Part 5: The Decrees of God Who Is God? Part 5: The Decrees of God

WSC 7 - The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Rom 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! … For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen."  

Things to keep in mind from beginning to end: - God is God; we are not. - God is wise. God good. God be trusted. - God and His ways are beyond full comprehension. - Embrace your limitations and God's "Godhood". - Rejoice in the mystery. - God tell us these things not to perplex or unsettle us, but to comfort us, and spur us to praise and trust in Him as we acknowledge His right to be the only God. The absolute sovereignty of God compels us to trust God absolutely.  

I. Definitions (Brief recap): A. "Decrees" - There is but one decree that covers all things in creation and redemption. B. Eternal Purpose: God's all-wise and unchanging plan conceived of before time to glorify Himself by working all things together to accomplish His plan of redemption and renewal in Christ Jesus. (Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28-29) C. Foreordained/Predestine: determined beforehand. 1. Two senses: a) all that happens; b) salvation 2. God knows the future because He ordained it, not merely foresaw it. (Isa 46:9-10)

D. Whatsoever comes to pass: good, evil, etc D. Whatsoever comes to pass: good, evil, etc., yet God is not the author of sin. Why not? 1. The one who commits sin is its author: "Sin is made certain by the decree, but God does not Himself produce it by His direct action." 2. With regard to sin, it is a "permissive" decree: God "permits" free moral agents to make evil choices in accordance with their nature and sets the bounds of those choices to accomplish His own purposes:

a. Prov19:21 "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." b. Prov 20:24 "A person's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?" c. Pink: "God’s decrees are…the fore-determined and prescribed bounding’s and directing’s of men’s sinful acts." 3. Concurrence: "God and human beings both act at the same time so that the Lord's plan is fulfilled and our choices are really and truly our own." - Grudem C. Example: Peter denies Jesus not once, or twice, but 3 times before the rooster crows. 3. (Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23; 4:24-28). (we'll explore more later)

II. Characteristics of the decree: It is: A. Founded in wisdom (Eph. 3:9-11) B. Eternal: formed before time (Eph 1:11) C. Effectual: everything in it happens (Isa. 46:10) D. Unchangeable (Ps 33:11) E. Unconditional: does not depend on any action of man but renders action certain (Acts 2:23). F. All-inclusive: everything, everyone, everywhere Sum: There are no maverick molecules or autonomous atoms running around outside of the sovereign decree and direction of the Lord. If so, God would not be God. All inclusive: angels & Satan: Ps 103:20-21; Job 1:12 nations: Ps 47:7-9; Dan 2:20-21; 4:34-35 human beings: Acts 17:26-27; Gal 1:15-16 animals: Ps 104:21-30 "accidents": Pr 16:33; Luke 13:4 the free acts of men: Acts 2:22-23, Acts 4:27-28 sinful acts of men and Satan: 2 Sam 24:1; Gen 45:5 (cf Gen 50:20)

WSC 9 - The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. I. Creation: Gen 1. Special, not evolution. Why important? II. How did God create? A. Ex-Nihilo: out of nothing. Universe not eternal. B. The Word of His power. III. 6 days: 24 hrs or long period of time. No theistic evolution.   Refuting evolution: FACE: Fossil record: findings contradict evolutionary expectations: 1) instead of gradual appearance of life forms, there is sudden appearance of fully developed forms (cambrian explosion); 2) Should be billions of transitional life forms, yet there is not one true one that has been found (and ther have been many frauds). Even if a creature that appeared to be half one species, and half the other, the most you could say about it is that there was a unique creature that exhibited these traits that no longer exists. It would be a leap of faith to posit evolutionary transition since no one observed it happening. Ape Men: No true ape like ancestor ever discovered, but there have been numerous hoaxes put forward (Nebraska man: theory contrived around a single tooth, which tuned out to be a pigs tooth; Piltdown man, etc) Chance: "chance" cannot account for the complexity in nature. Non-living matter cannot produce living matter. Empirical science: nothing observed in nature, tested, and repeated supports to blind people to particle evolution, but does support the biblical model of creation.

WSC 11 - God's works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. I. Providence: the outworking in time of God's eternal decrees whereby He preserves and governs all things. II. Preserving all things (Heb 1:3): "God keeps all creating things existing and maintaining the properties with which they were created." – Grudem - Thoughts? What are some implications of this? III. Governing all creatures and their actions: I. Providence = God's sovereignty (His rule and reign) in action. II. Preserving all things: One implication of this is that this not only makes life as we know it possible, but, it also makes "science" possible. Science relies on the predictability of nature. From one science professor at Indiana University: "Scientific study is based upon the assumption that the universe is orderly, reasonable, and testable." http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/conptt.html. Grudem states: "If a scientific experiment gives a certain result today, then we can have confidence that (if all the factors are the same) it will give the same result tomorrow and [in the future]." (Systematic Theology, p. 317).

A. Concurrence: "God and human beings both act at the same time so that the Lord's plan is fulfilled and our choices are really and truly our own." (Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23). God's intentions good, man's evil: 2. Concurrence:

1. Gen 50:20 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." 2. Act 2:23 "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." 3. Acts 4:24-28 "Sovereign Lord,"…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.

"From all eternity God designed that our world should be the stage on which He would display His manifold grace and wisdom in the redemption of lost sinners (Eph. 3:10-11.). For the accomplishment of this glorious design God has governed the world from the beginning, and will continue it to the end. It has been well said, "We can never understand the providence of God over our world, unless we regard it as a complicated machine having [infinite interwoven parts] directed in all its operations to one glorious end: Infinite interwoven parts – this is my statement. The original reads: "ten thousand parts,"

…the display of the manifold wisdom of God in the salvation of the Church," i.e., the "called out" ones. Everything else down here is subordinated to this central purpose. It was the apprehension of this basic truth that the Apostle, moved by the Holy Spirit, was led to write, "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10). Infinite interwoven parts – this is my statement. The original reads: "ten thousand parts,"

IV. Reconciling Sovereignty and Human Responsibility A IV. Reconciling Sovereignty and Human Responsibility A. Humans have free agency: power of personal decision as to what they shall do. B. Compatibilism vs. libertarian free will: 1. Libertarian free will: Man is able to choose equally between different options. 2. Compatibilism: Our choices are compatible with God's foreordination. Our free choices are determined by our nature and God's decree. C. Our choices are real and meaningful. How? - God says they are. - They are made freely according to desires. "equally" – i.e., with nothing within or outside of him determining or causing his choice. Compatibilism: It means God has granted us the ability to act freely (that is, voluntarily without coercion), but not independent from God nor free from our desires, but to act according to our desires and nature. In other words, voluntary choice (to chose to act as we please) is compatible with determinism. The Scripture itself testifies that “…no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:42-45)

D. Of Gondolas and Mazes 1. Venice is like a maze, signs appeal to strongest desire you have to go where you want. 2. Key points: a. God designed/predestined everything in the maze, to include our free choices. b. Our choices are according to our strongest desire at the moment. We always get what we want. c. God works through means to ensure we turn where He wants us to in accordance w/His foreordained plans/purposes. c. Examples: to ensure we that obey the command to come to Christ, God first gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit within us to cause us to walk in His statutes (Ezek 36:26-27). If it is a sinful choice (such as denying Christ three times), He withholds His grace, brings circumstances into our lives that will ensure that the choice we make is consistent with His plans and purposes. And He can even use Satan to tempt that person by make a direct appeal to the sinners desires. So, the direct and immediate cause of my temptation is Satan, who appeals to my sinful desires, and God has ordained all of that to take place to fulfill His sovereign plan. God is not the author of the temptation, Satan is. And God is not the author of the sin, the individual is.

E. A matter of perspective: God's sovereignty and human freedom/responsibility can be compared to tiny interwoven threads that connect to make an unfathomable masterpiece. 1. We are each a tiny thread. We can only see from that perspective. 2. God is the master weaver, weaving and working the threads together. He sees the completed work, knows how these things all fit together and the design they make. We will one day as well.

F. Stay centered on Christ. a F. Stay centered on Christ. a. Allows us to see the grand purpose for why God has ordained evil in the first place b. Enables us to see that the things that happen on earth are important. What we do and what happens on earth matters, and in Christ God has gone to incredible lengths to show just how much it matters.

V. Practical Applications   A. Since God is completely in control, I have confidence in Him. I know that God is personally involved in every second of my life. My prayer, my faith, my actions, my service, are the means by which God is going to bring about His eternal decrees. B. Pink: "Here is a foundation for faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world…according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory."