly accepting His revealed Word. We don't make the artificial distinction between Sovereignty of God and responsibility of man, we are called to have a spirit meek enough to accept both. We are not called to counsel the Lord on what is righteous, but to receive counsel of the Lord on what is righteous.
Romans 11:33-34
- "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
- For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"
Why evangelize if there is predestination? Because God commands us to, and that is reason enough for the true Christian. We don't have to plumb all the depths of the riches of His unsearchable judgments. We have humility. It is one of the evidences of 'true' Salvation. We receive His command as a Child would receive the command of His father. We accept His Words as the law giver, and authority.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
- "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
May the Lord who is gracious above all, and rich in His Mercy and compassion, grant us the wisdom and understanding to discern what is true, and the humility to surrender to the sacred precepts of His most Holy Word.
Amen!
Peace,
Copyright ©2001 Tony Warren
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Created 9/2/01 / Last Modified 9/5/01
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