A
Minor Defense of the Sovereignty of God
Dear Father,
You, Lord, in the beginning laid the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will
perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a
mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You
are the same, and Your years will not come to an end. (Heb 1:10-12) As for me,
I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand;
deliver us from the hand of our enemies and from those who persecute us. Make
Your face to shine upon Your servant; save us in Your lovingkindness. (Ps
31:14-16) May Your grace grant us power to see a glimpse of Your true
sovereignty here.
In Jesus Christ’s
Name,
Amen
Dear Beloved,
The
repute of the sovereignty of our God has been compromised. Countless false
notions of the nature of God reside in our midst. These notions take away from
the full sovereignty of God and portray a god who is both impotent and less
than omniscient. The true worship of such individuals is greatly inhibited, if
not absent, for the Father is seeking worshippers who worship in spirit and in
TRUTH (John 4:23). Our
greatest authority on the nature of God is His Holy Word. Our God is the only
Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15). May the Lord open
our eyes with His Word to His full sovereignty as we proceed.
1.
His Undefeatable Purpose
God speaks to us saying, “Remember this, and be assured; recall it to
mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, for I am God,
and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end
from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done,
saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good
pleasure’; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a
far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned
it, surely I will do it.” (Is 46:8-11) As God prophesied imminent
judgment upon the nation of Israel He devised a plan against the whole earth;
for His is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the Lord
of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out
hand, who can turn it back? (Is 14:26-27)
He has spoken, He has purposed, and He has
planned. His purpose will be established. He will accomplish all His good
pleasure. No one can stop His purpose.
2.
The Mystery of His Sovereign Will in Christ
Our God has power to subject all things to
Himself (Phil 3:21). He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to
His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to the
administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up
of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth (Eph
1:9-10) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has
appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are
believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your
faith and hope are in God. (1 Pet 1:20-21). The mystery of God, that is, His predestined purpose for mankind
resulting in His glory, is fulfilled in Christ. We do speak wisdom among
those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of
this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the
hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom
which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood
it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor 2:6-8) As Peter
preached to the audience on the day of Pentecost, he proclaimed that this Man
was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, and was nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men who put Him to death. But God
raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was
impossible for Him to be held in its power. (Acts 2:23-24). Grace was given to
the apostle Paul to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for
ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenly realms. This was in accordance with the eternal
purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have
boldness and confident access through faith in Him. (Eph 3:8-12). Of this
church, Paul was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed
on him for the benefit of the saints, so that he might fully carry out the
preaching of the Word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from
the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to
whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
(Col 1:25-27). For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly
wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our
humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of
the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Phil 3:20-21)
In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then
the mystery of God is finished, as He preaches to His servants the prophets
(Rev 10:7)
3.
The Preordained Mystery of Lawlessness
In His
sovereignty, our God has predestined the presence of wickedness and those who
practice such until the time of His final judgment. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He
may show mercy to all those who would believe in Him (Rom 11:32). For the
mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so
until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed
whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by
the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord
with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and
with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not
receive the love of the Truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will
send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is
false, in order that they may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but took
pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thess 2:7-12) The great woman of wickedness: on her
forehead a name is written, a mystery, “BABYLON
THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”
(Rev 17:5)
4.
His Sovereignty over Human Souls
Our God is not only able to effect His
chosen state of every soul, but He has predestined some for wrath and appointed
some for eternal life. What shall we say then? There is
no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does
not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharoah, “For
this purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name
might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth”. So then He has mercy
on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. (Rom 9:14-18) His sovereignty over the souls of His people
is complete. He works in them that which is pleasing to His will and He works
in them to will and to act according to His good purpose (Heb 13:21, Phil
2:13). He directs their hearts into God’s love and the steadfastness of
Christ, puts His Spirit within them, and causes them to walk in
His statutes so that they will be careful to observe His ordinances (2 Thess
3:5, Ez 26:27). Though they were continually straying like sheep, now they have
returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of their souls (1 Pet 2:25). The
sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole
heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His
kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and
obey Him (Dan 7:27).
The saints understand the sovereignty of God
over souls. And thus they pray on behalf of the spiritual poverty around them, “You, O Lord, rule forever; Your throne is from generation to
generation. Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long?
Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored; Renew our days as of old,
unless You have utterly rejected us and are exceedingly angry with us”
(Lam 5:19-22). On the basis of the blood of Christ they pray, “The Lord bless you because He was cursed, and keep you because
was forsaken; The Lord make His face shine on you because the Father
turned His face away from Him, and be gracious to us because He suffered
our condemnation; the Lord lift up His countenance on you because He underwent
His Father’s just wrath, and give you peace because He underwent agony.”
(Num 6:24-26)
28 And we know that God causes all
things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed
to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and
these whom He justified, He also glorified. Rom 8
Why is
this a “Minor” Defense
I have
called this writing as a “minor” defense of His sovereignty. This defense is
minor in comparison to the full Scriptural defense of His sovereignty. It is
minor in comparison to the full outpouring of the riches of His power and
majesty to the inhabitants of the world. His judgments, His salvation, and His
signs and wonders display and authenticate His Sovereignty. In addition to the
inerrant, infallible, inspired, all-sufficient Holy Scriptures, there are
several means by which God can and will authenticate His sovereignty. The great
miracle is His work of regeneration: removing the heart of stone, placing in
the man the heart of flesh and His own Holy Spirit…the changing of the very
nature of a man into the image of Christ by the power of His eternal Gospel!
“He who
is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens" Rev 3:7
Ways
that He Authenticates His Sovereignty:
1. The Love and Unity of the Saints
Christ
has given His people a new command, that they love one another, even as He has
loved them, that they also love one another. By this all men will know that they are His disciples, if they have
love for one another. (John 13:34-35). Christ prayed that the glory which the
Father has given Him He has given to them, that they may be one, just as the
Father and He are One; He is us, and the Father in Him, that they may be
perfected in unity, so that the world
may know that the Father sent Him, and loved His people, even as He has loved
Him. (John 17:22-23)
2. The Judgment of the Lord
When
the earth experiences His judgments the
inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (Is 26:9). At the time of the end,
another angel flies in midheaven, having an eternal Gospel to preach to those
who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and
he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour
of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea
and springs of waters” (Rev 14:6-7).
3. The Signs and Wonders of
the Lord
One of the magnificent wonders of God is
His creation. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power
and divine nature, having been clearly seen, being understood through what
has been made, so that they are without excuse (Rom 1:20). As Elihu tells Job, “Stand
and consider the wonders of God. Do you know how God establishes them, and
makes the lightning of His cloud to shine? Do you know about the layers of the
thick clouds, the wonders of one perfect in knowledge, you whose garments are
hot, when the land is still because of the south wind? Can you, with Him,
spread out the skies, strong as a molten mirror? Teach us what we shall say to
Him; we cannot arrange our case because of darkness. Shall it be told Him that
I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?...”
(Job 37:14-20)
Similarly, God performs signs and wonders through His people. Moses led
the Israelites out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness for 40 years (Acts 7:36). The people of God keep
feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the
apostles (Acts 2:43, 5:12). For example, Stephen, full of grace and power, was
performing great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8). And these signs
will accompany those who have believed: in Christ’s name they will cast out
demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if
they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the
sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:17-18) Tongues are a sign, not to those
who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers
but to those who believe (1 Cor 14:22). For if the saints prophecy, and an unbeliever
or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by
all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face
and worship God, declaring that God is
certainly among them. (1 Cor 14:24-25). He
performs these signs and wonders in His own time and by His own will.
4. The Steadfastness of the
Saints in the Midst of Persecution
The
saints are to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so
that they may stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the Gospel; in no way alarmed by their opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of
salvation for them, and that too, from God. (Phil 1:27-28) For the time
already past is sufficient for them to have carried out the desire of the
Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that
the saints do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation and they
malign them; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living
and the dead. (1 Pet 4:3-5) The saints have been called for this purpose, since
Christ also suffered for them, leaving them an example for them to follow in
His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and
while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered
no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet
2:21-23) They are to do all things without grumbling and disputing, so that
they will prove themselves to be
blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of the
crooked and perverse generation, among whom they appears as lights in the world
(Phil 2:14-15). When they are arrested and handed over, they do not worry
beforehand about what they are to say, but say whatever is given to them in
that hour; for it is not them who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11)
Their
faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one toward one another grows
ever greater; therefore they are spoken of among the churches of God for their perseverance
and faith in the midst of all their persecutions and afflictions which they
endure. This is a plain indication of
God’s righteous judgment so that they will be considered worthy of the Kingdom
of God, for which indeed they are suffering. For after all it is only just
for God to repay with affliction those who afflict them, and to give relief to
those who are afflicted when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with
His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing our retribution to those who do not
know God and to those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His
saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for the
testimony of Christ spoken to them was believed by them. (2 Thess 1:3-10)
33 Oh, the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known
the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first
given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and
through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. Rom 9
