The Sovereignty of God

[Ezra]

Christians  -- of all people – should have a clear understanding from Scripture as to what the sovereignty of God means (and what it does not mean). “Sovereignty” means supreme power and authority, but you will not find this word in the Bible (KJV). What you will find is that God is King, and that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords (Ps 103:19; Phil 2:10:11; Rev 19:16). 

Essentially, the sovereignty of God means that He is the Supreme Ruler of this universe, and that all power and all authority belong to Him, and come from Him. One of the best passage expressing this is Deuteronomy 10:14,17: Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is... For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.

 God’s sovereignty means that every life and every circumstance are in His hands (1 Sam 2:2-10):

 God’s Supremacy

2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

God’s infinite knowledge and perfect justice

3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

God’s power over victory and defeat

4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

God’s rule over all circumstances

5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

God’s authority over life and death

6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

God’s control over poverty and prosperity

7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.

God’s oversight of the righteous and the wicked

9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

God’s power over His enemies and His rulers

10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

At the same time, God’s sovereignty does NOT mean that He controls every decision of every human being (good or bad), but that He does allows men to make their own decisions for good or evil, and that there are consequences from all decisions (Josh 24:14-16): 14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

For believers, God’s sovereignty means that Christ is Lord and Master of our lives (Rom 12:1,2), and that we are completely surrendered to His authority, and the authority of His Word and His Holy Spirit at all times. It also means that we pray daily that His Kingdom be established on this earth (Mt 6:10), and we work daily to further His Kingdom in the hearts and minds of others (Acts 28:30,31).

[missmuffet]

 

How is God sovereign and humans have free will? How do free will and God's sovereignty work together?

God's sovereignty means that God is in control of all things. Free will refers to our human choices. How can God's perfect control of all things work with our free will?

Our human limitations make complete understanding of these two areas impossible. However, Scripture does offer insight regarding this matter. Romans 8:29 teaches, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." God both knew and set in motion actions within created time that led to this conclusion.

A major issue in understanding the relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will is the relationship between God's existence outside of created space-time and human existence within space-time. God exists outside of our created universe and can see the beginning of time, end of time, and every step along the process all at the same time. When He planned the universe, He knew every step in advance.

As humans living within physical space and time, our minds are not able to work outside of space-time to see the universe and its events all taking place at once. Therefore, the relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will appears contradictory. From a human perspective, God cannot both choose events to happen and then allow humans to freely choose actions at a later time. But time is not a limiting factor to God. His power transcends our limitations and allows Him to work from a vantage point that overrides space-time conflicts to coordinate His perfect plan.

This is why the preceding verse to Romans 8:29 can state, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). He can cause all things, good and bad and everything in between, to come together as part of His perfect purposes for our individual lives as well as for His overall plan for creation. 

It is when we begin to see life from God's perspective that we realize His greatness, wisdom, and power. While we believe in Jesus by faith (Romans 10:9, John 3:16), we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and because He chose us (John 15:16). We are called to follow God's commands, knowing He is the one who gives us the power to live for Him and to do His will.

http://www.compellingtruth.org/free-will-sovereign.html

Edited November 8, 2015 by bopeep1909

[Willa]

God's foreknowledge may have a lot to do with all of this.  1 Peter 1:2  (pilgrims) elect according to the forknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:---

[ghtan]

 

How is God sovereign and humans have free will? How do free will and God's sovereignty work together?

God's sovereignty means that God is in control of all things. Free will refers to our human choices. How can God's perfect control of all things work with our free will?

Our human limitations make complete understanding of these two areas impossible. However, Scripture does offer insight regarding this matter. Romans 8:29 teaches, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." God both knew and set in motion actions within created time that led to this conclusion.

A major issue in understanding the relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will is the relationship between God's existence outside of created space-time and human existence within space-time. God exists outside of our created universe and can see the beginning of time, end of time, and every step along the process all at the same time. When He planned the universe, He knew every step in advance.

As humans living within physical space and time, our minds are not able to work outside of space-time to see the universe and its events all taking place at once. Therefore, the relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will appears contradictory. From a human perspective, God cannot both choose events to happen and then allow humans to freely choose actions at a later time. But time is not a limiting factor to God. His power transcends our limitations and allows Him to work from a vantage point that overrides space-time conflicts to coordinate His perfect plan.

This is why the preceding verse to Romans 8:29 can state, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). He can cause all things, good and bad and everything in between, to come together as part of His perfect purposes for our individual lives as well as for His overall plan for creation. 

It is when we begin to see life from God's perspective that we realize His greatness, wisdom, and power. While we believe in Jesus by faith (Romans 10:9, John 3:16), we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and because He chose us (John 15:16). We are called to follow God's commands, knowing He is the one who gives us the power to live for Him and to do His will.

http://www.compellingtruth.org/free-will-sovereign.html

It seems to me that there is a bit of contradiction in the article. I have underlined the statements involved. First, it claims that God lives outside time and therefore can SEE the future and presumably that is how he knows the future. But then it goes on to say that God uses his power to cause things to happen, i.e. he DETERMINES what happens and presumably that is how he knows the future. So which is it? If he determines the future, why does he need to see it? Surely he does not forget what he has earlier determined. And surely he does not determine based on what he sees of the future for that would be unnecessary.  

[missmuffet]

I have confidence in an article from a true Bible ministry than listening to what man has to say.

[ghtan]

Faith is not meant to be blind.

[Ezra]

Faith is not meant to be blind.

Correct. Faith is founded squarely on Divine revelation. While God know all future events (omniscience and foreknowledge), God DOES NOT predetermine all events and all decisions by all men. He predetermines some things only, but brings about His plans and purposes while taking all things into account.

[ghtan]

Faith is not meant to be blind.

Correct. Faith is founded squarely on Divine revelation. While God know all future events (omniscience and foreknowledge), God DOES NOT predetermine all events and all decisions by all men. He predetermines some things only, but brings about His plans and purposes while taking all things into account.

If God predetermines only some things, and given that you say God knows ALL future events, how does he know ahead of time the future events that he does not predetermine? 

[Guest shiloh357]

If God pre-determines everything, then He is ultimately responsible for sin and the fall of man.   That is simply untenable.   Why would God be limited in knowing only what He has pre-determined to occur?   Why would He only have a partial knowledge of the future?

 

[Ezra]

Faith is not meant to be blind.

Correct. Faith is founded squarely on Divine revelation. While God know all future events (omniscience and foreknowledge), God DOES NOT predetermine all events and all decisions by all men. He predetermines some things only, but brings about His plans and purposes while taking all things into account.

If God predetermines only some things, and given that you say God knows ALL future events, how does he know ahead of time the future events that he does not predetermine? 

God's foreknowledge provides Him with the knowledge of all future events. That is already included in His omniscience (knowledge of all things). God predetermined the crucifixion of Christ (Acts 2:23a).  But the wickedness of those who condemned Him was foreknown (Acts 2:23b).  Hence we have Psalm 22.