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Predestination is a favorite subject of Calvinists, and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. Our primary quibble with predestination is that it can lead to kind of a fatalism, where one might easily conclude that nothing makes a difference because God will save whom He will save.
Predestination is a favorite subject of Calvinists, and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. Our primary quibble with predestination is that it can lead to kind of a fatalism, where one might easily conclude that nothing makes a difference because God will save whom He will save.
But more importantly, knowing about predestination is pretty much useless. It does not change any obligation or privilege of the Christian life. It is nothing more than an intellectual exercise with no practical application.
Further, Christians all agree that God is sovereign. But what that means (in particular, to God) is another matter.
The author quotes a lot of Scripture, which gladdens our heart. He thoroughly documents God's sovereignty, which is helpful. Quoting Scripture is an all-to-rare occurrence among those who represent themselves as Bible teachers.
What he does not demonstrate is God's sovereignty means that God is absolutely determining everything that happens. Cannot God, being sovereign, sovereignly choose to not choose? What if God, knowing and controlling everything, nevertheless possesses the power to let things play out as they will in some fashion of His choosing?
Our problem is, we want to anthropomorphize God. Our human view of sovereignty causes us to impose upon God our definitions. We arrogantly decide what sovereignty means, when we have no idea at all the sheer greatness and power of God to decide for Himself who He is and how His will plays out in the universe.
We will take time to examine some of the proof texts offered by the author, and explain why they are not about universal predestination.
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“In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Ephesians 1:11
(...) (Deleted long introduction)
“In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Ephesians 1:11
(...) (Deleted long introduction)
From your perspective, you made a choice. From God’s perspective, He chose you, “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:4-6). (The author has not read the first chapter of Ephesians closely enough. Paul goes into quite some detail about "we and "us." Yes, He chose "us" [vs. 4]. He predestined "us" [vs. 5]. "We" were chosen and predestined [vs. 11].
The careful Bible student would ask, who is "we" and "us?" Paul tells us in vs. 12: ...in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. "We" and "us" are the people who were the first to be saved.
This is not everyone.
Paul makes this clear in the very next verse, 13, when he turns to address his readers: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. The Ephesian church was included in Christ when they believed. They were not the first to be saved. They are different than "we" and "us." They were not predestined and chosen.
This is not a proof text for predestination.)
Why I Believe in God’s Sovereign Election
Because God is infinitely good and we are not, I believe that before the foundation of the world, God predetermined whom He would save and whom He would not. I believe the Bible clearly teaches it. Romans 9:22-23 says, “What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory?” (It again appears that the author has not read the passage closely enough. We need to consider the context of Paul's remarks. We first note that Romans chapter 9 begins with Paul's passion for his own people [the Jews] to be saved [Ro. 9:3, and also Ro. 10:1]. His argument continues all the way through chapter 11, where he makes the plain statement
Ro. 11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
Paul specifically stated that God foreknew the Jews. His whole thrust was to compare what God intends for the Jews as contrasted with gentiles. Paul set out to explain God's purpose.
Therefore, chapter 9 is a part of a longer discussion regarding the status of the Jews: Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. (Ro. 9:4)
Paul continued with a statement that the Jews are the chosen people, and more specifically, those who are the children of the promise [vs. 8]. Some of Israel are not the children of the promise [vs. 6]. Only one of Sarah's sons received the promise [vs. 9]. Only Isaac received the promise [vs. 13]. God's purpose for Israel followed His sovereign choice to bless some and exclude others from the promise.
Though the children of promise were blessed of God, He does not leave out the gentiles. In fact, God's purpose is to make available a righteousness by faith (Ro. 10:6). Therefore, The way to become part of the promise has changed from lineage to faith.
So when we get to the author's cited verses we are in the middle of Paul's argument: What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory?” [vs. 22-23] The gentiles previously were the vessel of wrath and excluded from the promise.
There are two categories of people found here:
- objects of his wrath (vs. 22) - these were prepared for destruction, but received great patience
- objects of his mercy (vs. 23) - these were prepared for mercy, intended for glory
These two categories are identified in verse 24, gentiles and Jews.
The word "objects" is not actually plural in the Greek. The word is skeuos, a vessel or container. The gentiles are a vessel, the object (singular) of His wrath. His wrath is directed at the gentiles as a whole.
"Prepared" is katartizó, which is
b. to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust
So the gentiles are fitted as a vessel for the wrath of God (vs. 22), while the Jews are fitted as a vessel for the mercy of God (vs.23). That is, those who are not His people are equipped like a container to carry His wrath.
Paul's meaning now starts to emerge. The gentiles, the object of His wrath, are recipients of His great patience, specifically to show the riches of his glory to the objects [object] of his mercy, the Jews. God is merciful to the gentiles as a demonstration to His chosen people, the Jews, in order to provoke them to jealousy [Ro. 11:11].
This is not about predestination, it is about how the gentiles received the promise.)
Every person stands before a holy God condemned for their rebellion against Him. But God elected from sinful man whom He would deliver from His wrath and effected their salvation at the cross of Christ. Those who hear the gospel and believe by faith have been called into His grace, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of glory. God will lose none of those whom He has redeemed. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ—the good news that He has saved us from our sins.
This is the doctrine of God’s sovereign election. To address the elephant in the room, this view of predestination is commonly referred to as Calvinism—both by those who hold this view and by those who have objections with it. Though John Calvin taught the theology which now bears his name, he didn’t come up with it. He, along with many other biblical theologians before and after him, merely affirmed what has already been written in the Bible.
I believe in and preach nothing less than the full counsel of God. Though others have called me many things, the only C-word you or anyone else has ever heard me call myself is a Christian.
Dr. Michael L. Brown once presented this question: “Do you agree with Calvin ‘that nothing happens but what [God] has knowingly and willingly decreed’?” I responded to him this way: “I agree with the Bible that nothing happens but what God has knowingly and willingly decreed.” I directed him to Lamentations 3:37-38 which says, “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?”
Our faith is built—as the church always has been—on the word of God. (Well, actually, someone's interpretation of the word of God. If the interpretation is wrong, it impugns the interpretation, not the word of God.)
The Bible is God’s word. And what the Bible says is that God is sovereign; meaning, He is the Supreme Ruler. He has all power. Full authority. Preeminence (Colossians 1:18). No where in the Bible does it say He’s given up any of His sovereignty. He’s not “sovereign, but.” He is absolutely sovereign. (Notice how the author states with certainty certain facts about God that any Christian would agree with. But it's the application of those facts that are at issue here. And that's where we disagree with the author.
Here are seven statements about His sovereignty according to Scripture.
(We don't doubt the Bible clearly and repeatedly states the fact of God's sovereignty. This fact is not at issue, so none of the following section is relevant. We will return after point 7.)
1) God is Sovereign.
Psalm 103:19 says that the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. In Acts 4:24, the apostles praised God saying, “O Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,” and then proceeded to praise Him for what He had decreed and predestined to take place.
In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Paul refers to God as “only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”
2) Everything God decrees happens.
In Genesis 1:3, God decreed, “Let there be light,” and it happened. Only He creates ex nihilo, or “out of nothing” (see also Hebrews 11:3). Psalm 33:9 says, “For He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm.” Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end.”
Isaiah 14:24 says, “The Lord of hosts has sworn: ‘As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand.'” Later in 55:11, He says, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Are the people of Christ not obeying that command in faithful submission to this day?
In John 11:43-44, Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus, who had been dead for four days. And He said, “Lazarus, come out.” As He commanded, so it happened—Lazarus rose from the dead.
3) Nothing happens that God hasn’t decreed.
I’ve mentioned already Lamentations 3:37-38, where it says nothing happens that the Lord hasn’t spoken. Job in his trouble said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). In Job 14:5, he said that man’s “days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”
Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” In Isaiah 45:7, God says, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Amos 3:6 says, “Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”
In James 4:13-15, we read, “Come now, you who says, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”
4) No one can change what God has decreed.
Job again says, “If He tears down, none can rebuild; if He shuts a man in, none can open” (c.12:14). Proverbs 21:30 says, “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.” Ecclesiastes 7:13 says, “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what He has made crooked?” Isaiah 14:27 says, “For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”
In John 10:28-29, Jesus said of His followers, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” In Romans 8, we are reminded, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v.31), and told there is nothing that “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v.39).
5) God knows and sees all.
Psalm 139 gives praise to God for His omniscience and omnipresence: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and on the good.” Matthew 12:36 says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” Hebrews 4:13 says, “No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” We are told in 1 John 3:20, “He knows everything.” And Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, “I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”
6) God does as He pleases.
Psalm 115:3 says plainly: “Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases.” In Matthew 20:15, Jesus said through a parable to His disciples, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Hebrews 13:21 says that God will “equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
7) God has purposed all things for His glory.
In Acts 2:23, Peter proclaimed with the gospel, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” God intended even the death of His own Son, the greatest evil act ever perpetrated by men, to bring about the salvation of His elect and glory to His name.
In Revelation 6:10, the martyrs for the gospel cry out to God, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They know that He and He alone will bring about the completeness of His sovereign decree in the fullness of time.
In Revelation 17:17, God sovereignly uses even His enemies: “For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” He has ordained the ends and the means to that end. God has purposed all things for His glory.
According to the Purpose of Him Who Works
1) God is Sovereign.
Psalm 103:19 says that the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. In Acts 4:24, the apostles praised God saying, “O Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,” and then proceeded to praise Him for what He had decreed and predestined to take place.
In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Paul refers to God as “only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”
2) Everything God decrees happens.
In Genesis 1:3, God decreed, “Let there be light,” and it happened. Only He creates ex nihilo, or “out of nothing” (see also Hebrews 11:3). Psalm 33:9 says, “For He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm.” Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end.”
Isaiah 14:24 says, “The Lord of hosts has sworn: ‘As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand.'” Later in 55:11, He says, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Are the people of Christ not obeying that command in faithful submission to this day?
In John 11:43-44, Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus, who had been dead for four days. And He said, “Lazarus, come out.” As He commanded, so it happened—Lazarus rose from the dead.
3) Nothing happens that God hasn’t decreed.
I’ve mentioned already Lamentations 3:37-38, where it says nothing happens that the Lord hasn’t spoken. Job in his trouble said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). In Job 14:5, he said that man’s “days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”
Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” In Isaiah 45:7, God says, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Amos 3:6 says, “Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”
In James 4:13-15, we read, “Come now, you who says, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”
4) No one can change what God has decreed.
Job again says, “If He tears down, none can rebuild; if He shuts a man in, none can open” (c.12:14). Proverbs 21:30 says, “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.” Ecclesiastes 7:13 says, “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what He has made crooked?” Isaiah 14:27 says, “For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”
In John 10:28-29, Jesus said of His followers, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” In Romans 8, we are reminded, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v.31), and told there is nothing that “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v.39).
5) God knows and sees all.
Psalm 139 gives praise to God for His omniscience and omnipresence: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and on the good.” Matthew 12:36 says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” Hebrews 4:13 says, “No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” We are told in 1 John 3:20, “He knows everything.” And Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, “I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”
6) God does as He pleases.
Psalm 115:3 says plainly: “Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases.” In Matthew 20:15, Jesus said through a parable to His disciples, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Hebrews 13:21 says that God will “equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
7) God has purposed all things for His glory.
In Acts 2:23, Peter proclaimed with the gospel, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” God intended even the death of His own Son, the greatest evil act ever perpetrated by men, to bring about the salvation of His elect and glory to His name.
In Revelation 6:10, the martyrs for the gospel cry out to God, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They know that He and He alone will bring about the completeness of His sovereign decree in the fullness of time.
In Revelation 17:17, God sovereignly uses even His enemies: “For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” He has ordained the ends and the means to that end. God has purposed all things for His glory.
According to the Purpose of Him Who Works
(Having ably documented God's sovereignty with numerous relevant Scriptures, the author now turns to application. But now his Scriptural documentation almost completely disappears.)
Whatever your views are regarding the subjects of election, adoption, redemption, or predestination, I pray you’ll join me in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Many brothers of mine, and even members of my own congregation, do not view this subject the same way that I do. Yet we love and encourage one another in the faith. Let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual up-building (Romans 14:19). Here are five reasons as to why this is important (relax, it’s not the five points of Calvinism):
First, so your prayers would not be hindered. (?? The author yanks 1Pe. 3:7 out of context. This verse is about loving one's wife properly.)
Whatever your views are regarding the subjects of election, adoption, redemption, or predestination, I pray you’ll join me in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Many brothers of mine, and even members of my own congregation, do not view this subject the same way that I do. Yet we love and encourage one another in the faith. Let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual up-building (Romans 14:19). Here are five reasons as to why this is important (relax, it’s not the five points of Calvinism):
First, so your prayers would not be hindered. (?? The author yanks 1Pe. 3:7 out of context. This verse is about loving one's wife properly.)
If you have a limited understanding of who God is, your prayers will also be limited. (Undocumented statement.)
Second, so you would be relieved of your burdens. If you believe that your salvation is dependent upon a choice you’ve had to make or it’s dependent upon your continued choices to maintain it, then you are being weighed down by an unnecessary burden. (The second statement would indeed be a burden, but it's not related to predestination.)
I hope you see from the Scriptures that salvation—including faith and belief, even repentance itself—is not the work of man. Salvation is from beginning to end the gracious work of God. (Indeed. But again, this is not related to predestination.)
Third, so you will be more considerate of others. Sovereignty means supreme governance. Autonomy means self-governance. When you fight for your own autonomy—or free will, as it’s termed—you oppose the sovereignty of God. This is not only a conflict with God, you cause strife between yourself and others—your autonomy vs. their autonomy. Consider others’ needs as Christ considered our need by being obedient to the will of His Father (see Philippians 2:1-11). (This reason is completely specious. Christians act in selfish ways because of sin, not because they don't believe in predestination.)
Fourth, so you would understand your sin rightly. If we do not have a right understanding of our sin, we are prone to think more of ourselves and less of God. You also cannot repent of your sin if you don’t know your sin. That affects your worship. The more we make of God, the less we make of us. The more we see His holiness, the more we’re aware of our own depravity and need for a Savior, praising Him for the goodness He has shown to us. (Agreed. But this has nothing to do with predestination. One gets the impression that the author is trying to pad his list.)
Third, so you will be more considerate of others. Sovereignty means supreme governance. Autonomy means self-governance. When you fight for your own autonomy—or free will, as it’s termed—you oppose the sovereignty of God. This is not only a conflict with God, you cause strife between yourself and others—your autonomy vs. their autonomy. Consider others’ needs as Christ considered our need by being obedient to the will of His Father (see Philippians 2:1-11). (This reason is completely specious. Christians act in selfish ways because of sin, not because they don't believe in predestination.)
Fourth, so you would understand your sin rightly. If we do not have a right understanding of our sin, we are prone to think more of ourselves and less of God. You also cannot repent of your sin if you don’t know your sin. That affects your worship. The more we make of God, the less we make of us. The more we see His holiness, the more we’re aware of our own depravity and need for a Savior, praising Him for the goodness He has shown to us. (Agreed. But this has nothing to do with predestination. One gets the impression that the author is trying to pad his list.)
As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). (Hmmm. Why did John say this? Quite simply, because he had discharged his function. His ministry was no longer needed. He had prepared the way, and now needed to fade out. What this has to do with predestination is a mystery.)
Fifth, so you may worship God appropriately. It is important that we worship God for who He has said He is, not who we want Him to be. (This may be the author's most egregious claim, which is also undocumented. The implication is that one cannot worship God properly unless one believes the right doctrines. There is no statement in the Bible that tells us worship is contingent on doctrine.)
Fifth, so you may worship God appropriately. It is important that we worship God for who He has said He is, not who we want Him to be. (This may be the author's most egregious claim, which is also undocumented. The implication is that one cannot worship God properly unless one believes the right doctrines. There is no statement in the Bible that tells us worship is contingent on doctrine.)
May we understand His theology according to His own words in the Bible, and not try to fit Him in our box or impose our ideas onto His. (Irony alert.)
The late Dr. R.C. Sproul was brilliant in his articulation of the sovereignty of God over all of His creation. Consider these words:
The late Dr. R.C. Sproul was brilliant in his articulation of the sovereignty of God over all of His creation. Consider these words:
If something happens in this world—by the power of men, by the power of nature, by the power of machines—God always has the power and authority to prevent it, at least, from happening. Does He not? And if He does not prevent it from happening, then that means at least this much—that He has chosen to let it happen.If I might take the liberty of filling out the rest of this statement for Dr. Sproul, God is indeed sovereign, and there is no maverick molecule, and in knowing that, you can be sure, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, that every promise God has given you in His Son will come to pass.
That doesn’t mean He applauds it. That doesn’t mean that He’s in favor of it, insofar as He gives His divine sanction to it. But He does allow—not in the sense of, again, approving all the time—but He does allow it to happen, and in so allowing, He is making a decision. And He is making it sovereignly. And He knows in advance what’s going to happen, and if He decrees that it shall happen, He is retaining His sovereignty over it.
Now if things happen in this world outside the sovereignty of God, then that would simply mean that God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, then God is not God. It’s that simple. And if the God you believe in is not a sovereign God, then you really don’t believe in God. You may have a theory of God. You may have theoretical theism, but bottom line, for all practical purposes, it’s no different from atheism, because you’re believing in a god who is not sovereign.
Now what are the practical implications of a non-sovereign god? Think of it now from the perspective of those of you who are professing Christians. I like to explain it this way: if there’s one maverick molecule in the universe running loose outside of the control of God’s sovereignty, then the practical implications for us as Christians is that we have no guarantee whatsoever that any future promise that God has made to His people will come to pass. (Dr. Sproul makes numerous undocumented assertions.)
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