TheosGuy

The wrath of God is definitely not something that one likes to think about. Thinking about the subject is one thing, teaching on the subject can be even more uncomfortable. Here I think that J.I. Packer does well in helping is think about this subject.

… God’s wrath in the Bible is something which people choose for themselves. Before hell is an experience inflicted by God, it is a state for which a person himself opts by retreating from the light which God shines in his heart to lead him to himself. When John writes, “Whoever does not believe [in Jesus] stands condemned [judged] already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son,” he goes on to explain himself as follows, “ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:18-19). He means just what he says: The decisive act of judgment upon the lost is the judgment which they pass upon themselves, by rejecting the light that comes to them in and through Jesus Christ. In the last analysis, all that God does subsequently in judicial action toward the unbeliever, whether in this life or beyond it, is to show him, and lead him into, the full implications of the choice he has made.¹

1. Packer, J. I.. Knowing God, p. 172. InterVarsity Press, 1973. Kindle Edition.

Scripture clearly shows us that it is God who call us:

Even though God might effect such through a human agent.

All scriptures from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

John Frame writes the following in his book, The Doctrine of God:

If God desires people to repent of sin, then certainly he desires them to be saved, for salvation is the fruit of such repentance. Some Calvinists, however, have denied this conclusion, reasoning that God cannot possibly desire something that never takes place. But I have dealt with that objection already. Scripture often represents God as desiring things that never take place. As we have seen, he wants all people to repent of sin, yet we know that many people never repent. And there are many other examples. God desires all people to turn from false gods and idols, hold his name in reverence, remember the Sabbath, honor their parents, and so on. But those desires are not always fulfilled.^{1 2}

See the cited section of the book for a detailed explanation and analysis of God’s preceptive and decretive will.

1.  John Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2002), 528-538.
2. A portion of the cited text is available online at the Theological Meditations website.

Tags: John Frame

John Piper, in Episode 450 of the Ask Pastor John podcast,  gives the following Scripture as evidence of double predestination.  However, I thought it was interesting that prior to answering the question, Piper said that if thinking that God would double predestine makes you doubt His goodness, then don’t believe in double predestination.

• In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, – Eph 1:11 NKJV

• The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. – Pro 16:4 NKJV

• Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” – 1Pe 2:7 NKJV

• For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. – Jde 1:4 NKJV

• By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. – 2Pe 2:3 NKJV

• (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), – Rom 9:11 NKJV

• “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.” – Mal 1:2-3 NKJV

A quote of C.S. Lewis on God’s providence in the life of a believer.

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.

Tags: Providence

The Bible clearly indicates God’s knowledge of counterfactuals (i.e., the description of a consequent based upon an antecedent that does not occur). For example, the statement, If you do A(ntecedent) act, then C(onsequent) result will occur. Then, you decide to not perform A(ntecedent) act.

Some denote this as middle knowledge, others reject the name.

Many rejectors do so based upon Luis de Molina’s view that the counterfactual acts would be done with, what would be considered, libertarian free will. Others such as Bruce Ware, John Frame and Terrence Thiessen will use the name, but consider the freedom of the individual to be other than libertarian freedom, such as Freedom of Inclination (Bruce Ware). Nevertheless, the concept of God’s knowledge of counterfactuals is shown in the Bible. For example, the LORD often tells Israel that she lost blessings due to her disobedience, or that she would have been blessed if she had obeyed. These are counterfactuals. Following are a few other specific ones:

Exodus 13:17 NKJV – Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

1 Samuel 23:8-14 NKJV – Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. “Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.” So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition. And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

Jeremiah 23:21-22 NKJV – “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.”

Matthew 11:21-24 NKJV – “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. “But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

1 Corinthians 2:8 NKJV – which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

So, we should come away from this with at least two bits of information:

1. God not only knows counterfactuals, but declares them in Scripture
2. When we are discussing the issue with someone, we must ascertain whether they are including libertarian free will as part of the definition of middle knowledge.

Tags: Sovereignty, Ware

Following are some key texts on the Sovereignty of God:

Exodus 15:18
Deuteronomy 4:39; 10:14, 17
2 Kings 19:15
1 Chronicles 29:11-12
2 Chronicles 20:6
Job 25:2; 40:6; 41:11
Psalm 5:2; 10:16; 22:27-28; 24:1, 10; 29:10; 44:4; 45:6; 47:2, 8-9; 66:7; 67:4; 74:12; 83:18; 84:3; 89:14; 93:1-2; 95:3; 97:1-2, 9; 98:6; 99:4-5; 103:19; 113:4; 115:3; 145:1, 13; 146:10; 149:2
Isaiah 6:5; 33:22; 37:16; 43:15; 44:6; 66:1
Jeremiah 10:10
Lamentations 5:19
Ezekiel 18:1, 4
Daniel 2:20-21, 47; 4:34-35; 6:26
Malachi 1:14
Romans 11:36
1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15
Revelation 19:6

While I know the Bible teaches a strong view of God’s sovereignty over the affairs of His creation, I also see verses that tell us that our choices matter. This is one of those conundrums in theological studies. For it seems that these two things are at odds, but yet both are taught vigorously. Therefore, choices by man in the area of faith, obedience, prayer, etc. do matter. Here are a couple of my favorite verses that show that man’s choices do matter.

Eze 22:30-31 NKJV – “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.”

James 4:2 ESV – You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Now as much as man’s choices matter, they never thwart the purposes of God.

Dan 4:34-35 NKJV – And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

The sin of Nebuchadnezzar—including pride, murder, etc.—did not thwart God’s purposes being accomplished on earth, as testified by Nebuchadnezzar, after being judged and restored by the LORD.

There is a certain view in theology that believes God decrees every event that has or will occur. This view is taken from verses such as the following:

(Eph 1:11 ESV) 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,

Granted that Ephesians 1:11 does indicate that God works all things to His purpose and according to the counsel of His will.  But, is it the same to say “that God works all things” and ” that God decrees all things.”  I have to say quite unequivocally “NO!”  The reason is nothing less than the Word of God.  Let’s take a look at these verses.

(Jer 19:3-6 ESV) ³You shall say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. ⁴Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ⁵and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind– ⁶therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

(Jer 7:30-31 ESV) ³⁰“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. ³¹And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

(Jer 32:35 ESV) They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

How do we explain these apparent differences?  Well, I can only surmise that when the word tells us “God ordains something,” there is a difference than to say “God decrees something.”  The explanation might be in our concept of what God’s sovereignty means.  Theology recognizes a “meticulous sovereignty” versus a more “general sovereignty.”   C. Michael Patton has provided a detailed analysis of at least four views of the sovereignty of God, at his Parchment and Pen blog.  Maybe our difference is properly explained in the differentiations noted therein.

1. Meticulous sovereignty: God is the instrumental cause behind every action and reaction there has ever been. For this view, in order for God to be truly sovereign, he must be the ultimate and instrumental cause for everything, including sin.
2. Providential sovereignty: God is bringing about his will in everything (Eph 1:11). However,  his will is not the instrumental cause of all that happens. God’s will plays a providential role in “causing” all things, using secondary causes as instruments. What God wills is not always what he would want in a perfect world, but all he has is sin to work with. Therefore, in this sense, even evil is the will of God.
3. Providential oversight: Here God’s sovereignty is expressed in active oversight. He has a general plan, but is not married to the details. God can and often does intervene in the affairs of humanity to bring about his purpose. In this case he never “wills” evil; he only uses it.
4. Influential oversight: Here God limits his own sovereignty. God could control things, but to preserve human freedom, he will not intervene in the affairs of men to the degree that human freedom is effected. He is hopeful that his influence will be persuasive to change a person’s heart or to guide them to his will. Here God never wills evil, but only allows it.

Tags: Decree, Sovereignty

Following are some of the Biblical references noted in the Thompson Chain Reference Bible under the heading:

Control, Divine:

• Manifested in the Control of Men
  • 2 Kings 19:28
  • Job 12:19
  • Proverbs 21:1
  • Isaiah 37:29
  • Isaiah 44:25
  • Ezekiel 29:4
  • Ezekiel 38:4
  • Ezekiel 39:2

Here are some additional verses that apply that were not included in Thompson:

• Genesis 11:9
• Exodus 14:4
• Psalm 37:23
• Proverbs 16:9
• Isaiah 40:23
• Jeremiah 15:11; 16:21; 17:4
• Revelation 17:17

Tags: Control, Free Will, Sovereignty, Thompson