The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Seven

The doctrine of the sovereignty of God also stabilizes our lives in many practical ways. As finite beings, our perspective on life is often very limited. Consequently, we worry about many things, sometimes to the point of being paralyzed by our anxieties and fears. If God were not sovereign we might have something to worry about! How can we be sure that he will triumph in the end? How can we know that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)? We can know because our confidence lies in God himself, the creator and sustainer of the universe. He is the one who never slumbers or sleeps. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explicitly forbids an unbelieving kind of worry that takes our minds away from what is most important. He tells us not to worry about our lives, what we will eat or drink; or about our bodies, what we will wear, not only because we are more important than food, drink and clothes, but because our heavenly Father knows that we need them and he promises to provide for us if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:32-33). When he was speaking on the subject of the sovereignty of God I often heard John Reisinger say, “the sovereignty of God is a soft pillow for a weary head!” Indeed it is. Life can be difficult. Sometimes it is best described as a “veil of tears.” There are many disappointments and discouragements. Terminal pronouncements that would drive us to despair if it were not for the fact that God is sovereign and he reigns in heaven and on earth.

Divine sovereignty also rules out luck or chance. Things may appear to happen “by accident” but ultimately this is not the case. This universe in which we live is a personal universe because behind everything that happens is the triune God who is not only all-wise, all-powerful and all-knowing, but infinitely personal. Nothing just happens. Things come about because they have been decreed by our Father in heaven. This is the difference between various forms of pagan superstition and the Christian faith. Superstitious people try their best to appease the “forces” of the universe in the vain hope that this will cause things to go well with them. Today many people consult horoscopes and fortune-tellers hoping to discover hidden information that will help them plan for the future. But Christians who understand the sovereignty of God do not need any of these things. If we need wisdom we go to the word of the God who cannot lie. When things come into our lives that we do not understand we know that they have come from his wise and loving hand and that they serve a purpose in our lives. Although we may not be able to see it at the time and may never understand God’s dealings with us until we stand before him in glory, the fact that he is there directing all things for his glory and our good is profoundly comforting. Our knowledge of God’s sovereignty keeps us from being tossed back and forth like the waves of the sea. As Edward More wrote in his hymn Solid Rock: “His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.” There is no greater stability than this. When we are mindful of his sovereignty, the world is a different place for the Christian, no matter what is going on around them.

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Six

2. The Sovereignty of God and Our Personal Lives

In terms of our personal lives, the doctrine of the sovereignty of God anchors our prayers. Some people think that belief in the sovereignty of God chokes off prayer. They do not see the need to pray if God is in complete control of the situation and his will is ultimate. Fortunately, the Bible does not reason in this way; in fact, the Bible goes in the opposite direction. For example, after being released by the Jewish authorities in Acts 4:23-31, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that had happened to them. This in turn caused the people to raise their voices together in prayer to God. In the prayer that followed they reflected upon God as the Sovereign Lord who made the heavens and the earth, and everything in them. He is not only the creator God, but he is a speaking God who has revealed himself by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of his servant, their father David. Long before Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in the city of Jerusalem to conspire against God’s holy servant Jesus whom he anointed, God predicted what would take place. And when they acted for their own reasons, as an expression of the corruption of their hearts, they did exactly what his power and will had decided beforehand should happen. So rather than discouraging prayer, Luke tells us that the sovereignty of God actually inspired their prayers and motivated them to ask for more power so that they might speak the word with boldness accompanied by miracles of healing, signs and wonders. Their corporate recollection of the sheer majesty of God in accomplishing salvation in spite of the venomous opposition of the powers of darkness did not stifle a spirit of prayer; instead it gave their prayers wings that lifted them up and carried them to the throne of God’s grace.

The same is true of our prayers. There is no reason to pray to a God who is merely doing his best to make sure things work out for his people somehow. While prayer may have some physiological and psychological benefits for the practitioners, that is not why we pray. We pray as Christians because we want to express our love and gratitude to God for all he has done. We also want to find healing for ourselves and for others. We want to see things happen. We long to see the kingdom of God expand, churches established and congregations built up in the most holy faith, the lost converted and brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus. We understand there is no sense praying at all if God is not sovereign and he is not able to intervene in this world and in our lives. But because he is sovereign we can pour out our intercession with bold confidence knowing that he who reigns over the universe is able to break into human history, including our history, without in any way violating our freedom and responsibility as human beings.

To be continued in my next post...

Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas to all the readers of this blog. I trust you will all have a wonderful day with family and friends and that you remember the greatest gift of all whose birth we celebrate today. In a fast-moving world that can be so complicated the good news of Christmas is really very simple - "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14). So amid the competing voices and in spite of those who never cease to make the simple unnecessarily complicated remember what was said to Mary many years ago - "And you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). A Merry Christmas indeed!

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Five

The sovereignty of God in our salvation also gives us confidence as we face the future. We can stand our ground against spiritual opposition because we know that he who has begun the good work will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). As Christians we quickly become aware that there are many difficulties that we are called to go through as we make our way to heaven. There are formidable foes who try to keep us from persevering with the Lord and who discourage us time and time again. It is no wonder then that doubts and fears arise about the ultimate outcome of our commitment. We sometimes wonder if we will make it to the end. Will we be able to hold on to Jesus amid the twists and turns of life? Will we prove to be valiant soldiers or will we turn back in disgrace?

Although we have a very important role when it comes to keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and keeping ourselves in the love of God (Jude 21), we are not kept by our own efforts alone. God, who called us by his grace in the beginning, will keep us by his grace until the end. So Paul can say with great assurance, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). And then a little later in the same letter he adds, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (2:12-13). God is on our side. He has brought us to himself and he will not abandon us along the way. He will keep us to the end. We are safe in the hand of Jesus and in the hand of the Father who gave us to him. As Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 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” (John 10:27-29).

To be continued in my next post...

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Four

The sovereignty of God in our salvation also humbles our naturally proud hearts. We tend to think too highly of ourselves and our abilities. However, when we come to see that we would never have surrendered to God if he did not first work in us, we are greatly humbled. There is something in every fallen child of Adam that wants to contribute something to their own salvation. We want to add a little of our own works and effort so that salvation is viewed as a co-operative effort between ourselves and God. But this is not what the Scriptures teach, nor will they allow us to move in that direction. 

Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). His meaning is clear. There is nothing we can add. We contribute nothing but our own sinfulness and unworthiness. Instead, we rely on the gracious gift of God to save us. This means that we are at the mercy of God. We are not saved because of anything we have done, or because we are somehow better than our neighbors, or more desirable to God when considered apart from Christ. God’s sovereignty in salvation melts away our pride and leaves us no room for boasting. And in its place there grows a deep thankfulness for such a great salvation that has come to lost sinners such as we were and at such a great cost.

To be continued in my next post...

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Three

It is important to understand this because it means that all the glory for our salvation belongs to God. Even though it is true that we repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we only do so because of his grace. This is significant because we live in a man-centered age in which human achievements are praised and celebrated and God rarely gets so much as an honorable mention. This is wrong. This world and everything in it was made for his honor and glory. But the world is not what it once was. Human beings have rebelled against God and fallen into sin. As sinful creatures we live for ourselves and not for the one who made and sustains us. But when God comes to us in salvation, everything changes at the most basic level. He opens our eyes so that we understand who he is, who we are and what he has done for us. As a result our whole perspective is revolutionized. Now we understand that we were made for God; made to love him and enjoy him forever. And we also understand that this is the reason we have been redeemed. We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of his dear Son so that we might bring praise and honor to his holy name forever. All Christians instinctively know this at some level because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but those who understand the sovereignty of God as it has been revealed and exercised in their salvation are in the best position to praise him for his wonderful love and grace.

To be continued in my next post...

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Two

The practical implications of the sovereignty of God is a vast subject that could be approached in a number of ways because it touches on so many areas of life. I have decided to gather some of these diverse strands of thought together and examine them under three main headings: the practical implications of the sovereignty of God when it comes to our salvation, our personal lives, and our ministries.

1.  The Sovereignty of God and Our Salvation 

The fact that God is sovereign in the salvation of his people is a truth that is indelibly stamped on the Scriptures. Although the biblical data is vast, there is one key text in which the apostle Paul masterfully sums up what the Bible teaches on this great theme. In Ephesians 1:11 Paul tells Christian believers in Ephesus that they have obtained an inheritance in Jesus Christ, “having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” According to Paul, the salvation of those who call on the Lord Jesus Christ was not an accident and it was certainly not something that caught God off-guard. Earlier in the same passage, Paul tells these same believers that they have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined them for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given them in the One he loves (1:4-6). This means that God is at work in the salvation of believers. He is the one who brings us to himself. When we come to him, we come most freely, but only because he has taken the initiative and sought us out. In his first epistle, the apostle John confirms what Paul teaches throughout his writings when he states: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The sovereignty of God and our salvation continued next post...

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part One

Over the next while I will post an essay I wrote in honor of John G. Reisinger which is published by New Covenant Media in a book called, Ministry of Grace: Essays in Honor of John G. Reisinger. The book is edited by Steve West and is available from New Covenant Media. I was asked to write on the practical implications of the sovereignty of God as someone who greatly benefited from and appreciated John's ministry.These issues continue to be relevant today in spite of the increased acceptance of the concept of God's sovereignty in Christian theology. It is one thing to intellectually apprehend this truth, quite another to live it out. To help Christians do just that I am posting this essay.

The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God

I first heard of John Reisinger in connection with the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. It was at a time in my life when my parents were coming to understand what are popularly known as “the doctrines of grace.” Although I had been involved in evangelical circles since I was a boy, and I had heard many wonderful things about God and his way of salvation, I distinctly remember the summer when the “sovereignty of God” became part of my theological vocabulary forever. For me, from the very beginning, the sovereignty of God was something glorious to be celebrated. The mind-expanding idea that God was in control of all things, that he had a plan that embraced all things, that he was working out all things according to that plan, and that nothing would ever frustrate that plan; came home to me with clarity and power. And even though I was not yet a Christian, it seemed entirely reasonable to me that if there was a God, this is what he must be like. In fact, anything else seemed completely unworthy of the one who made the universe in the beginning and continues to sustain it now by his infinite power.

My next recollection of John Reisinger is the time some years later when he was staying at my parents’ home in Burlington, Ontario, while he was preaching in the area. By this time I was a Christian and attending Bible School. I had started to read various theological books and was struggling with the place of the Mosaic Law in the life of a Christian. When I told John about my struggles he sat me down and we talked at length about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. To this day, I look back on that time as a turning point in my life. Several key features of the biblical revelation fell into place and I began to see and understand in a new way how everything in the Bible finds its focus in Jesus Christ. Since then it has been my joy to read the Bible christologically, and as I have reflected on these two incidents over the years, I have often thought how they themselves illustrate the great truth that God is sovereign in all of his dealings with us. He leads and directs us according to his own will in his own time. Furthermore, as I have gone through life, I have also discovered that the sovereignty of God is a very practical doctrine. Not only is it something that is clearly revealed in the Scriptures from the beginning to the end, but it is something that every Christian needs to understand if they are to reach maturity in Christ and be useful in the kingdom of God.

To be continued in my next post...

The Doctrine of Providence - Part Five

Governance. The Bible teaches that the same God who preserves the world and is involved with every action of his creatures is also governing the world according to his wisdom. Sometimes the world can seem like a chaotic place. From the weather to political events to terrorist activities we do not know what a day will bring. To the casual observer it may appear that there is no God who is ruling over all. But appearances can be deceiving and things are not always as they appear. Take for instance, the flood that took place in the time of Noah (Genesis 6-9). Those caught in the flood thought that the world was going to come to an end, but they were wrong. During the Babylonian captivity as described in Daniel 1 it appeared as though Nebuchadnezzar had triumphed over the God of Israel. But in reality God was using the Babylonians to judge his people and further the establishment of his kingdom in the world. Governance is consistent with the frequent biblical assertion that God is king and that he reigns over all. Nothing happens that he does not know about because he ordains all things. The Bible speaks of God as “working out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

God’s rule has particular relevance to his people. It reminds us that God is in control and that he is moving human history forward to the end that he has ordained. It means that we can trust him with our lives and know that nothing happens by accident. If, as Paul says in Romans 11:36 that, “From him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever” – then the promise of Romans 8:28 stands firm that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In these days this is precious indeed.

So whether we think in terms of God’s preservation of all things, his concurrence in all that transpires, or his governance of the world, the providence of God gives the Christian comfort, strength and confidence as he or she lives their life and works hard for the glory of God.

The Doctrine of Providence - Part Four

Concurrence (continued). In the Bible there are many passages that illustrate the relationship between God’s actions and human actions, or what we call primary and secondary causes. But there are two passages that stand out in this regard. In the Old Testament the interaction between Joseph and his brothers is classic example of this interaction. After the death of their father Jacob, Joseph’s brothers are worried that he will now enact revenge on them for their cruel betrayal. Joseph, however, speaks to them with kindness and reassures them that he will not turn against them. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:19-20). It should be noted that Joseph recognizes both the actions of God and the actions of his brothers. His brothers did what they did for their own wicked reasons and God is not responsible for their sinful actions. But that does not mean he was absent and not involved in what was happening. He was there working out his holy purposes in the lives of everyone involved by taking what was evil and overruling it for good. This is concurrence.

The classic passage in the New Testament is one that has to do with the death of Jesus. In Acts 2:23-24 Peter says: “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from death, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” In a similar passage in Acts 4:27-28 the early Christians pray: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” Both passages speak of the evil intentions of men for which they are responsible. But neither passage suggests that God is not involved at the same time in some way. In both passages God is described as accomplishing his purpose which involved the greatest possible good, without doing anything wrong or evil himself. Thus men are active and God is active. But they could not do anything if he does not empower them, and yet, he is not the author of sin, their actions are real, and they are responsible for them all. This is concurrence.

To be continued next post...

The Doctrine of Providence - Part Three

Concurrence. The word concurrence means ‘working together’ and I am using it here to refer to the relationship between divine and human activity in the events of life. Or in other words, seeing that both God and human beings are active in the world, what is the relationship between their actions, do they act independently of each other, or do they act together? In the Bible God is always the primary actor. This means that he is always at work or nothing would happen. Conversely, human beings are always secondarily actors. As such their actions are real, and they are always responsible for what they do. But the distinction between primary and secondary actors means that they could not do a thing if God did not sustain them. It also means that there is no such thing as an action in which God is not involved.

At this point, however, we must be careful or it will appear as if God is responsible for bad actions as well as good ones. But this is never the case. The Bible never directly attributes sin or evil to God. It is always the direct action and responsibility of the one who actually sins. But just because God is not directly involved and is not guilty of wrongdoing does not mean that he is inactive. God is working simultaneously, but indirectly, to accomplish his purposes. As the God of providence his actions are concurrent with those of his creatures though he is always good, upright and holy.

The rest of "concurrence" in the next post...