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The author has a substantial opportunity to discuss an important area of theology, but simply punts with a summary denial. He quotes a Scripture (a rare occurrence for the Doctrinal Police), but doesn't do any exposition or even deal with the issues Johnson raises.
If the author thinks that God is absolutely sovereign, in the sense that nothing at all happens anywhere at any time without Him directly causing it, that raises a whole lot of issues, including
- What is the purpose of existence if every single thing is already caused by God
- What is the purpose of salvation if nothing happens apart from God's action
- What is the purpose of evil, since God must have caused it
- What is the purpose of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection if none of these things has an effect on the outcome of God's plan
- What is the purpose of evangelism if it doesn't change anything God has purposed
If God is sovereign in this sense, then the Gospel is meaningless, life is meaningless, and the Bible is meaningless.
However, if there is an element of free will, if certain things happen that can be contrary to God's purpose, if God isn't to blame for evil and disaster, then the author needs to explain. But he doesn't.
The author would also need to explain these Scriptures:
Ac. 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Lk. 10:41-42 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried andupset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Jn. 5:35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
Mt. 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Jn. 5:14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Ro. 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
He. 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no-one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
A truly sovereign God would have the power to allow things to happen without those things impeding His sovereignty. Reducing His sovereignty to simply binary equation makes God subject to human logic and reasoning. This is not sovereignty.
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Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31 KJV)
Bethel Church’s newly launched YouTube Web series titled “Rediscover Bethel,” which features an in-depth Q&A that addresses some of their beliefs and distinctives, has already paid dividends, as Bill Johnson and his associate pastor talk shop about whether or not God is in control of everything, concluding that he is not.
In contrast to that, we would say that not only has God numbered the very hairs on our head, but he controls every movement they will ever make throughout their lifetime, so that a breeze cannot shift a single hair a tenth of a micron to the right without the Lord knowing about it and ordaining it to happen. There is not one stray atom in the universe for God. If this is not true, He is not God.
For Bethel? They find the notion laughable and unpalatable in the extreme. In their view, sometimes things just happen, and God has no control over them.
Q: Does he control everything? Is he in charge of everything, but doesn’t control everything? What are some of the ways you think about that and understand scripture?
Johnson: My understanding in this area creates the greatest challenges for me…my approach is that God doesn’t control everything.
He’s in charge of everything. And the way I’d illustrate is well, you’re a parent, or you’re in charge of your household, but you’re not in control of everything that happens, you know?
Some dish will break. Something will happen. Somebody will say something that was unkind. Those things aren’t because of your influence. They just happen because you have a household of free will.
So that’s my approach, is that God is absolutely sovereign and that he’s in charge of everything. But I don’t credit him with Hitler. I don’t credit him with the disasters that take place in the earth. I don’t look at these and go, “Well, this is the plan of God who’s devised wickedness so that his glory could be seen.”
For me, that’s absolute nonsense.
So I look at his, at his sovereignty seen, in that he’s written you and me into a sovereign plan. For example, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is not willing. So is it God’s will for people to perish? No. Are they perishing? Yes. Why? Because there’s a [sic] wiggle room in there somewhere, where we have some measure of influence on the outcome.
This eventually prompts Dann Farrelly, Bethel’s Associate Pastor and Dean of Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry, to chime in:
And I think that’s the worldview of Scripture, you see a lot of powerful decision-makers in the angelic and demonic realm, as well as the human realm. And in the Lord’s sovereignty, sometimes I’ll say it to the students. “He’s so sovereign, he’s decided to be in control of what he wants to be and not in control the things he doesn’t want to be.”
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